Da'ud Bob - ShakespeRE-Told: Macbeth
Greetings everyone and a Happy New Year!
Another year has come and gone --
what the heck happened to 2008? It seems like it was just yesterday that it was
2007.
I want to thank everyone who came
to the shire's Christmas party. I think
it was the smallest turnouts we've had in years. We may have to re-think some of the party
plans for next year, it seems. My
special thanks to Lady Gunvor for coming
over early and helping to get the place ready. Couldn't have done it in time without you, mi'lady.
With the cold weather, now is a
good time to do some planning for the warmer weather. How is your camping gear? Tent need repairing? Banners adjusting? Get to it now before summer sneaks up on us
again. And in no time at all we'll have
our spring event to deal with. There
should be lots for shirefolk to do.
May 2009 be a great year for us
all!
Rory
Greetings and Happy New Year from
your Chatelaine!
Hope everyone’s new year is
starting off well. The shire Christmas party was nice in spite of the weather
and a smaller than usual turnout. We had fun sampling Catalin and Simon’s
home-made wines. It was also good to have a chance to visit with folks. I’m
looking forward to seeing you all at upcoming A&S meetings, scriptoria,
practices, and events.
Tonight is Twelfth night. The eve
of the feast of “Epiphany” or the twelfth day after Christmas – celebrated on
January 6th. Depending which ecclesiastical calendar you follow, the day
commemorates the baptism of Christ or the visit of the Magi or Three Kings.
This was an important medieval holiday and the traditional date to take down
Christmas decorations officially ending “Christmastide.” Some other traditions
observed on this day were a reversal of roles with nobility acting as servants
to the lower classes and the appointment of a “Lord of Misrule.” Sort of a
King-for-a-day whose rules were to be obeyed by both low and high throughout
the day. It’s probably just as well Scolairi doesn’t observe that particular
tradition. We are probably unruly enough without the extra encouragement!
Ellen
Greetings to all:
The next Arts and Sciences Meeting
will be January 15, 2009 at First United Methodist Church in room 301 from
7:00-9:00pm. Please come and join us as
we continue to work on tokens for the spring event. If you’ve never beaded before, don’t
worry! We can teach you simple beading
techniques. We will be in room 301
barring any changes by the church; if we are moved it will be to the Youth
Lounge in room 302 next door.
Sites of
Interest:
“Der Stuttgart Psalter: Psalmen.” CHRISTtentum.ch: Ein Portal fur das
Christentum in der Schweiz. http://www.christentum.ch/stuttgpsalt.htm.
December 17, 2008. A German site of a
psalter dated to 820 CE in the time of Charlemagne. There is a digitized version at http://tinyurl.com/5qh3qz
Christie,
Grace. Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20386. December 17, 2008. An electronic book digitized online by
Project Gutenberg.
Medieval Writing: Roman Scripts. http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/history2.htm. December 17, 2008. A page on Roman Scripts for calligraphers.
Eithne
Winter practices have been going
well. We'll continue to meet twice a month at the Attractive Alternative (for
those townies, that's the old Junior High School). January practices will be
dedicated to getting ready for Maidens (more individual work), and February
practices will be preparing for Stone Dog (more melee oriented). Final
reminder, if you are a fighter of any flavor and have not renewed your fighter
card since Thanksgiving, please do so immediately; or you will be reauthorizing
in everything.
Catalin
January Greetings, Scribendi.
There are several opportunities
coming up to display your work and to see what others have been doing.
The Kingdom Craftperson’s Faire
will be hosted by Tree Girt Sea at the Kingdom Twelfth Night event January
17th. This is an opportunity to display your projects without the distraction
of documentation or judging. All SCA relevant works are welcome at this venue.
The Authentic Artifact Showcase will also be taking place at Kingdom Twelfth
Night for those who wish to reproduce a medieval item complete with
documentation. Both Their Majesties and Their Highnesses will be in attendance,
so this will be the perfect event to show off what the scribes and artisans
from Baile na Scolairi can do!
Our neighbors in Würm Wald will
also be hosting a Craftperson’s Faire at the Festival of Maidens, January 31st.
This is a venue where you can bring completed projects or display and work on
your projects in company with other artisans from the area. Please contact Lady
Katherin of Würm Wald to arrange space for your activity or display:
carol.a.clark@gmail.com
See you at the next scriptorium,
Ellen
Well, sure enough, the next “episode” in BBC America’s four-part series of modern takes on Shakespeare plays, ShakespeaRe-Told, was broadcast at the appointed time, and your intrepid reviewer was there, safely ensconced in the big, comfy La-Z-Bubba recliner, soft drink and munchies at hand, ready to be, well, anything. I mean, it’s Shakespeare’s stories, which I always enjoy. On the other hand, it’s not Shakespeare’s words for the most part, and that’s a bit of a disappointment, because Shakespeare’s prose and poetry is a joy to hear. Still, I was looking forward to what I assumed would be a better than average
rendition (better,
for example, than the time a production set Romeo and Juliet in the
American frontier west, sort of a Romeo and Juliet meet Billy the Kid), however it might be updated, because I tend to trust the BBC when they
are doing productions of the works of English authors. And in many ways, I was not
disappointed. It does help if you are
already very familiar with this
particular play, or else you will miss many of the nuances of this
production. Still and all, though, it
was a well done effort. What was it? Why, “the Scottish play”, of course, as this
month Da’ud Bob reviews ShakespeaRe-Told: Macbeth.
Starring James McAvoy
as Joe Macbeth, Keeley Hawes as his wife Ella Macbeth, Joseph Millson as Billy
Banquo, Toby Kebbell as Malcolm Docherty, Vincent Regan as Duncan Docherty, and
Richard Armitage as Peter Macduff, this version of the play takes place in a
modern upscale restaurant. (Yes, yes, I
know, setting Macbeth in a restaurant has already been done, in the very quirkyMacbeth, PA. But that was a fast food joint; this is a fine dining restaurant which receives its Michelin three-star rating
early on in the movie. So it’s entirely
different, don’t you see?)
Good points:
Substituting the garbage men, pardon me, bin men, oops, I mean sanitation
workers for the witches of the original was a nice touch. The production replicates the looks and
sounds of a fine dining kitchen. Framing
the clean up guys by telephone. That was
a very interesting take on the “tomorrow” soliloquy. (Better, to my mind, than the version in Macbeth, PA.) Substituting “when pigs will fly”
for “until great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come”. And how they got pigs to fly.
Bad points: The
discussion about squid. And as I noted
above, you need to be very familiar with the
original work to catch many of the nuances in this production.
Zero breasts. Two dead bodies. (Not counting all the food: boar’s head,
lobster, etc.) 4½ gallons of blood. In the frying pan. In the shower. (They did not pay that actress enough!) In the
bed. Garbage truck rolls. Gratuitous Bee Gees music. Gratuitous pig’s head. Gratuitous graphic butcher lessons. Gratuitous boar’s head tattoo. Gratuitous liver. Gratuitous health inspector. Academy Award nominations to James McAvoy as
James Macbeth for “Food ... is also about sound”; to the three bin men for “We
know everythin’”; and to scriptwriter Peter Moffat for the exchange in the
restaurant kitchen between Joe, Malcolm, Roddy Maloney and Billy: Joe: “If I
make a mistake, it hurts me. Do you
understand that? I mean, actual physical
pain.” Malcolm: “That’s very Gordon
Ramsay”. [Ramsay is a British TV chef.] Roddy: “We don’t use that name in this kitchen. Didn’t your father tell you?” Billy: “It’s bad luck to say it out
loud. Just call him ‘The Scottish
Chef’.” A 78 on the Vomit Meter. Two stars. Da’ud Bob says “It’s a searing portrayal of a descent into madness, all
in the name of good food and fine dining. Check it out!”
This is the on-line version of The Scolairi Notes. Scolairi Notes is the publication of the Shire of Baile na Scolairi, a branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. Scolairi Notes is available from Renee LeVeque, 711 E Taylor, Bloomington, IL 61701, at no cost. It is not a corporate publication of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc., and does not delineate SCA policies. Opinions expressed herein are not those of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. Webbed version created by Rory mac Feidhlimidh.