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@EveHasWords@toot.cat
Post #2848983
2026-05-11 12:26 UTC
Ian McKellan and Judi Dench played in a version you can watch for free on YouTube and it’s really good. If you have Apple TV, Joel Coen directed Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in it and it’s one of the best screen adaptations IMO.
(The McKellan / Dench edition is essentially still a stage production but shot on video.)
I don’t have any suggestions for The Tempest. I’m saving a Tilda Swinton version of it for a rainy day.
For Hamlet, apart from The Lion King and other loose adaptations, I’ve only seen Kenneth B’s version. It got me started on Shakespeare. All star cast too. But it’s also the second or third longest movie I own and a real time commitment to watch.
Romeo + Juliet is a really great production of that play. I borderline didn’t like that play until I saw that adaptation. Its style and humor make it extremely accessible and the whole cast are great (apart from Leo who is adequate).
All that said, there are full stage productions of just about anything where the script is in public domain that you can watch on YouTube. I’ve seen a lot of Gilbert and Sullivan and also Italian operas that way. Not to mention some other Shakespeare productions.
A plays the thing to catch the conscience of the king. Reading a script isn’t nearly as good a way to do it. Although I will say 100% of the Shakespeare I watched after Hamlet, I read first.
#ScribesAndMakers
Replies (3)
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#ScribesAndMakers May 13: Our next featured creator is exploring pixel art. Have you ever worked with pixel art?
Yep! Most obviously with several of my book covers but I have some more spicy pixel art I haven't shared anywhere.
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@EveHasWords@toot.cat I love the Joel Coen version! The weird sisters are so wonderfully creepy in that one and I absolutely love how they set up the dagger speech.
I saw the best version of the "Scottish Play" in the Globe Theater in London way back when. Everyone was wearing tuxedos (except Lady M who had a ballgown dress). When they did the "Double, Double, Toil and Touble" scene they belted it out like a crazy, ecstatic musical number. It was such a interesting production to watch!
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@EveHasWords@toot.cat The Peter Greenaway version of “The Tempest” — “Prospero’s Books” — is a thing of beauty.
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