"Shakespeare portrait goes on display tonight"
lyra
Guelph Mercury (subscription) - Guelph,Ontario,Canada
The "Shakespeare -- Made in Canada" exhibition will be launched at the
centre at 7:30 pm The exhibition, as well as the festival built around
it, ...
.........................................................................................................
("You must sign in to read this",
or whatever it was that it said.)
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I don't like the picture, myself.
Baker thinks it's Webster (?).
If only we could get some more clues.
Art Neuendorffer
>
> Shakespeare portrait goes on display tonight
>
> Guelph Mercury (subscription) - Guelph,Ontario,Canada
>
> The "Shakespeare -- Made in Canada" exhibition will be launched at the
> centre at 7:30 pm The exhibition, as well as the festival built around
> it, ...
>...............................................................................
>
>
> Baker thinks it's Webster (?).
John or Noah?
-------------------------------------------
Coup Anchors Shakespeare Festival in City
Paige Hilton, Guelph (Jan 2, 2007)
.
<<A portrait of William Shakespeare that is currently being tested to
prove its authenticity will be on display in Guelph starting Jan. 11.
The Sanders portrait, a Canadian-owned portrait that is believed to be
an authentic painting of the famous playwright, will be on display at
the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre along with other Canadian
Shakespearean
artifacts for the Shakespeare - Made in Canada Festival.
.
The coup in getting the painting in Guelph began when the co-curator of
the exhibition, U of G prof Daniel Fischlin, was looking for a
signature
image for his Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project website that
was Shakespearean but also Canadian. "We had known about the Sanders
portrait and the story about its Canadian owner, and the struggles
around authenticating it," said Fischlin. He approached the owner,
Lloyd
Sullivan, an Ottawa resident, and asked for permission to use the
image.
"He gave us permission, and one thing led to another and we became
friends. It became apparent to us that there was a really interesting
story around Canadian immigration and the flow of artifacts from
England
to Canada," he said. The portrait has "been passed down through
generation after generation of the same family, and it survived floods,
fire, trans-Atlantic voyages, the works," he said.
.
The art exhibit takes up the entire gallery and is the largest the
centre has ever shown. It all begins on Thursday Jan. 11.
http://www.canadianshakespeares.ca/
Fischlin had launched the Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project
website, "and it became apparent that we had launched what could be the
largest site in the world devoted to Shakespeare," Fischlin said.
"That started getting us an awful lot of attention. Then, I think the
University of Guelph started to realize there's a really interesting
thing happening here."
Included in the exhibit at the centre are a thrust stage from the
Stratford Festival, costumes, art inspired by Shakespeare's writing,
films, the sword used by Sir Alec Guinness in the first Stratford
festival production - Richard III, in 1952 - and much more.
Fischlin has borrowed artifacts from more than 100 collectors, and
others have contributed artwork, music and more. There will also be a
children's area in the exhibit where they can simulate some of the
tests
that were done on the portrait, Fischlin said. The exhibit will
surround
the Sanders portrait, which is being displayed alone in the main lobby
of the centre with nothing on the walls except a few posters with
information about it, Fischlin said. Visitors will be able to see the
entire portrait, front and back, thanks to an acrylic plastic display
case, he said. The exhibit will have a gala opening on Jan. 11 and runs
to June 10.>>
-----------------------------
. Shakes Beer!
http://www.canadianshakespeares.ca/links/images/bear_sanders.jpg
.
Ed McCallum, director of brewing and development at Sleeman Breweries
Ltd., shows the tap that will pour The Bard's Beer locally over the
course of the "Shakespeare - Made in Canada" festival. The picture
on the tap is taken from the Sanders portrait, which is the
centrepiece of the festival. McCallum, a Guelph native,
describes the 5.2% beer as having a caramel colour.
.
[Note: Shaksper died from binge drinking to celebrate his
52nd birthday and his Stratford bust has a caramel colour. -ACN]
......................................
(Jan 5, 2007) Call it much ado about something. Something rather tasty.
.
Sleeman Breweries has brewed up a new beer in honour of the
"Shakespeare
- Made in Canada" festival, with proceeds going to support the
five-month festival which starts Jan. 11. T he new draft beer was
officially tapped yesterday at an event at the Shakespeare Arms pub
and restaurant. "The Bard's Beer" will be available at local pubs
and restaurants until the regional arts festival ends in May.
.
"Sleeman Breweries is very pleased to support the 'Shakespeare - Made
in
Canada' festival and has produced a limited edition ale for the event
that was inspired by this storied period in history," said Ed McCallum,
the company's director of brewing and development. Beer and ale were
"an
integral part of everyday life in Shakespeare's time," McCallum said in
a news release. "In fact, Shakespeare's own father was a conner or
ale-taster. I think he would approve of this brew."
.
The festival will be formally launched on Thursday Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
at a free public event at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre.
.
On Jan. 13, the art centre will host a special day for families.
.
It's also offering a Jan. 12 lecture by Lloyd Sullivan, an Ottawa
resident who owns the painting that is the focus of the festival.
It's believed that Shakespeare sat for an ancestor of Sullivan's, an
unknown actor and painter called John Sanders, in 1603, a U of G news
release said. Sullivan inherited the portrait from his mother in 1972.
The painting, confirmed by years of forensic studies to date
from around 1600, is believed by many to be the
only image of Shakespeare painted while he was live.>>
--------------------------
Art Neuendorffer
Art Neuendorffer
http://www.machomer.com/index.php?Flash=1
-----------------------------------------
From: David Kathman <d...@popd.ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: MacHomer
Date: 2000/04/25
Newsgroups: humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare
....................................
Gary Kosinsky wrote:
>
> A while back we had some fun in this group by casting
> various members of "The Simpsons" into different
> Shakespearian plays.
>
> Playwright/performer Rick Miller had a similiar idea back
> in 1995 and turned it into "MacHomer".
>
> I first came across "MacHomer" at last fall's
> Vancouver Fringe Festival.
> Unfortunately the show I tried to go to was sold out.
> So when I noticed that "MacHomer" was back for a return engagement
> for a couple of performances last week, I made it a point to get a
> ticket. What Miller has done is abridge "Macbeth", and fill it with
> almost every Simpson character possible. It is really quite a feat!
> It's a one-man show, with Miller doing all the voices - and doing
> them well! Which I found impressive. As for the cast:
> Homer, of course, takes the title role, and Marge is Lady MacHomer.
> Flanders portrays Banquo. Mr. Burns is a more-sinister-than-usual
> Duncan. Barney has a major role as MacDuff (and let's not forget
the
> name of Barney's favorite beer), and Actor Troy McClure is Ross.
> In all,
> about forty (!) Simpson characters pop up in this play. And if
> that's not enough, Kermit the Frog even makes a couple of cameo
> appearances - including the Witch's cauldron scene ("Toad...Boil
> thou first i' th' charmed pot.") It's really a tour-de-force of
> impersonation by Miller.
>
> Aiding the hour-long performance is a series of hand-drawn
> cartoons featuring the Simpsons in their respective roles, which
> are projected onto a large screen as Miller voices the script.
>
> Having said that, the actual script wasn't quite as funny
> as I would have expected. Certainly the idea of the Simpsons cast
> performing a Shakespeare play is funny, but I wasn't laughing as
> hard as I thought I would. Also, Miller tends to talk very quickly
> in his many voices and, sitting in the balcony, I found some of the
> lines went by too quick to appreciate them. However the crowd at
> the performance (most of whom seemed to be in their twenties or
> early thirties) certainly seemed to enjoy the performance,
> calling Miller back for three curtain calls.
>
> According to the program notes, "MacHomer" has been seen
> by over 50,000 people, and a world tour is in the works for
> the year 2000. If it pops up in your neck of the world, and
> if you're a fan of "The Simpsons", "MacHomer" is a must-see.
.
Miller performed "MacHomer" at the Shakespeare Association of
America meeting in Montreal a couple of weeks ago, and it was
well received. I found it very entertaining.
.
> Note: Having written this, it occurs to me that some non-North
> American members of this group may not know what "The Simpsons"
> is. For those poor unfortunates: "The Simpsons" is an animated
> cartoon tv series which, at its best, is one of the wittiest
> shows on television.
.
"The Simpsons" is seen all over the world, not just in North
America. I can attest this from my days as a regular on
the alt.tv.simpsons newsgroup some five years ago, when
Simpsons fans would post from all kinds of places.
.
Dave Kathman
d...@ix.netcom.com
-----------------------------------------
From: jarofc...@my-deja.com
Newsgroups: humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare
Subject: Re: Macbeth
Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 01:48:11 GMT
.
Earlier today [Sunday] on Canada's national radio call-in show,
Cross-Country Checkup (CBC Radio One)
<http://www.radio.cbc.ca/programs/checkup/checkup.html>
.
comedian Rick Miller (from Montreal) was interviewed briefly about his
one-man play, "MacHomer", which he performed recently at the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival. The play lasts for about 55 minutes, and encorporates
between 80-90% of verbatim dialogue from Shakespeare's "MacBeth".
His voice characterizations of Homer, Barney. Mr. Burns et al.
are spot on. He was hilarious!
.
Cast:
.
MacBeth: Homer
King Duncan: Mr. Burns
The Three Witches: Captain, Apu, Principal Skinner
McDuff: Barney
Banquo: Ned Flanders
etc.
.
(note: I read one review which states one of the witches
is Moe, so perhaps Miller varies the characters)
-----------------------------------------------
MacHomer: The Simpsons Do Macbeth (1995)
.
Rick Miller with Jelly-Doughnut
.
Download Script
http://www.canadianshakespeares.ca/a_machomer.cfm
.
Like his predecessor Rich Little, Rick Miller has a gift for performing
comic impressions; unlike his predecessor, Miller has transformed this
mode of stand-up comedy into a rather more ambitious performance:
a one-man stage adaptation of Shakespeare's Scottish play, as
interpreted by almost the entire cast of The Simpsons.
.
The result is MacHomer, which opened to fringe festival acclaim in 1996
and has been touring North America, Australia, and the UK ever since.
MacHomer is a frenetic, multimedia "de-formation and adaptation"
(Fischlin, "Nation and/as Adaptation" 316) of iambic pentameter, sound
bites, slapstick, puppet shows, video clips, voice-overs, and non
sequiturs, as Miller's Homer takes the lead role and steers it like
a drunk driver to its fate at Dunsinane. True to the Fox television
program it parodies, MacHomer includes numerous allusions to and
quotations from other popular culture artifacts and celebrities, such
as Braveheart, Cheers, West Side Story, Sean Connery, The Muppet Show,
Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,
O. J. Simpson, and The Simpsons' potty-mouth rival South Park.
.
The supersaturation of this play with such allusions, together with the
surprising amount of original (if playfully delivered) Shakespearean
dialogue, suggest that, in at least two important respects, there's
more (and, simultaneously, perhaps less) going on in MacHomer than
what Richard Burt has called "dumbed down Shakespeare"
(Unspeakable Shaxxxspeares, 5).
.
Firstly, to make sense of (and fully appreciate the humour in) Miller's
show requires an audience to be sufficiently familiar with both the
Scottish play and the extensive cast of The Simpsons. Both sources are
sufficiently popular to have made the show a consistently sold-out
success. The challenge for audiences of MacHomer is to keep up with
Miller's rapid-fire, virtuoso delivery of some sixty-odd
impersonations.
So while the content remains mostly Shakespearean dialogue (albeit
cleverly butchered), the form adheres more closely to the spirit of The
Simpsons TV show, with its snappy banter, barbed asides, and the
verbose
road signs, banners, billboards that litter the mediascape of the
show's
middle American background (e.g. "Brevity is ... wit!" declares the
banner over a Reader's Digest booth at a Springfield book fair []). As
Joanne Huffa wrote in an eye magazine review of Soulpepper's September
2001 remount, "in just over an hour, Miller manages to perform the
whole play and still find time to recap the story, break-dance and
sing"
.
Secondly, Miller's elaborate parody represents "crucial aspects of the
cultural politics of Canada" (Fischlin 316) as a nation-state whose
mediascape is thoroughly colonized by U.S. cultural products. The
show unflinchingly charges into the increasingly scrutinized area of
copyright law between performance rights, artistic license, and parody,
on the one hand, and corporate control over "brand strategy" on the
other--all the while.
.
Reviews and reports appear to conflict over the status of the
relationship between Miller and Fox, which owns The Simpsons. In a 2001
Los Angeles Times review, Phil Davis reported that while Miller met
with
favourable reviews from the cast of The Simpsons and its creator Matt
Groening when he met them at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2000,
"Miller is still negotiating with Fox for official permission to do the
show" ( http://www.snpp.com/other/articles/taletold.html ). Conversely,
the Washington Olympian reported in 2002 that "Miller contacted Fox ...
'I told them what I was doing and they said 'sure'"
http://news.theolympian.com/specialsections/Theater/20020308/31083.shtml
.
The line in the sand drawn by the show between parody and plagiarism
has
irked critics as well as copyright lawyers; the National Post's Robert
Cushman derides the show as "a facile two-minute gag ... a curious
blend
of plagiarism and sycophancy" ("Parody Comedy at Your Peril." National
Post 16 Oct. 1999: F11).
.
Miller himself has acknowledged the silliness, incongruity, and patent
piracy of his show; nonetheless, he suggests that the show can also be
viewed as a pedagogical tool, akin--however improbably--to the
one-woman
adaptation industry that is Lois Burdett: "'It does a wonderful thing
for kids,' Miller says. 'It makes them care about Shakespeare. Whatever
way that happens is positive'" (qtd. in Spevack, Leatrice. "Simpsons do
Shakespeare." Toronto Star 9 Oct. 1999: H10). Miller's assumption isn't
necessarily that children are The Simpsons' target audience (the
writing
has always suggested otherwise) but rather that they comprise a
significant incidental audience and can at least identify the show's
major characters if not the subtleties of its dialogue. But another
assumption operating here--one that Miller shares with Burdett and
many other adaptors--is "that popular cultural icons are necessary
to create an educational and entertaining show" (Fischlin 316).>>
.
Mark McCutcheon
-------------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer