This thread has made me laugh. Of course Billy Wagstaff wss a literary genius (even if he was an amalgam of several writers), it's ridiculous to think otherwise.
'Yeah, that Shakespeare is all right, but MacBeth isn't as good as Fawlty Towers or Only Fools and Horses.'
>_<
Quote: Renegade Carpark @ May 11 2009, 6:20 PM BSThe was an amalgam of several writers
Possibly. In fact, many say that Shakespeare "stole" or "plagiarised" the majority of his stories from previously published sources. e.g. 'The Merchant of Venice' (written between 1596 and 1598) based on Marlowe's 'The Jew of Malta' (1589 or 1590)
Quote: Gavin @ May 11 2009, 4:22 PM BSTNot enough car chases.
Thing is, there are hardly any directions given in his plays, nor are there any descriptions of characters, etc - apart from, for example:
SCENE II. The sea-coast.
Enter VIOLA, a Captain, and Sailors.
There's dialogue (exposition!) disclosing that they've been shipwrecked and don't know where they are, etc, etc. The scene ends with:
Exeunt
The above scene could be up-dated and set on a tropical island.
Viola with the captain, crew and stewards could be the survivors of an air crash not unlike the first episode of 'Lost'.
This can be done with Shakespeare's plays and many of his peers' plays - and has been with impunity as they're all in the public domain. To update these plays (or just a scene), apart from anything else, is a very good exercise in writing.
Gavin could even stick in a car chase or two!
I used to like him, but as soon has He & Richard Burbage started leaving those obscene scrolls for Mr Hathaway saying 'Will hast deflowered your granddaughter'
I went right off him.
Twat.
Not fussed on Shakey. I'd go for the latter.
Liked his subtle gag about Julius Caesar being a colossus and mere mortals walk beneath his legs and look up, but that's it.
Any guy who pumped out hundreds of sonnets to impress the ladies wasn't getting enough and was clearly too thick to work out that it was a tactic that wasn't working.
Scene (geddit!) 'The Merchant of Venice', 'The Tempest' 'Macbeth' (with Peter O'Toole-faaaabulous darling) and 'Romeo and Juliet' and liked them all. Genius whoever he/she/they/him/her/blackman/whiteman/beggarman/thief happened to be.
'Though I am native here and to the manor born, it is a custom more honoured in the breach than the observance.'
There you go - two well known sayings from one f**king line. Modern English usage is built on Shakespeare. Even two c**ts in the street 'chatting shit' owe him.
OBVIOUSLY GENIUS
Quote: Griff @ May 11 2009, 11:18 PM BST* - Not in a Fantastic Voyage way
Talking of Sci-Fi - "A great deal has been made of the fact that Forbidden Planet is essentially William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611) in an science-fiction setting. It is this that transforms Forbidden Planet into far more than a mere pulp science-fiction story."
Quote: Morrace @ May 11 2009, 11:31 PM BSTTalking of Sci-Fi - "A great deal has been made of the fact that Forbidden Planet is essentially William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611) in an science-fiction setting. It is this that transforms Forbidden Planet into far more than a mere pulp science-fiction story."
Yeah, but Shakey definitely ripped off West Side Story for his Romeo and Juliet bollox (and he cast Leonardo Di Crapio), so he am a twat.
Quote: Renegade Carpark @ May 11 2009, 11:48 PM BSTYeah, but Shakey definitely ripped off West Side Story for his Romeo and Juliet bollox (and he cast Leonardo Di Crapio), so he am a twat.
The original 'West Side Story' Broadway production was in 1957. Shakespeare was dead by then.
In 1996 Baz Luhrmann, not Shakespeare, cast Leonardo Di Caprio as Romeo. Shakespeare was dead by then, anyway.
Shakespeare was never referred to as 'Shakey' - the only showbiz person (which Shakespeare was) with that nickname' was Shakin' Stevens (born Michael Barrett, 4 March 1948); his main break in Show Business was in the musical 'Elvis'. Elvis was dead by then - but not as dead as Shakespeare who 'left the building' on 23 April 1616.
Shakespeare's sonnet, 'Canst thou, O cruel! say I love thee not' was the basis of the Elvis song 'Don't Be Cruel'. Likewise 'Hound Dog' was based on the working title of Shakespeare's 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' which happened to be (or not to be) 'The Two Hound Dogs of Verona'. Another Shakespeare sonnet, 'When I do count the clock that tells the time' was the basis for the Bill Haley hit 'Rock Around The Clock'.
Shakespeare also the pioneer of sequels such as 'Richard The Second' and 'Richard The Third' - long before the likes of 'Jaws 2' and 'Jaws 3'.
If you called the Bard a 'twat', to his face he would probably bitch-slap you with a - "Kiss my codpiece, thou beslubbering, pox-marked canker-blossom!"
Quote: chipolata @ May 11 2009, 10:09 AM BSTHe's still read and performed now, so I'd lean towards genius. Not many writers nowadays will still have an audience in 400 years time.
Someone might still be catching up on Sooty's sketches. 
I liked the Al Pacino film "Looking for Richard". Especially the bit where Pacino and a mate went to Stratford Upon Avon.
Quote: Morrace @ May 12 2009, 3:25 AM BSTThe original 'West Side Story' Broadway production was in 1957. Shakespeare was dead by then.
Yeah, I know, it was a joke. Like the kid on the internet who claimed Lord of the Rings was a ripoff of Dragaonball Z.
Kurosawa's Ran was a great adaption of King Lear and just about every gangster movie ever made has it's roots in MacBeth or Julius Caesar.
Shakey also has about 500 pubs named after him, so that alone is enough to warrant a genius tag.
Quote: Renegade Carpark @ May 12 2009, 12:35 PM BSTYeah, I know, it was a joke. Like the kid on the internet who claimed Lord of the Rings was a ripoff of Dragaonball Z.
Kurosawa's Ran was a great adaption of King Lear and just about every gangster movie ever made has it's roots in MacBeth or Julius Caesar.
Shakey also has about 500 pubs named after him, so that alone is enough to warrant a genius tag.
Pft that's Rubbish everyone knows Lord of the Rings was a rip off of Harry Potter.
He used stories that already existed. He was a genius with language though. And I do think he was just one person. One of the biggest arguments against him writing all the works attributed to him was that Shakespeare was 'just' a grammar school kid and not an aristo. Pah!
Quote: Renegade Carpark @ May 12 2009, 12:35 PM BSTYeah, I know, it was a joke. Like the kid on the internet who claimed Lord of the Rings was a ripoff of Dragaonball Z.
Kurosawa's Ran was a great adaption of King Lear and just about every gangster movie ever made has it's roots in MacBeth or Julius Caesar.
Shakey also has about 500 pubs named after him, so that alone is enough to warrant a genius tag.
He did indeed my Corriolanus is especially curly.