Making Shakespeare

Synopsis: Uses video technology as a vehicle for arguments about current understanding of Shakespeare. Weaves performance, archive and film material with class and studio work in an attempt to consolidate recent alternative approaches to literary criticism, drawn from feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, media education and cultural studies. Whilst addressing issues of general cultural and critical relevance, Othello is used as a focus for the specific questions of class, race and gender. Raymond Williams analyses the signals through which the Shakespearean script addresses its audience, Lisa Jardine approaches Othello through an historical account of the representation of gender in the Renaissance, Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield offer a working definition of ‘ideology’ in the play and period, Peter Holland considers the implications of recent textual scholarship, Germaine Greer stresses the cognitive power of performance and Iago’s contemporary urgency, and Sam Wanamaker and Jonathan Miller discuss performance.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Year of release: 1987
Duration: 60 mins
Availability: Sale

Director: Brian Musgrove; Charles Ritchie
Writer: Charles Ritchie
Contributor: Alan Sinfield; Germaine Greer; Jonathan Dollimore; Jonathan Miller; Lisa Jardine; Peter Holland; Raymond Williams; Sam Wanamaker

Notes: Material is made available to staff and students of the University only. Outside researchers requiring access should contact the Librarian regarding the possibility of an on-site viewing.
Documentation: Accompanying 16-page booklet contains suggestions on how the tape might be used in classroom/college teaching, information on the sources and developments of the tape’s arguments, and profiles of speakers.
Uses: General, but with specific attention to educational contexts from A-level upwards.