In an unprecedented second episode on a play, Sheldrake examines the linguistic DNA of Hamlet and finds three rhetorical techniques that perform what Shakespeare is also doing with the big ideas in this play: Hendiadys, Metonymy and Synecdoche.
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In the first of two episodes on this mightiest of plays, Sheldrake compares the plot of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with its sources, uncovering a tremendous amount of ‘literary upcycling’ but also a profound and imaginative tribute to the power of theatre at the play’s core.
First preview of Sheldrake on Shakespeare: Live! THIS FRIDAY 2nd June, 7pm at the Etcetera Theatre, Camden.
Oxford preview on Thursday 8th June, 7.30pm at the Old Fire Station, Oxford.
All previews and the Edinburgh run listed here: https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/
Listen again to my interview on BBC Radio Oxford here at 1:10:00: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0fl3f14
Ben Jonson. Rival or friend of Shakespeare? Grumpy old bore or stout moralist? In a typical cop-out, Sheldrake thinks both caricatures are true. Jonson is an awkward playwright at the best of times, but his plays are well worth the seeing. Sheldrake gives you his personal top three.
Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
The soliloquy is one of Shakespeare’s most recognisable and distinctive theatrical devices. It is in no small part responsible for his fame as a dramatist of human psychology. Was Julius Caesar the gateway in Shakespeare’s soliloquising art between the 1590s and the 1600s? Sheldrake takes a close look at a few speeches from the play.
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Sheldrake on Shakespeare 