What an amazing series. My favorite bit has to be the Love's Labor's Lost bit at the top of ep. 3, followed by an excerpt from A Bit of Fry and Laurie that makes a joke at the expense of folks like John Barton that he's able to laugh along with.
There's so much about the language of Shakespeare that needs to be vocalized and heard to understand. It took me way too long to realize that not all of his iambic pentameter was "correct' rhythmically, and that those variances _meant_ something. Watching and hearing these actors work through their scenes (and sometimes having their work adjusted live!) was truly eye-opening as to how the language of Shakespeare, arcane though it is, was deliberate, purposeful and useful.
There's so much about the language of Shakespeare that needs to be vocalized and heard to understand. It took me way too long to realize that not all of his iambic pentameter was "correct' rhythmically, and that those variances _meant_ something. Watching and hearing these actors work through their scenes (and sometimes having their work adjusted live!) was truly eye-opening as to how the language of Shakespeare, arcane though it is, was deliberate, purposeful and useful.