50 C O N T E X T 1 2 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 Book reviews Elizabethan connections Shakespeare: staging the world Jonathan Bate and Dora Thornton, British Museum Press, 2012, 304pp paperback, fully illustrated, ISBN 978 0 7141 2824 5, £25 (hardback also available) This stand-alone book has been issued to coincide with the exhibition of the same name that is at the British Museum until 25 November. Produced to a high standard, it also serves as a catalogue to the show. Apart from its obvious use to colleagues in Stratford-upon-Avon and Southwark (the two areas foremost in our minds when we think of the Bard), topographical and cultural material here will enlighten those working on Venice or visiting that city. Chapter 5 is a masterly summary of howVenice was perceived through the eyes of Shakespeare and his fellow Brits. The theme is then developed with Chapter 6 on ‘The Noble Moor’, Othello. These sections are illustrated by choice objects (such as first-class copies of Hollar’s panorama of London and of Jacopo de’ Barbari’s Bird’s-eye view ofVenice from the south, both worth a visit to the show just to see in their original form). When I was preparing for exams in Shakespeare in my teens I regarded the plays purely as literature, and took almost no interest in their potential for the stage. Since that time, London’s Globe Theatre has been reconstructed, and material and multi-cultural studies have arisen to demonstrate that the Bard and his audiences were ‘real people’. Visits to Stratford-upon-Avon and a brief spell as a maternity leave officer for its district council have since made me more than aware of the validity of this attitude, now gracefully underlined by the British Museum’s celebration as part of theWorld Shakespeare Festival. Conservation-based research has also since led me to discover an intriguing link between the Elizabethan stage and major, state-sponsored building works. During the aftermath to the Armada invasion crisis of 1588, fortifications were built or upgraded round Britain’s seas from Kent to Berwick and from Cork to the Channel Islands. The main architect, Paul Ive (c1545–1604), had published the first English treatise on fortification. His junior by 18 years was the poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare’s own dramatic forebear, and numerous connections can be traced between Ive and Marlowe. The poet’s big success, Tamberlaine the Great, Part One (also 1588), led to a frantic search for new material for Part Two of the play. Where did Marlowe find new lines and his characters’ vocabulary of siege warfare? Answer: in the pages of Ive’s Practice of Fortification. Proof of this extraordinary connection may be found in Tamberlaine the Great, Part Two, with speeches by Tamberlaine in Act 3, Scene 2 and by Theridamus in Scene 3. GrahamTite, conservation officer, BEAMS Change and decay Surveying Historic Buildings DavidWatt, Donhead Publishing, 2011, 416 pp, b&w ills, hardback, ISBN 978 1 873394 67 0, £48 First published in 1966, Surveying Historic Buildings has already proved its worth, becoming an essential text for all those involved in the inspection, assessment and repair of historic buildings. Building surveys are the vital first step in understanding historic buildings and the information provided must not only be accurate, but must also reflect the specific needs of the client. DavidWatt, an IHBC member, has worked as a conservation officer, an academic and a consultant surveyor. He provides informed insights into the surveying process and the diagnosis of historic building defects. The book covers the different forms that building surveys may take, the preparations needed before carrying out the work, the inspection itself, appropriate assessment methods, and the compilation of the final report. The longest section of the book deals with defects, and commences with a clear and detailed analysis of the causes of deterioration and decay. AsWatt says, ‘while older buildings are often considered better built than their modern equivalents, this is often far from the truth’. He points out that those buildings that survive today are typically the more sound or those more suited to alternative use. Only through regular and sensitive care can they continue to survive. Separate chapters deal with all the major building elements, and include fixtures, fittings and finishes, as well as building services. The importance of investigating site and ground conditions is stressed, and there are special chapters on industrial archaeology and standing ruins. The new edition has two main objectives. It reflects recent changes in the approach to managing the historic built environment. These include the important shift in the values we place on the significance of buildings and the contribution they make to communities. It also takes account of changes in practice and building technology, and includes many new case studies that demonstrate typical problems encountered in historic buildings. These are accompanied by useful photographs and drawings of detailed elements. A final chapter looks to the Shakespeare staging the world Jonathan Bate & Dora Thornton £40.00 Shakespeare Jonathan Bate & Dora Thornton staging the world Authoritative, surprising, evocative andoriginal, Shakespeare: staging theworld offers a completely new approach toone of themost exceptional creative imaginations in history. Professional theatrewas a newphenomenon inShakespeare’s lifetime, and the Londonplayhousepresented theworld to awidepublic.While regional and ethnic identities,matters of religion and succession, trade andwarwerebeing contested, theplaywright’s rolewas to inform,persuade andprovoke debate on the concerns of theday.Noneperformed this role withmorebrilliance thanWilliamShakespeare,who recast characters from antiquity to reframe history andwhose legacy shaped a new national identity, firstEnglish and thenBritish. Published to complement amajor exhibition at theBritish Museum, this richly illustratedbook explores an extraordinary selection of objects from theMuseum’s unrivalled collection and keypieces fromBritain and elsewhere.They are examined through the lens ofShakespeare’splays tobring to life not only Shakespeare theman,but also the characters,places and events– real and imagined– featured in hisplays. Shakespeare’sdramas of love anddeath, of youth and age, ofpolitical intrigue and cross-cultural conflictwerewitnessed by travellers frommany nations.But they also represented manypeoples andplaces,past andpresent.Shakespeare’s audiences learned at theplayhousewhatwas happening abroad– orwhat they imagined tobe happening abroad. In Shakespeare’s time, Londonwas almost aworld city, all the worldwas a stage and the stagewas all theworld. With275 colour illustrations £40 Shakespeare staging the world 12/27/11 8:53AM
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=