(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Renaissance_theatre)
The drawing of the Swan Theatre (1596)
Hamlet, Doctor Faustus, The Tempest, and Edward the Second are just a few of the plays produced by the two greatest playwrights of the Renaissance: William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. Born in the same year–1564, they were the two premier writers of their age and arguably among the most important of any era. These are writers who have informed both my studies and entranced my imagination. At Muhlenberg College, I teach Renaissance drama courses and Shakespeare . This summer I am teaching a course called Renaissance Plays In Process, in which we look at several plays and the circumstances surrounding them in the Renaissance as well as how they might be produced today. Whenever I can, I love teaching about these playwrights.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Marlowe
I would love to have the opportunity through a magic time machine to sit down and have a conversation with these two giants of the theater. I would invite both writers to spend an afternoon or evening at a pub–English of course–and over beer and food discuss many topics with them. I am sure that sometimes I would simply listen to them.
I would love to hear what they said about their work and how they felt about each other. I would love to learn from them the specifics of the way their plays were staged. I would ask Marlowe about his mysterious work for the Queen of England. Was he a spy? I do not know if he would answer, but I would still have to ask.
I would ask Shakespeare about the canon of his plays. Were there plays he wrote that are currently lost? If so, what are they? And I have often wondered if he ever considered writing a tragedy about King Arthur.
I also wonder how the two great writers would behave together. Would this be a polite conversation, a deep discussion of theatrical issues, or a wild and fiery debate or argument among bitter rivals?
I wish I could speak with them.
I would visit my daughter every year until hubby had a cerebral hemorrhage and a benign brain tumor. She lives in a village just outside Stratford upon Avon.
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I think I would like to have dinner with Raymond Carver and ask him about how he felt about having his work so heavily edited by Gordon LIsh. I would let him to the place.
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Wonderful idea!
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Thanks!
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You are welcome.
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Stephen King in a small critiquing group in my home – would be a good start.
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Yes, that would be wonderful.
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I have never thought about talking to an author, Charles. If I did speak to one or two though, I would pick Daniel Defoe. A Journal of the Plague Year completely fascinates me and I would like to know more about that time and how he came to write that book. Another time period and book that fascinates me is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The religious ideas and views of the time are horribly fascinating. Actually, I think I will chose one of these for your next U.L.S. series of posts.
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Hi Robbie, they are excellent choices, and it would be fascinating to speak with them. Also, I love the idea of one of them for the next U.L.S. post!
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Great, thanks Charles
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Robbie, you are very welcome.
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I would rather like to ask Shakespeare for the low-down on the sonnets…
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Yes! That would be wonderful to know.
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I loved this post, so insightful and engaging. If I were offered the opportunity to have a conversation with a writer/writers, I would love to have a discussion with Alice Munro and haruki Murakami. I would also love to have a conversation with Virginia Woolf, John Edward Williams and James Joyce.
I would ask about their distinctive writing styles and discuss with them some of the central themes of their works.
With Woolf and Murakami, I would prefer a spot with a view of the sea as I’m aware that both writers were/are emotionally attached to the ocean.
With the other writers, I would go for a café with a nostalgic touch (Munro, Williams) and Irish pub (Joyce).
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Thank you so much! And you idea is wonderful.
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I love Shakespeare; I’ve read a number of his plays, and two of Marlowe’s. Two “lost plays” attributed to Shakespeare are titled Cardenio (believed to have been based on a section of Don Quixote) and Love’s Labour’s Won (thought to be a sequel to Love’s Labour’s Lost). He’s also thought to have contributed to the anonymous play Edward III.
That’s an interesting idea about a Shakespearean play on King Arthur. One English monarch whose life was never dramatized by Shakespeare–or any Elizabethan dramatist as far as we know–was Henry III.
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Hi Andrew, I do wonder if such a play on King Arthur was written and is lost now.
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That would be something; same with one on Henry III–his only real appearance in Elizabethan drama that I know of was at the end of Shakespeare’s King John.
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Good point!
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I’d like to overhear a conversation between Annie Dillard and GK Chesterton on everything from writing to the meaning of life. I don’t think I’d be smart enough to participate much, so I’d be fine just being a fly on the wall.
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I think they would welcome you into the conversation.
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There are so many, but L.M. Montgomery and J.D. Salinger come to mind as two of my childhood favorites.
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A wonderful choice!
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I would love to talk with mystery authors Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini. They are a married couple who each have very successful series and have also written several books together. They live in San Francisco, and that’s where I’d like to meet!
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That is an excellent choice and place!
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Thanks for the fun post!
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You are very welcome!
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There’s a magnificently insane place in Houston called The Orange Show. I would go there with Proust, Vonnegut and Maya Angelou. And since we’re in Houston, outside, I’d serve agua fresca and tacos with FLAN
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A wonderful idea!
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As much as I’ve been looking forward to this post, I was intrigued by your own response and propose a suggestion for the teacher.
Imagine yourself at that table with both authors. Imagine how that dialogue might go and then write where it takes you. I should be fascinated by the results should you accept the challenge and I’ve no doubt others would be as well.
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It is a fascinating idea, and perhaps the basis for another book!
I will see when I can do it.
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I would love to have dinner with C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling. I think Rowling was strongly influenced by Lewis. I also think the giant chess scene in “Harry Potter” was much the same as the giant statues in “the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” It would be a lively dinner!
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Hi Jennie,
Yes, it certainly would be!
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🙂
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