Shades of Grey in Shakespeare Behind Bars

One of the first lessons we learn as children is the difference between good and evil. We’re taught these concepts from very young ages with Disney movies and fairytales that present us with characters that fit easily into categories of either “good” or “evil.” Some people never get out of this frame of thought. Some people always view good and evil as a black and white concept, when this is not typically the case in the real world. The character of people in the world cannot be defined by black and white ideas of good and evil, but by shades of grey. This is a hard thing to understand or to accept, especially when regarding people who have committed heinous crimes. But I think what makes Shakespeare so enduring is that he understood these shades of grey. Shakespeare understood and explored human nature so extensively in his plays, and that’s what makes them so resilient with time.

Shakespeare Behind Bars was a fantastic exploration of this aspect of Shakespeare’s writing. The film, while documenting a prison’s production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, also served as an intensive character study of modern prison inmates who have found resonance in Shakespeare’s plays. I thought it was really interesting how the documentary wasn’t so much an account of the production of the play, but an account of the inmates’ experiences with the play and with Shakespeare’s characters. Criminals are regarded in our society as the lowest of the low, but this documentary made the bold assertion that though Shakespeare is typically considered a high-brow form of art for the educated and elite parts of society, prisoners and criminals have the most tangible understanding of Shakespeare’s plays.

I also thought it was really telling that the focus of the documentary wasn’t on the inmates struggling to understand Shakespeare. Actually, from the point of view of the audience, these inmates seem to thoroughly understand and connect with Shakespeare’s characters very rapidly. This emphasizes that though Shakespeare’s plays are associated with high-brow culture, at the time Shakespeare wrote them he geared them toward the lower classes. One of the prisoners even says that a prison production of Shakespeare is especially fitting since actors during Shakespeare’s time were considered thieves.

I was also really affected by the documentary’s broaching the inmates’ crimes, and the subsequent treatment of these crimes. Most of the crimes committed by these inmates, inmates who the audience is consistently rooting for, are really serious and disturbing crimes. The documentary doesn’t downplay their seriousness in any way, and it doesn’t try to hide their crimes either. But somehow you still feel for these people, and you find it hard to believe that they ever did these heinous things that they’ve been convicted of. That’s where the shades of grey come in. The audience is able to see these people as real people with potential to do good in the future. Though they have done evil in the past, they are not entirely consumed by evil. Shakespeare’s characters reflect these qualities in the inmates in this film, which is why this documentary is such an effective character study of these inmates. The prisoners are forced to face their own demons as they learn about the characters and roles they are taking on for the play.

Volpone: A Modern Cast

This week for my rumination I decided to choose my ideal cast of Volpone from actors and actresses that are living today. I'm sure the ages of these actors aren't too ideal, but I think they fit well in the roles anyway. I’ve listed them below, with my reasons for casting them... and I've made a handy graphic, too!

VOLPONE: Michael Gambon

Michael Gambon plays Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, so this choice might seem strange. However, I recently saw Gambon play a guest role in a British television show as a greedy, older man, and it actually fit him really well. I feel like Volpone is pretty snarky, and I think Gambon would be capable of bringing just the right amount of dark humor to the table as money-obsessed, hedonistic character.

MOSCA: Jesse Eisenberg

Hopefully most people who have seen Eisenberg in last year’s The Social Network understand why I chose him for this role. Mosca was really interesting to me, because I feel like he was so convincingly loyal and obedient to Volpone until he made a complete turn-around to betray him. I feel like Eisenberg has the acting chops to pull off Mosca’s deceitfulness and duplicity. What I love about Eisenberg is that his physical appearance makes him seem very young and harmless, but as we’ve seen in The Social Network, he can overturn all of harmlessness with a single look.

CELIA: Amy Adams

Celia struck me as a woman who is resolute and firm in her morals. However, she is also ultimately subservient to her tyrant of a husband, so there needs to be a balance of strength and surrender with Celia. I think Amy Adams could pull this off well.

VOLTORE: Daniel Bruhl

Daniel Bruhl played a German soldier in Inglorious Basterds, and I really like him for the role of Voltore because he is really diplomatic, well-spoken, and pleasant in Inglorious Basterds yet it is also clear that he has ulterior motives and he is not the good guy he makes himself out to be.

CORVINO: Michael Fassbender

I picked Fassbender for Corvino because I honestly just want to see Fassbender play an unapologetically vicious character. I would have chosen him for Volpone, but I felt like Volpone needed to be older. Fassbender’s got the look and the acting chops to play Corvino, as evidenced by his roles in Inglorious Basterds and Jane Eyre.

CORBACCIO: John Noble

John Noble is really good at playing mentally unstable fathers – he played the insane Lord Denethor in Lord of the Rings series and he currently plays mad scientist Walter Bishop in the television show Fringe. Noble is just generally good at playing the kooky old father figure who is completely disconnected from reality and subsequently hurts his son(s).

BONARIO: Joshua Jackson

I’m cheating a little bit here, because Joshua Jackson plays Noble’s son in Fringe, but I can’t get the image of him as Bonario out of my head. Just like Noble is good at playing insane father figures, Jackson is adept at playing sons with father issues in both Dawson’s Creek and Fringe. Jackson’s got a friendly face that would fit well with Bonario’s hero qualities, but can also portray the agony of being rejected by his father very well.