Once More Unto The Exhibit, Dear Friends – Shakespeare, Staging The World at The British Museum

Currently, in the large circular reading room of the British Museum, a new exhibit to the greatest playwright of all time provides a new attraction for thousands of new tourists descending uponLondonthis summer. In conjunction with both the World Shakespeare Festival 2012 and the London Festival 2012, a new exhibit housing the most impressive collection of Shakespearean objects coupled with carefully placed excerpts of some of his most famous lines has successfully impressed critics and punters alike.

            The exhibition begins and ends with copies of Shakespeare’s completed works, the first is a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, published in 1623 after his death, and the last is the Robben Island Bible – a copy of The Bard’s completed works smuggled into the prison of Robben Island in the 1970s that was read and  annotated by many of the imprisoned ANC leaders, including Nelson Mandela, whose signature rests beside this inspiring quotation from Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene ii – “Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once” - a fitting and touching way to end the exhibit.

This juxtaposition of the modern and relatable, and the seemingly old and out-of-touch, as Shakespeare exhibitions have been accused of being, carries on throughout the exhibit, referencing famous objects in Shakespeare plays, and then presenting them to you in brilliant condition. Perhaps most notably, in a section of the exhibit focused on Othello, we see a largeToledoblade and an expertly made French hilt encased in a glass case in the centre of the room. Upon reading the box’s description, it explains how when Othello references his “sword ofSpain” that he keeps in his chamber, he was most likely referencing a blade identical to this one.

This realisation and explanation of Shakespearean objects and context is the crucial asset of this exhibit, and the British Museum has done an excellent job of making it easy to understand and engaging. On top of this, the exhibit is also well-supported by the Royal Shakespeare Company, who take engaging the audience to another level, providing distinguished actors such as Sir Antony Sher and Harriet Walter to perform “digital interventions” (basically, recorded speeches) alongside the very artefacts and historical objects they have had to imagine they would be using. Chief among these performances, in my mind, is the excellent Paterson Joseph, whose screen is situated next to the Ides Of March coin as he brilliantly and maliciously portrays Brutus in Julius Caesar, complete with a vicious grin and a perfect replica of the coin he is performing just a few feet away from, in his hand.

However, the exhibition does feel fairly aimed at Shakespeare enthusiasts, assuming a pre-existing level of Shakespeare knowledge which can lead to people with less of a developed knowledge of Shakespeare missing out on the finer and subtler points of the exhibit, perhaps the exhibit’s only downfall. That said, Staging The World does give you the option of purchasing a £25 catalogue that accompanies the exhibit and contains details the wide range of poetry recitals, talks, films and study days. For people who intend to increase their knowledge of Shakespeare, this guide is a necessity for getting the most out of this exquisite exhibit.

What sets this Shakespeare exhibit apart from the countless other Shakespeare Exhibits is that under curators Jonathon Bate and Dora Thornton, the exhibit has managed to effortlessly combine words, images and, with some expert help from the Royal Shakespeare Company, performance to provide a real insight into Shakespearean culture. This beautiful balance allows the paying public to first be immersed in the background history and context of Shakespearean England and London, and then brings it to life with “Talking Heads” style monologues and a startling array of genuine historical objects, such as a 17^thC pack of playing cards depicting the stunning similarities between Cleopatra and Elizabeth 1^st and modern day objects, such as The Robben Island Bible.

I would definitely recommend this exhibition to anyone, whether a Shakespeare aficionado, a Shakespeare amateur looking to delve deeper into the world of The Bard or, a complete Shakespeare novice. With help of the accompanying guide, this exhibit can cater for everyone and can do it effortlessly and effectively.

As always, if you’ve got any thoughts, comments or opinions to add, feel free to leave them in the comments section below or in my ask box!

Thanks, and see you soon!

The Revolutionary Erotica Phenomenon That Could Change Publication and Books As We Know Them – 50 Shades Of Grey

I appreciate that I’m a little late to the “mummy-porn” party, but, as this book has sky-rocketed to the top of almost all best-seller lists around the world, I feel it’s still worth a review.

            Before I can even address 50 Shades of Grey’s redeeming or damning features, the origin of how the entire trilogy came into existence is just as interesting. E.L James developed the concept from her own Twilight fan-fiction, starring Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, and after 3 redrafts, it was published on fiftyshades.com in three parts as the 50 Shades Of Grey, Darker and Freed we know now.  After astonishing success on its independent website, 50 Shades Of Grey was published in the Kindle store and then picked up by Vintage Books and published worldwide. This “cut-out-the-middle-man” style of self-publication is fast becoming the new model of publication, due it being quicker, easier and more profitable for large publishing companies such as Vintage Books; it allows them to see the demand for the book before publication, as opposed to taking a risk on a book, or series, which may not meet demand.

However, the fatal flaw in this model is its lack of editors and editing processes. Usually, erotic fiction, like almost all other books, are subjected to years of editing before publication because editors, not writers are instrumental in turning first draft novels into great pieces of literature. This is how we get superstar editors such as Maxwell Perkins, who edited The Great Gatsby, The Sun Also Rises and The Yearling, and is generally held responsible for the development of these books due to his close and personal relationship with the authors of these books, and the books were received with critical acclaim because of this editorial relationship. When reading 50 Shades Of Grey, it doesn’t take long for it to become apparent that it hasn’t been externally edited or developed past its original concept of Twilight fan-fiction - Christian Grey’s Edward Cullen-esque secret is that he is into bondage, domination and sado-masochism, instead of being a sparkly, vampire-boy. Similarly, Anastasia Steele’s whole demeanour and mannerisms bear a sharp resemblance to Bella Swan’s; both are very rarely positive about anything that isn’t based on looks,   usually leading to over-sexualized appearances in 50 Shades Of Grey. Taking a closer look at the actual writing and writing style of James, the defining feature of 50 Shades Of Grey is its repetition of a few, very clichéd motifs. For example, judging by the sheer amount of times James’ protagonist bites her lip, “quivers”, “shakes”, “blushes or flushes throughout the book, poor Anastasia Steele must have a pretty abnormal facial appearance, and in the same way, if Ana truly believes as many things to be “exciting”, “exquisite” or “beguiling” as E.L James lets on, she must live her life in a constant haze of amazement.  Aside from the painful repetition, the characterization of Steele and Grey is, in many ways, simply contradictory.  We are led to believe that Christian Grey finds James’ female protagonist to be quick-witted and generally fascinating however all we really see of her is a disappointingly empty, tripping over her two left feet, teenage girl stereotype, very similar to Meyer’s depiction of Bella Swan.

The plot of 50 Shades of Grey doesn’t contribute much to the actual novel; it just provides some kind of framework for the sex scenes to occur in. In a nutshell, Christian is an unfeasibly young, sexy, businessman prone to ostentatious displays of wealth (what he actually does, we never actually find out as it is unimportant to his sex appeal) who Anastasia meets, unequivocally falls for before learning anything about him and then agrees to, not enter into a mutually loving relationship, but to become his submissive sex slave at weekends. In between sex scenes, Christian Grey insists on addressing Anastasia as “Miss Steele” as she meets his parents and at the anti-climax of the novel, the couple break up in a few pages of heated argument, so 50 Shades Of Grey can appear to have a cliff-hanger and 50 Shades Darker has an interesting starting point. 

And so now the question remains, how has this book sold so many millions of copies? The simple answer is a marketing and advertising mantra as old as time – sex sells, and this is the basis of all erotic literature, the secret of 50 Shades Of Grey is that it came along at just the right time and due to its new style of publishing and distribution, it was able to reach its core demographic quickly and effectively. E.L James owes a great chunk of her success to the rise of the e-reader. Despite however “liberal” our society may be, prior to the Amazon Kindle, reading a book which everyone knows to contain some pretty explicit sex scenes as the norm could gain you some odd looks on the tube, however due its publication initially on the internet, direct to people who were searching for it and then on the Kindle Store, there was a lot of discretion granted the readers. Also crucially for readers of 50 Shades Of Grey, the majority of which are women as statistics have shown, we get the entire story from Anastasia’s point of view, meaning that no matter how degrading or threatening the more graphic of the sex scenes become, Ana is never actually reduced to a mere sex object as she must carry on narrating. The far more interesting questions though, are what this new style of publishing means for the future of the traditional model; does this spell the end of the role of the traditional editors? Will erotic literature be the first of all genres to be discontinued in book form, switching to e-books for added discretion as people are still adverse to reading erotica in public?  

Thank you for reading my review! Please comment, share it around and there's plenty more where this came from!

Room To Review Inaugural Address!

Hello everyone! This is a very simple blog, reviews! I’m going to reviewing different books, albums, films, events, shows, exhibits and anything else I can get my hands on here.

I’m aiming to upload a new review of something twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays).

If you could tell people about this blog I would be awfully grateful!

Let the reviewing begin! On with the review show!

If you've got tumblr, I'll also be posting slightly different material on roomtoreview.tumblr.com  and reblogging interesting articles etc.

I'm also going to be regularly contributing over at www.voicesofthe7billion.co.uk with similar review content!

Last, but not least, you can follow me at @sneakypetey or facebook.com/sneakypetey!

PeaceOut xxxo