Playing with Shakespeare…Vanessa O’Neill
Hello there,
My name is Vanessa O’Neill and this will be my third time at the Scotch College Literature Festival. I’ll be presenting sessions on three of Shakespeare’s plays - Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Richard III. The sessions will be a mixture of performance, discussion and student participation.
I’ve had a ‘thing’ for Shakespeare ever since I was at University in a production of ‘Twelfth Night’. After finishing at Drama School in London my first job was touring four plays to schools in the UK. One of them was ‘Macbeth’. In all that time I never got tired of the play or the part of Lady Macbeth. The play still excites me and every time I perform it or see it I discover new things about the play. Over the years I have performed in a wide range of Shakespearean plays and have my own show of Shakespeare’s Women. As an actor, it is still one of my favourite challenges - performing Shakespeare live. I love the depth and complexity and unpredictability of his characters. I feel that they engage me on every level - intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically.
So that’s enough about me…I would love to hear from you. Do you have any questions about any of Shakespeare’s plays or characters? Anything you’d like to know about the times in which he wrote? Any areas of confusion or sheer incomprehension? Let me know. I never get tired of discussing Shakespeare’s plays. I can’t claim to have any ‘definitive’ answers, but would be very happy to share my interpretations and thoughts on Shakespeare with you.
PS - don’t be shy - there is no such thing as a ‘dumb’ question!
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August 1st, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Hello Madam O’Neill
Do you think that Romeo and Juliet’s love is irrational and stupid or is it genuine passionate love?
This is a subject of much discussion around schools all over Victoria and it is one of the things which riles pedantic readers such as me, for like many people, I consider the possibility of genuinely loving someone but having sex 3 days after initial encounter impossible. Additionally, Juliet is 13, which makes it slightly dodgy and disturbing.
Lyosha Zmyeevich
August 5th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Dear Lyosha,
You raise some really important questions. I visit a lot of schools and these are questions that students ask me frequently.
The whole play takes place over 4 days - and one of the key factors within the play is the speed with which events take place. A character’s fortune can be reversed very swiftly (as Romeo’s is in the fight scene in Act 3, Scene 1). The haste with which things happen is partly to do with the fact that many of the characters are young and choose to follow their instincts and passions and do not always take the time to think through consequences.
But to your key question: is the love real? I believe that it is real for both Romeo and Juliet - just read any of their speeches to (or about) one another out loud and you can easily get swept up in the extraordinary strength of feeling they have for one another ‘my love is as boundless as the sea…’ ‘did my heart love till now?’ ‘gallop apace you fiery footed steeds…’ However, is it rational? Probably not. Both Romeo and Juliet have grown up knowing the full extent of their families’ hate for one another. Theirs is a dangerous love. Paris may well be a more ‘rational’ choice for Juliet. But both of them choose to defy their parents and to defy rationality. And that choice, while dangerous (and ultimately tragic) is an exciting one for both of them at the time. They are both from extremely wealthy families and marriage at the time was not primarily about love. It was essentially a business transaction. And marriage to Paris (who is related to the Prince) is a canny and strategic move for the Capulets. So in defying this, Juliet in particular is making an extremely bold choice.
One final point is that Romeo and Juliet don’t have the option of getting to know one another better through some kind of ‘courtship’. They can’t go out on dates and they can’t communicate via social media or texting. The hasty marriage is partly to try to have something sealed by the church and state before their parents can intervene. Of course, after the death of Tybalt and Capulet’s insistence on Juliet’s marriage to Paris this becomes much more complicated.
So yes - their love happens very fast and the marriage takes place within about 12 hours of them having met one another. And no, it is probably not a particularly ‘rational’ choice. However, there is an extraodinary amount of emotion (not to mention hormones) charging through both of their bodies and this is very clear in the rhythm of their language. If the audience doesn’t believe in their love, the play doesn’t work. And the play explores a whole range of irrational forces (of love and of hate) that are very much in evidence in our world today.
These are some of my thoughts. Feel free to respond and ask further questions if any of this doesn’t sense.
All the best,
Vanessa