I've always felt that Measure for Measure's Act II scene ii was pretty romantic. Isabella begs Angelo for help in the plea to save her brother's life. When searching for an adaptation of the scene, I stumbled upon an unexpected video, "The Ballad of Isabella" performed by the Metal Shakespeare Company. After watching this video and a few others, I realized that not only is this band outright ridiculous, they are also innovative and intriguing in some weird way. They adapt this scene using some of the lines while also changing it up a little bit. It is extremely strange to watch a "metal" band perform Shakespearean lines, but they do it in such a fashion that I highly recommend watching. I think clips likes this are oddly beneficial to Shakespeare readers because they add that modern viewpoint, but also show how universal Shakespeare is. The audience, in this live version, are definitely into the song, the band, and the overall act.
Also, one of the best parts is toward the end when the keyboardist begins to solo and the metal really "comes in" with the King.
I'm not exactly sure how Shakespeare would react to this. Would he be insulted? Or think it's somewhat clever and humorous? To me, it's just another way to look at the play and appreciate the timeless work.
1 comment:
This is so ridiculous, in an awesome way. I think Shakespeare would like it too, I mean, damn, it's just some rocker dude in high tops singing Shakespeare, what could possibly be better?
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