The Stars’ Tennis Balls
by Stephen Fry (Hutchinson, 2000); audiobook read by Stephen Fry (Random House, 2010)
Beginning as a typically loquacious exploration of class and envy, Fry’s fourth novel (‘Revenge’ in reissue) is forged over three acts into a harrowing, tender, bitter Shakespearean tragedy – best performed by Fry himself. Two-facedness reaps what it sows; the cycle starts over.
Wyrd Sisters
by Terry Pratchett (Victor Gollancz, 1988); audiobook read by Celia Imrie (Isis, 1996)
Terry Pratchett tells comic stories within stories within Shakespearian tragedy as the King of Lancre is murdered and Granny Weatherwax and her fellow witches take centre stage in the unfolding history of his succession. Celia Imrie does a wonderfully witchy job narrating.
Macbeth
dir. Geoffrey Wright (2006)
Well cast and drawing on the gangster film genre’s rich tradition of murder and betrayal, this dark and stylish Australian production — transplanting Shakespeare onto the Melbourne underworld — makes for a disturbingly good introduction to the plot and dialogue of the Scottish Play.
Who Wrote Shakespeare?
by John Michell (Thames & Hudson, 1996)
Notwithstanding Wikipedia’s cursory dismissal of the authorship problem, Michell in this overview makes a compelling case for at least questioning the conventional attribution of Shakespeare’s works to the actor from Stratford-upon-Avon, presenting evidence for and against him and the other major candidates.
