Heading to Lulworth Castle in Dorset this Saturday, for spell at Camp Bestival!
I’ll be speaking for about half an hour from midday in the Bookworm Tent on the Magic Meadow.
More details can be found at the Camp Bestival website…
Looking forward to returning to Dartington Hall in Devon this week, as part of the Ways With Words Festival of Words and Ideas sponsored by The Daily Telegraph, to give a talk on Shakespeare and all things Toast.
I’ll be speaking in the Hall this Weds at 7.30pm, and signing books afterwards.
Come one, come all – further details can be found on the festival’s site…
Library Thing – July 2009
There are LOTS of Shakespeare books out there but this one is one of the most easiest to read. Ben Crystal gives you the opportunity to study Shakespeare’s work and realise that while it looks difficult, it is actually not that complicated when you begin to think about it a bit more.
This book reminds us that Shakespeare was no different than say a blogger or TV soap script writer of today. He wrote on demand and talked about the social issues of the day. The only difference between a Shakespeare script and a TV script is that some of the language is a bit old fashioned and some of the words are now out of use. Apart from that it’s still the same kind of writing you’d expect to see today from elsewhere.
Crystal also reveals the clues that Shakespeare hid in his work, the “director’s instructions” for how his actors should act out his work. This is absolutely fascinating but at the same time, it can get a bit difficult to follow and this point of the book is where you have to slow down and really concentrate!
Sprinked with bits of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets so you can put the theory into practise, this is a must-have for all Shakespeare fans.
A review of Toast just in, www.librarything.com‘s Mark O’Neill says:
Sprinked with bits of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets so you can put the theory into practise, this is a must-have for all Shakespeare fans.
Click here to read the review in full…
The Cafédirect competition to WIN TICKETS to see a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe AND a signed copy of Shakespeare on Toast ends tomorrow (Tues 30th) at midday!
I’ll be bringing one of my very favourite things to Show & Tell tonight at The School of Life, hosted by the very wonderful Damian Barr. Also with Laura Lockington and David Nicholls…
Come see what we’ll bring. Details here…
The interview clip from last week’s The Verb on BBC Radio 3, where I talked in & about Original Pronunciation – Shakespeare’s accent – with Ian McMillan is now up.
Listen here…!
There’s been a fair bit of press attention for Toast so I’ve created the following pages to help keep track…
Reviews can be found here.
Clips of TV & Radio Interviews can be found here.
***or here for the interview on BBC Radio 3’s The Verb, with Ian McMillan – recorded 19th June, 2009***
Ben Crystal is the author of Shakespeare on Toast (published by Icon Books), a new book that dispels the myth that Shakespeare is difficult. Here, he shares his thoughts about performing Shakespeare and reveals his top tips for first-time actors.
About.com: Is performing Shakespeare difficult?
Ben Crystal: Well, yes … [Continue Reading Interview…]
Ben says: “I am approaching this from a Desert Island point of view, in that it is an impossible task to bring your favourite books down to a mere 10, much like that terrible equally impossible question, ‘What is your favourite film?’ How can you answer?
Ben’s Chosen Ten Books Include:
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Sombrero Fallout by Richard Brautigan….. [Continue Reading Interview…]
KIDS at a special school were treated to a visit by an actor and author attempting to serve up Shakespeare on toast.
Ben Crystal is on a mission to help people of all ages engage and understand one of this country’s writing greats. [Continue Reading Interview…]
Sitting outside a café just off Old Street, Ben Crystal is interrupted every 30 seconds or so by a panoply of cars revving, motorbikes speeding and trucks beeping deafeningly as they reverse. Nothing, however, seems able to dispel Ben’s jubilant mood. He has a play, One Minute (at the time of writing taking place at N1’s Courtyard Theatre), on the go that he’s both producing and acting in, and a new book, Shakespeare on Toast, coming out.
The latter is his first book to be written solo, following the success of two other tomes on the Bard co-written with his father, David. As it turns out, the press night of his play and the publication of the book clash spectacularly, falling on exactly the same day. One must surely be enough, so is he close to breaking point?
“It’s the most exciting thing in the world!” he exclaims to a surprised interviewer. “It’s all kicking off. Sometimes I feel like this is the day I’ve been working towards for the last ten years.” [Continue Reading Interview…]
After their sponsorship of my talk at the Hay Festival a few weeks ago, Cafédirect, the Globe Theatre and Shakespeare on Toast are teaming up!
All Friends of Cafédirect have the chance to WIN TICKETS to see Troilus & Cressida at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, AND a signed copy of Shakespeare on Toast!
In order to enter the competition simply become a Friend of Cafédirect by clicking here: www.cafedirect.co.uk/friends/newsletter/june09competition… and then get snapping…*
It’s free to become a Friend of Cafédirect, and from what I’ve seen, Troilus at the Globe will be quite an event…
Competition closes midday June 30th 2009.
*the Cafédirect blog will explain all…
As part of the Story of London Festival, Dad and I will be giving a talk at Shakespeare’s Globe on Monday 22nd June at 6pm.
The Sounds of the Streets and Stage in Shakespearean London:
David and Ben Crystal take an entertaining look at how English was spoken in 1600 London. What was distinctive about the language, and how did the diversity of London at that time impact on evolution of language? This event will explore the slang, insults and accents of Shakespeare’s London.
See The Story of London or Shakespeare’s Globe site for more…
