LATEST NEWS ...
The latest developments in the campaign will appear here!
June 4th - I'm now in Peru! To keep up-to-date with the progress of the project, read my weblog!
Click here for photos of Non-Stop Shakespeare
Click here for the article from the Southwark News (111KB)
Click here for an MP3 of the moment when the final act of the final play finished, mid-interview with Rhod Sharpe on BBC Radio Five Live
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May 4th - WE DID IT! WE WERE RUFF ENOUGH!
Last night, at 10.57pm precisely - 63 hours and 6 minutes after we began with The Winter's Tale on Bankside - NON-STOP SHAKESPEARE came to a glorious conclusion as we triumphantly chanted the epilogue to All's Well That Ends Well ... in the studios of Five Live, at BBC TV Centre!!!
(Let me start from the beginning ...)
We turned up on Bankside early on Saturday morning, and kicked off The Winter's Tale, at 7.51am. Never mind the Tale - the weather was a tad wintry too ... Luckily it turned out only slightly damp, and we could carry on, thanks to some strategically placed umbrellas! I mean, had we been driven away, the public would have been deprived of Keir's star turn as Richard II in the style of Alan Partridge, and my rendition of Hamlet, co-starring with Willy the Skull, who'd come all the way down from Liverpool University specially. Sunday was even better - blazing sunshine all day, so hundreds of people! - and a performance of Romeo & Juliet that will go down in something, if it doesn't quite make it to history!
I never expected the response from the public to be so amazing! Loads of people stopped, watched and chucked money into the pot, interested in, even enjoying, our attempts at pummelling the Bard's finest into submission. We were touched by the support we got from people, who stood, laughed, cheered and seemed to love our cross-dressing, hamminess and capering (the latter a Dexter speciality!).
A special word for Leila, from Azerbaijan, who walked past and said to her boyfriend she'd love to join in ... I overheard her, and the next minute, there she was, playing a "gentleman" in one of the scenes of Hamlet. A bit later on, she was back - with a pizza to keep us going. What a sweetheart! And then there was Melissa, another best mate of the company, a friend of friend I met in India, who turned up on Saturday and Sunday to help us out, read some parts and feed us 'cinos. Thank you! And someone else, called Elinor, left me a note in the big pot, pointing me towards a particular cafe in Cuzco that she had frequented when she was a teaching volunteer in Peru!
Course, it was the night-time runs that were particularly trying. On the second night, Keir and I, soldiering through Richard III, had to prop each other up to keep the reading going, combatting eyes that could no longer focus, complaining vocal cords and the effects of sun ...
And the BBC? Well, I got in touch with the Five Live show, Up All Night, who got back to me and we very interested in what we were doing! They ended up sending over a radio car and recording some stuff in the Hall, and then talking to me a couple of times a night live on air, as I stood near the window of the Hall, trying to get a signal, with the guys carrying on the reading behind me! Yesterday, they invited us to the studio that night, for a chat about our feat after it had all finished. Thing is, we over-ran ... When it was time to go to TV Centre, we were still near the beginning of All's Well. Our final performance venues, therefore, became the Bakerloo and Central Lines, and a studio at Five Live, while being interviewed by Rhod Sharpe. The final couple of pages were captured on tape and broadcast to the globe early this morning! Marvellous.
A full record of the performance - complete with photos - will appear on this site very soon, as will the final reckoning of cash. It's looooooads more than I expected!!
April 30th - We're nearly there. First thing in the morning, we're going to bound onto a number 63 bus (in tights) and crack on with The Winter's Tale. Our costumes have arrived, thanks to wonderful Liz, and they're superb! (Pantaloons, jackets, dresses ...) We also have a couple of delectable wigs and an assortment of silly hats to go with them. Just need to get some sleep now, then off we go!
Paddington is now past £900, not very far from the summit at all! Tom Seligman has sponsored a particular moment in Romeo and Juliet, stipulating that the kiss involved must be of a sufficient quality. And a word for Kevin Bailey - he was sitting in a bar the other day, having a quiet drink, when Keir got chatting to him, and ended up relieving him of £20 in sponsorship. We've no idea who Kevin is. What a great story!
April 29th - There are few bigger names 'in Shakespeare' today than Kenneth Branagh. Well, guess what? He sent us an e-mail! "I did this myself once - drink lots of water! - and great good luck with this splendid cause." Wow. Branagh did this sort of merry escapade too, back in the day. I guess I should find out whether he filmed it?! Brilliant to get his support - and it's nice to know that some star names still have time for the little people. Cheers Kenny: you're a legend.
In other news, we have "oirish" to add to our selection box of accents - for at least one scene of either Hamlet or Lear please, asks Ruthy Jackson. I did point out to her that my "oirish" accent is rubbish, so hopefully showing willing will count for as much as perfect Belfast twang. Meanwhile, Paddington advances up that Ande, today passing the £800 mark. He's at altitude now and on the coca tea - and since he's made such an effort to get there, let's make sure he goes all the way!!!
April 26th - In the spirit of the equally momentous event happening on the continent at the weekend - the accession of 10 new member-states into the EU - our challengers went all European on us today. Actually, that's a far-fetched way of explaining that Tom Gunkel and Nigel Dexter independently threw down the Handschuh and asked us to read parts in German accents. As a ardent supporter of the European ideal, I like to think that, in 20 years time, when similarly crazed students are doing something like this again, the Latvian accent will be one that causes similar mirth and merriment. We also had requests to do Richard II as Alan Partridge, courtesy of Em Roxanas, and Macbeth is now to be performed entirely in Yorkshire-speak, thanks to Sio Ball. Not sure if we'll be able to get hold of whippets and flat caps in time, but we'll do our best.
Oh yeah: got an e-mail from Mayor Ken Livingstone today -"Unfortunately I regret that due to the constraints of my diary it will not be possible for me to attend one of your performances. However I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your friends the best of luck in raising the necessary funds to support your work in the orphanage." What a guy. He's providing the venue for some of our performance actually ... there will indeed be segments performed between day- and night-time venues, on the number 63 bus. Ta Ken!
By the way, there is now a schedule of plays on the Non-Stop Shakespeare page, so you can try and time your visit to coincide with your all-time favourite work of the Bard's. Or, you can just make sure you avoid Henry VI.
April 24th - Thanks of the day go to Selena, of Marks and Sparks on Oxford Street. There I was, amidst a sea of hosiery, and she helped me out, selecting only the finest nylon products for the manly calves of the Non-Stop Shakespeare company. So: we have the tights. There's no going back now.
April 23rd - Today is the birthday - and, indeed, the death-day - of Shakespeare. In fitting tribute to the venerable be-ruffed one who took English literature to new exulted heights, Paddington got incredibly excited and zoomed past not only the £400 mark, but smashed £500 too!!! In fact, we are now halfway to reaching that target total, which is BRILLIANT! Huge thanks to everyone who has pledged so far - if you haven't yet, send that e-mail right away!!
April 22nd - A pledge from Nick Fyson today stipulates that the soliloquies in Hamlet - particularly 'What a piece of work is man' - should be read in the style of Withnail. Nice one! We could even play the ghost as Uncle Monty ...
April 20th - That Bear is steaming up that mountain, today passing the £300 mark! We've had a monied request from Isobel Barry for Richard III to be played as a sympathetic Yorkshireman and Joel Lindop has made an express request for me and the Dexter to play opposite each other as the Macbeths. I've always wondered about Joel; what bizarre thoughts pass through his head. (Ian's Lady Macbeth, by the way.) We are also now committed for cash to a more than a spot of audience interaction - Kate Banyard has challenged us to find at least three passers-by to take some kind of speaking part. If you're a random person surfing through this site, please come down to Bankside on Bank Holiday weekend, and you could be one of those three!
April 19th - We had a letter today from Michael Burrell, one-time RSC stalwart and acclaimed playwright. "I hope this letter is not too belated to support your valiant effort, with equally unbalanced colleagues, to render the Complete Works of the Bard... I should certainly wish to encourage you in this remarkable venture, as any project which keeps young would-be actors in a state of sleepless exhaustion merits all the support it can get. I only hope that your renderings will exemplify that clarity and fine verse-speaking for which Cambridge has long been known." But of course - which will undoubtedly include Horatio as Michael Caine. (Any other nominations for celebrity portrayals of characters? Sponsored, of course!)
April 18th - Shakespeare was one for a bit of toilet humour. So is Fred Crawley. In addition to 20p per play, Freddy is going to throw in an extra quid if someone "guffs audibly" during Hamlet. I suppose he means one of the performers, though I suppose we could enlist the services of a flatulent stray puppy if we were feeling too prim and proper. But since when have any of us been prim and proper?! Nor does Fred state at which point in the play ... Surely, it has to be: "Now might I do it, pat - he is a praying!"
April 17th - Paddington has trundled past his second milestone on the Andean slopes - £200! The most recent pledges include a personal challenge for me from fellow player Keir - I am to perform the epilogue to 2 Henry IV ("spoken by a dancer") while dancing. He doesn't mind which particular style of dance ... but maybe you do? Lay down a tenner folks and tell me how you would like me to dance my way through this fine epilogue over Bank Holiday weekend. Support received elsewhere includes a statement from Grant Naylor Productions, the fine people who brought Red Dwarf to our screens: "We wish you all the best with the fascinating - if not a little bonkers - venture. Erm...Forsooth!" Forsooth indeed.
April 15th - Mikey Lear (good Shakespearean name) made me do some maths. We're getting 0.000000015p for the first play, double that for the second and so on ... I reckon that comes to just over twenty quid - £20.62 in fact. If anyone knows better, please get in touch (especially if the actual amount is five grand or something).
April 13th - Our first support from the corridors of power! Chris Smith MP was Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport in the first Blair term and is renowned for fighting a corner for the Arts. Today, he said: "This project is brave, crazy and brilliant. It's for a great cause. Shakespeare himself would undoubtedly have approved. Good luck to Ben and his team." Cheers Chris!
In other news, there won't be any excuses now for feeling sleepy during Non-Stop Shakespeare. Those wonderful folk at Red Bull are providing a couple of free cases "to keep the performers going". All part of the authentic experience. And from bulls to calves: the role of project Tights Consultant has been foisted on Liz Bell after I sent her a slightly perplexed e-mail. She replied with much illuminating talk of denier and all that.Lovely.
April 10th - Paddington reaches his first milestone on his climb up the Andes - £100! (I knew I should have presented Blue Peter) We have been challenged by Alex Outhwaite to add saucy Barbara Windsor giggles after each Carry On style "wit" gag in the Complete Works - for example, says Alex, Touchstone in As You Like It: "Nay, I shall ne'er be ware of my own wit till I break my shins against it" (hehehehe!) I don't know who the best Babs impersonator is amongst us, but we'll certainly nominate someone to clock up some 5p bonuses! Actually, we know the Dexter plays a beautiful dame, so perhaps he is the one ...
April 7th - Our first comedy challenge. Rob Asher has given us a five pound incentive for inserting jazz hands into any one of Macbeth's soliloquies. No problem. A little incongruous in the Scottish Play maybe - but, hey, so was Orson Welles' Statue-of-Liberty style headgear, and plenty of people said great things about that performance!
April 6th - Hooray! The pledges are coming in thick and fast! Congratulations to Mr Jack Thorne, our very very first supporter! Jack decided to sponsor us 30p per play ... "37 times 30 = £11.10" Jack then had some particular issues with the way we are going to have to interpret particular plays; he summed up thus: "Minus £1.10 for being fat, middle-class, white, male Cambridge undergraduates. But, still, fair play...." I love him, I really do.
April 2nd - Appeal website launched! This is where the fundraising really kicks in - just one month to go before Non-Stop Shakespeare and sooo much to do.
© Ben James 2004