Monday 12 August 2013

Corrie boss claims soap writers are better than Shakespeare

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog July 2013, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Apart from: "Romeo, Romeo, wherefor art thou, Romeo?" I know very few Shakespeare quotes.  But get me on the subject of my favourite Coronation Street quotes, and we'd be here all day with a blog post as long as Rita's tenure in the Kabin.

And while William Shakespeare may be the world’s greatest playwright – he wouldn’t get a job on Corrie, says ITV soap creative director John Whiston in today's Mirror

John's defended the use of a Shakespeare sonnet for the recently released ITV soaps drama video, saying:  “Having read a lot of his stuff, I think Shakespeare would be lucky to get a job on either of our soaps.”

What do you think, Corrie fans?  I think it's difficult to compare Corrie to Shakespeare, but I firmly believe that soaps and drama such as Coronation Street are more relevant than Shakespeare ever will be and as worthy of study too.   I wrote essays on Coronation Street all the way through my undergrad degree, whenever I could turn the subject to the Street, and followed on with this to postgrad level too. If you would like an academic resource for all things Corrie, it's here.

From Coronation Street fan John Beresford:
If Corrie writers were Shakespeare:
All the world's a street, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time has many affairs.
Some are born drunk, some achieve drunkness, and some have drunkness thrust upon them.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a red wig.
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would still give Norris hay-fever.
The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred beneath the factory floor.

If Shakespeare were a Corrie writer:
David Platt: It is a wise father that knows his own child.
Watchword for Tracy: For I can raise no money by vile means.
Roy Cropper: If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
Steve, about Tracy: I never see thy face but I think upon hell-fire



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