Third Edition

BurtonsMelancholyBlog

Three weeks ago the team were performing The Anatomy of Melancholy in Cambridge. The gig went well with lots of knowing nods and similes and laughter at the latin before it was translated. Then after the show, in the bar, a gentleman approached the cast saying “I thought you may be interested in this” and, from a plastic supermarket bag he drew, “Burton’s Melancholy” A THIRD EDITION! It was published in 1628 whilst the author was still alive. Apparently the owner found it in a second hand book shop. He took it to the counter and proffered six pounds, the shopkeeper said “actually that’s a 9 not a 6 but I’ll let you have it for 6”. We’re selling our script edition for £6!

I’m so mad I wasn’t at this gig to get my mitts on the thing. Apparently they riffled through it and found lots of fragments of the show. ANYWAY, the whole point is they are in Wolverhampton tomorrow and Thursday so please come or send friends. If you’re consider bringing along any old editions of the book please only come on Thursday – because that’s when I’ll be there.

2 thoughts on “Third Edition

  1. Went to see the Anatomy of Melancholy at the Borough Theatre Abergavenny yesterday. Was drawn by the idea of such a bonkers project plus, despite having done an English degree, never having read the book and feeling I should add it to my memory store by this relatively easy route. Although I felt some trepidation in the first quarter of an hour or so that I wasn’t going to enjoy it, by the end of the evening I was really pleased to have made the effort. It certainly is one of the more bizarre theatrical concepts I have witnessed, but the cast were brilliant, and I was astonished how they managed to sustain a completely plotless but very complicated script so effectively. And the mechanics of getting all the translations, captions, etc to work in parallel with the words was a masterclass in dramatic technique. Although there were lots of contemporary resonances, they were not hammered home with lots of smirking and long pauses, but the audience were left to absorb things at their own pace and according to their own prejudices and ebbs and flows of attention. I’m sorry the audience wasn’t bigger, and that we didn’t get a chance to applaud you for longer, but it was a memorable theatrical evening (which is a relatively rare thing I find). Thanks.

  2. Thank you Paul. You write what we like to read. Messages like this help make it worth the effort. I agree, those actors do a mind-blowing job.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *