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Rev. Joey N. Welsh. May 21, 2006. More birthday appreciation More Birthday Appreciation: Learning from Peter Shafer By The Rev. Joey N. Welsh joey_e_welsh@hotmail.com Last week I wrote about some biblical twins as well as about Anthony and Peter Shaffer, the English playwright twins. Anthony died in 2001, but Peter is now celebrating his 80th birthday. In honor of that occasion, a new production of his 1964 play, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, is on stage in London. In a recent interview in the British newspaper, The Guardian, theatre critic Michael Billington recorded some of Shaffer's insights. Proverbs 22 reminds us that the things learned by children can stick with them into adulthood and old age. I wish more people recalled the truth of that statement; if they did, they might change the language and habits they display in front of children. Fortunately, some of the things children encounter are both formative and positive. Peter Shaffer sheds his light on this truth by speaking of an experience he had as a nine-year-old student. It was an encounter that brought the future playwright a great deal of enlightenment well before he embarked on his successful writing career. A very wise teacher introduced a group of students to narrative excitement, opening their eyes to a giant of English literature. Shaffer recalls in his conversation with Billington, "It was a gloomy, wet Friday afternoon and the teacher offered to tell the class a ghost story. It began on windswept battlements at midnight. A ghost appeared in chainmail and told the hero that he didn't die a natural death but was murdered by his brother. On went the story to the point where the murder was about to be re-enacted in front of the brother, who was now king. At which point the teacher broke off and said, "Good heavens, it's three o'clock. We'll have to finish this next Friday." "I suggest," says Shaffer, "this was the best piece of education I ever had in my life. I had no idea this was a play called Hamlet. The point was that neither I - nor the rest of the class - could wait till the next Friday. I became respectful of narrative and great stories through Shakespeare." "I hate it when [German dramatist Bertolt] Brecht says that we should not be interested in the next scene because it distracts us from the current one. I find that priggish and tedious. I want to be enthralled, and Shakespeare teaches one an immense amount about how to organise a story; or sometimes how not to. I've always felt Much Ado About Nothing badly needs a rewrite." Shaffer is clearly opinionated, even about Shakespeare. And he is also opinionated about life and current events of the 21st century. Again with Michael Billington, Shaffer recalls some of the themes of selfishness and conquest portrayed in The Royal Hunt of the Sun; the drama is based on the coming of Spanish conquerors to the Incans as they sought to subdue the people of the Andes and root out their gold. These are impulses he sees also at work in world affairs now, nearly 500 years after the Spanish arrived in South America and 42 years after Royal Hunt first opened. Shaffer says, "The Spanish said they were going to save the Incas from savagery and idolatry and make their life better because they'd have Christ: today we offer democracy as a panacea. And, while the conquistadors were blatant in their admission of greed, today the need for oil has replaced the hunger for gold." Shaffer thinks that modern conquerors are just as blatant and no more willing to understand the peoples they seek to subjugate than were the 16th century Spanish invaders. Peter Shaffer is, I think, far more honest and insightful than most of the leaders and politicians we see on the nightly news. In his 80 years he has used his plays and his insights to ask a lot of important questions and raise many crucial issues. He respects his audience enough to require us to think; Peter Shaffer doesn't provide simplistic answers to all the questions his words have stirred up, because some of those answers are found only in us. Shaffer's writings are a gift to us all. The gift-giving continues whenever one of his plays is presented in a new production - and given a new life. Even now, at his 80th birthday when he should be the one receiving presents, his audiences are the happy gift recipients. I am glad that Peter Shaffer has lived long enough to see the shape of his legacy. And I am grateful to be one of his gift recipients. This story was posted on 2006-05-21 00:05:00
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Kentucky:
Art in the Alley, Greensburg KY, 9am to 5pm. June 3 Rev. Joey N. Welsh, May 14, 2006. Some Twins, Birthday Appreciation Garlin man quoted on indictment of Gov. Fletcher Rev. Joey N. Welsh, May 7, 2006. Remembrance of Juleps Past Adair photographers return with exciting photos from Kentucky Horse Park REV. JOEY N. WELSH. April 30, 2006. A Different Kind of Ceremony Retire the thought of retirement for 83-year-old state worker Adair County competing for two of six 2006 PRIDE Envi Awards Tara Elizabeth Conner, Russell Springs, KY crowned Miss USA Plant a tree for Earth Day from the Salato Wildlife Center View even more articles in topic Kentucky |
 
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