Was he or Not was he, that is the question – Anonymous Review

William Shakespeare. Unless you’ve been living under a rock your entire life, William Shakespeare is a name you’re familiar with. A name you’ve probably studied in depth in high school, a name associated to many plays you’ve read (Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet) or many modernized movies you’ve seen without even realizing it’s a Shakespeare adaptation (10 Things I Hate About You, She’s the Man, Get Over It). Shakespeare was a legendary historic poet and playwright, often considered the greatest writer in the English Language. But was he also a fraud?

Last night was the prescreening of the movie Anonymous, which explores the controversial theory that all the works of Shakespeare were actually written by an Elizabethan aristocrat named Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford who used the power of theatre to speak to the people and create an uprising against the monarchy.



A literary prodigy,writing his first play (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) at age eight, Edward (Rhys Ifans) held a prominent place in court and was taken under the wing of the Queen Elizabeth I (Vanessa Redgrave)'s advisor William Cecil (David Thewlis) after the passing of his parents.

The intention was to groom him to be an obedient component of the monarchy, but the strapping romantic continued to write his plays, fell willingly into the young Queen’s bed and defied all his responsible duties, causing more trouble than the court had bargained for.

With the Queen’s advisor Cecil on his death bed and his son, Robert, anxious to continue his father’s scheme to bring James of Scotland in as heir to the crown, Edward knew he had to do something to ensure that the Queen’s true heir, one of her many hidden bastard sons, found his place on the throne. He decides to use his plays as a device to speak to the common people and eventually coerce them into an uprising against the Queen.

Realizing he could not pen his own name to the plays, Edward approaches struggling playwright Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto), imprisoned for his own controversial play, and offers him his freedom if he puts his name to the plays and has them performed. A true poet through and through, Jonson sees this act as offensive and declines to sign his name, but stages the play anyway, naming an anonymous playwright.

The play is a huge success and the crowd demands to know who penned it. It’s at that point that an illiterate drunk actor by the name of William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) appears on stage and pretends to be the playwright. Shakespeare becomes the front man for Edwards plays and thus, the legendary Shakespeare is born.

The movie itself plays out like an authentic Shakespearian tragedy with plenty of scandalous love affairs, betrayals and twists. A strong, well acted British cast of relatively unknowns helps put real substance to the story, which was written solely on aged gossip and no actual historical evidence, and make the entire scenario seem plausible and believable.

Though it may not be for everyone, literary buffs with an appreciation for Shakespeare or period pieces such as this will find it an interesting watch. There is little action, but it’s the historical conspiracy that draws you in and the scheming characters who keep you enthralled. Not to mention the vindictive web laced with secrets and lies that tangles itself around all the key players.

Anonymous creates an intriguing take on a well known historical figure, leaving you wondering how much of the story was historically accurate and how much was fabricated for the sake of entertainment. And while the truth of the man behind the quill may be forever lost on the world, his words will forever resonate through the ages.

images from google images

The Phantom of the Opera – Live at Royal Albert Hall

If you’ve been following us then you’ll already know a few things about us; we love musicals and good ‘ole Rock ‘n’ Roll. So what’s better than Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Rockpera The Phantom of the Opera? NOTHING. The Phantom is the longest running show on Broadway, surpassing ‘Cats’ on January 9th 2006 and if you’ve ever seen this on stage, you can clearly see why everyone’s love for it never dies. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the London performance was videotaped and many of those in the know had the opportunity to watch it on screen in movie theatres around the world days later.

We’ve never seen anything like this on screen before and thoroughly enjoyed how they presented it to viewers. At times it most certainly felt as if we were live at the Royal Albert Hall in London and not watching a live satellite feed. Though even in the comfort of a movie theatre, with a three hour run time every patron was thankful for the 20 minute intermission before the big finale.

What really impressed us the most was the size of the principle cast for the Phantom, there was little to no room left on the stage when everyone came out to bow at the end. And what really made this memorable was how great the stage was, with mechanical moving sets and giant chandeliers. Putting the orchestra right on the stage as part of the set design instead of down below was a stroke of sheer genius. Seeing such a well put together production always puts us in a great mood and left us humming all evening long.

Every role was well cast, Sierra Boggess’ (Christine) voice perfectly complimented the strong, powerful vocals of Ramin Karimloo (The Phantom). Boggess’ superb acting kept us engrossed throughout while Karimloo stole the show with his haunting presence. Hadley Fraser (Raoul) rounded out the love triangle, holding his own and looking very pretty while doing so.

The bonus was at the end when Sir Andrew joined the cast on stage, bringing with him the original cast as well as all the previous Phantom’s (Peter Jöback, John Owen-Jones, Anthony Warlow and Colm Wilkinson), the original Phantom Michael Crawford and Sir Andrew's own ‘Angel of Music’, Sarah Brightman. Of course we can’t have this reunion of sorts without a performance of “The Phantom of the Opera” followed by “Music of the Night”. That made Veronica’s night, as witnessed when she clapped enthusiastically.


If you missed this showing on Saturday, you’ll have to wait for the DVD/Blu-ray release so you can (not so) secretly possess it. No North American release date for the DVD has been set yet, but if you’re in the UK, you can have it as early as November 14th.

images from Google Images

Stewed Tofu in Tomato Sauce

I used to look forward to the end of summer simply for the excess of tomatoes we’d have at the house. My mom had the greenest thumb and could make just about anything grow. One of the dishes she would make often for me after a fall harvest is her stewed tofu in tomato sauce. I think I’ve gushed about my love for tofu before so I’ll spare you that again.


For this recipe you will need:

• 5 tomatoes
• 1 small onion
• 2 green onions
• 1 package fried tofu
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp oil

Dice the tomatoes and set aside in a separate bowl. Cut the onion in half and slice into half moons. Cut the green onions into 2 inch pieces and set aside. In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat, add the oil and sliced onions. Sauté for a few minutes until onion is translucent.

Add the diced tomatoes, sugar and salt. I always add sugar into any tomato sauce to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes. Give everything a good stir and cook until the tomatoes break down, about 20 minutes. Continue cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated, about another 5 minutes.
Give your sauce a taste, add more salt or sugar if needed. Add in the fried tofu and continue cooking for another 5 minutes to allow the tomatoe-y (is that a word?) goodness to seep into the tofu.

Toss in the cut green onions, give it a good stir. Invite a friend over to impress her with your tofu prowess or just serve it to yourself on a lovely bed of rice. Enjoy!



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