Title: The book and play that started it all
Karen - December 30, 2006 04:06 AM (GMT)
Originally posted 11/01/04 at 10:42 PM
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Someone has to do the dirty works: it's Depp
02.11.2004 By LOUISE JURY
He was a legendary hell-raiser in the licentious court of the Restoration king, derided by his peers for his "contempt of decency" and the author of elegant, if explicit, poetry. Yet in the three centuries since the premature death of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, his works have been a naughty pleasure appreciated by a small band of readers - primarily consisting of English undergraduates.
But with Hollywood star Johnny Depp starring as Rochester in a new £10 million ($18 million) screen version of his life, entitled The Libertine, publishers have decided the poetry that made Rochester famous is ripe for a renaissance.
Penguin Classics, whose latest edition of the works of Rochester has been out of print for several years, is publishing a new selected works tailormade for the movie fan who is inspired to turn to the original source of inspiration.
There are hopes that Johnny Depp may do for 17th century poetry what Four Weddings and a Funeral did for W.H. Auden and The English Patient achieved for Herodotus, the 5th century BC historian.
More than 100,000 copies of an Auden anthology were sold after his poem, Funeral Blues, was quoted in Four Weddings. Annual sales of Herodotus shot up from 12,000 to 50,000 copies immediately after his writings were featured in the film of Michael Ondaatje's book.
Rochester at least has the selling point of being a taboo-buster: he wrote more frankly on sex than most writers before the 20th century. Laura Barber, editorial director for Penguin Classics, said the film, originally due for release this month but now set to hit the screens in the new year, was the ideal opportunity to get a significant author back on the bookstore shelves.
"I've always thought it was a shame that we didn't have Rochester on the list. It's one of the few things that students like to study because it's just so full of filth, so it seemed odd that we couldn't keep an edition in print," she said.
Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester, was born in 1647 and educated at Oxford and on the Grand Tour courtesy of King Charles II in gratitude for the service of the young man's father, who was a royalist general under Charles I.
He arrived at court at the age of 17 and quickly set the pace for a coterie of charming wits who surrounded the king.
He wrote poetry, had a penchant for practising disguises and rapidly acquired a reputation for wildness, serving as a model for countless young rakes in Restoration comedies. He was even banished from court at one point after mistakenly, and possibly drunkenly, handing King Charles some coarse lines on the King himself instead of a lampoon on ladies, and his career plummeted into melancholy decline.
He fell out with his former friend, Dryden, the greatest poet of his age, and was embroiled in fights and lawsuits. Never robust in health, he died in 1680, at the age of 33.
Johnson, the 18th century writer, said of Rochester: "With an avowed contempt of decency and order, a total disregard to every moral, and a resolute denial of every religious observation, he lived worthless and useless and blazed out his youth and health in lavish voluptuousness."
Rochester is likely to reach a wider audience thanks to the film, shot on the Isle of Man this year with John Malkovich and Samantha Morton also in the cast.
Television and film adaptations of literary classics often have dramatic effects on sales. There was a surge in interest in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet after Baz Luhrmann's film in 1996 and the BBC's adaptation of Wives and Daughters in 1999 prompted a run on Elizabeth Gaskell, as did any serialisation of Austen or Trollope.
The life of Alexander the Great, compiled from the writings of ancient historians Arrian, Quintus Curtius Rufus and Plutarch, is being prepared prior to the release of films starring Colin Farrell and Leonardo Di Caprio.
- INDEPENDENT
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/en...section=general
**edit** Link Expired
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Someone has to do the dirty works: it's Depp
02.11.2004 By LOUISE JURY
He was a legendary hell-raiser in the licentious court of the Restoration king, derided by his peers for his "contempt of decency" and the author of elegant, if explicit, poetry. Yet in the three centuries since the premature death of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, his works have been a naughty pleasure appreciated by a small band of readers - primarily consisting of English undergraduates.
But with Hollywood star Johnny Depp starring as Rochester in a new £10 million ($18 million) screen version of his life, entitled The Libertine, publishers have decided the poetry that made Rochester famous is ripe for a renaissance.
Penguin Classics, whose latest edition of the works of Rochester has been out of print for several years, is publishing a new selected works tailormade for the movie fan who is inspired to turn to the original source of inspiration.
There are hopes that Johnny Depp may do for 17th century poetry what Four Weddings and a Funeral did for W.H. Auden and The English Patient achieved for Herodotus, the 5th century BC historian.
More than 100,000 copies of an Auden anthology were sold after his poem, Funeral Blues, was quoted in Four Weddings. Annual sales of Herodotus shot up from 12,000 to 50,000 copies immediately after his writings were featured in the film of Michael Ondaatje's book.
Rochester at least has the selling point of being a taboo-buster: he wrote more frankly on sex than most writers before the 20th century. Laura Barber, editorial director for Penguin Classics, said the film, originally due for release this month but now set to hit the screens in the new year, was the ideal opportunity to get a significant author back on the bookstore shelves.
"I've always thought it was a shame that we didn't have Rochester on the list. It's one of the few things that students like to study because it's just so full of filth, so it seemed odd that we couldn't keep an edition in print," she said.
Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester, was born in 1647 and educated at Oxford and on the Grand Tour courtesy of King Charles II in gratitude for the service of the young man's father, who was a royalist general under Charles I.
He arrived at court at the age of 17 and quickly set the pace for a coterie of charming wits who surrounded the king.
He wrote poetry, had a penchant for practising disguises and rapidly acquired a reputation for wildness, serving as a model for countless young rakes in Restoration comedies. He was even banished from court at one point after mistakenly, and possibly drunkenly, handing King Charles some coarse lines on the King himself instead of a lampoon on ladies, and his career plummeted into melancholy decline.
He fell out with his former friend, Dryden, the greatest poet of his age, and was embroiled in fights and lawsuits. Never robust in health, he died in 1680, at the age of 33.
Johnson, the 18th century writer, said of Rochester: "With an avowed contempt of decency and order, a total disregard to every moral, and a resolute denial of every religious observation, he lived worthless and useless and blazed out his youth and health in lavish voluptuousness."
Rochester is likely to reach a wider audience thanks to the film, shot on the Isle of Man this year with John Malkovich and Samantha Morton also in the cast.
Television and film adaptations of literary classics often have dramatic effects on sales. There was a surge in interest in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet after Baz Luhrmann's film in 1996 and the BBC's adaptation of Wives and Daughters in 1999 prompted a run on Elizabeth Gaskell, as did any serialisation of Austen or Trollope.
The life of Alexander the Great, compiled from the writings of ancient historians Arrian, Quintus Curtius Rufus and Plutarch, is being prepared prior to the release of films starring Colin Farrell and Leonardo Di Caprio.
- INDEPENDENT
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/en...section=general
**edit** Link Expired
Karen - December 30, 2006 04:08 AM (GMT)
Originally posted on 12/16/04 at 05:13 PM
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Bawdy 17th-Century Play Sold at Auction
LONDON - A bawdy 17th-century play billed as the rarest known piece of English pornography sold for $88,300 at auction Thursday.
"Sodom, or the Gentleman Instructed," attributed to writer and libertine the Earl of Rochester, was bought by an anonymous bidder for well above its pre-sale estimate of $48,000 to $68,000.
It is the only known printed copy of the play, which is believed to have been written as a private entertainment in the 1670s. Catalog notes by auctioneer Sotheby's describe it as "outrageously obscene in its sexual and scatological references, language and content."
A cautionary tale, the play charts the consequences of a decision by the King of Sodom to institute free love throughout his kingdom. An epidemic of venereal disease and a fiery cataclysm ensue.
Sotheby's said the play, while "in every sense, and in almost every line, pornographic," was also a literary parody and a political satire of the ribald court of King Charles II.
A renowned restoration wit known as much for his debauched life as for his satirical writings, John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester, died in 1680 at age 33. Johnny Depp plays Rochester in "The Libertine," a new film based on his short but eventful life.
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Bawdy 17th-Century Play Sold at Auction
LONDON - A bawdy 17th-century play billed as the rarest known piece of English pornography sold for $88,300 at auction Thursday.
"Sodom, or the Gentleman Instructed," attributed to writer and libertine the Earl of Rochester, was bought by an anonymous bidder for well above its pre-sale estimate of $48,000 to $68,000.
It is the only known printed copy of the play, which is believed to have been written as a private entertainment in the 1670s. Catalog notes by auctioneer Sotheby's describe it as "outrageously obscene in its sexual and scatological references, language and content."
A cautionary tale, the play charts the consequences of a decision by the King of Sodom to institute free love throughout his kingdom. An epidemic of venereal disease and a fiery cataclysm ensue.
Sotheby's said the play, while "in every sense, and in almost every line, pornographic," was also a literary parody and a political satire of the ribald court of King Charles II.
A renowned restoration wit known as much for his debauched life as for his satirical writings, John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester, died in 1680 at age 33. Johnny Depp plays Rochester in "The Libertine," a new film based on his short but eventful life.
Karen - December 30, 2006 04:14 AM (GMT)
Originally posted on 11/19/05 at 06:27 AM
Click here to read
The Libertine: interview
By Richard Turner
The Libertine is about to hit our cinema screens, and film fans can't wait for Johnny Depp's portrayal of the hard-drinking, bed-hopping, poetry-writing Earl of Rochester. But who created the role? We interview writer Stephen Jeffreys:
It's taken eight years to make The Libertine - and if it wasn't for the Isle of Man offering itself as a cheaper location - it may never have been produced.
Stephen Jeffreys
But it first began as a stage play in 1994. Writer Stephen Jeffreys - who has also written the screenplay - has a long pedigree as a playwright.
One of his more recent plays, I Just Stopped By to See The Man (2000) enjoyed a three week run at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton.
It starred stalwart of the Manchester theatre scene, actor Wyllie Longmore as a legendary Blues guitarist Jesse 'The Man' Davidson persuaded to come out of retirement by a young English musician called Carl.
Richard Turner caught up with Stephen during the run to talk about I Just Stopped By.. and the forthcoming release of The Libertine:
The Libertine – how did the film come about?
"I wrote the play 12 years ago. We did it with Out of Joint theatre company and it seemed to do pretty well. Then a couple of American guys saw it in London and said they wanted to take it to America. So, it went on at the Steppenwolf in Chicago with John Malkovich in the lead. Then I was asked to write the screenplay for the film – and when someone asks you that, you don’t say no...
Oscar-winning? Johnny Depp
It’s actually taken a very long time. The film was announced in 1998 and we didn’t start shooting until April 2004. Actually, the film was almost destroyed by changes to the tax laws until the Isle of Man stepped in and saved it.
John Malkovich was filming on the Isle of Man at the time for a film called Colour Me Kubrick. They had a major funder drop out so it wasn’t made but the Manx government said we could film The Libertine there. So that’s what we did.
They have different tax laws there and normally 50% of the filming has to be done on the island. But as we had to such a lot of building to do, it went ahead and we started the shoot in April 2004.
And it’s out soon…
"Yes, there’s been a lot of editing to do and it’s scheduled for a November release. Johnny Depp’s performance [as the Earl of Rochester] is Oscar-winning standard and I think it is the best performance he’s given. And if it’s going to be nominated for the Academy Awards, it’s got to be on in the US by the end of the year."
As the writer of the screenplay, how closely do you work with the director?
"It varies a lot. Some days I’m the least important person there, other days I’m right at the centre of things. Most of the time I have plenty to do because it’s a period production and I’m consulted when there are the slightest changes to the dialogue. I haven’t seen the most recent cut but there are only two or three things which I wish were different. And that’s pretty much down to Laurence [Dunmore, the director] because he’s involved me at every stage discussing the script."
Why all the period productions?
"I suppose I’m known as someone who can do historical writing – I don’t know why. I’m doing one now about Florence Nightingale and there are certain techniques I work with. But essentially, what we’re doing is forgery! You can’t ever reproduce exactly how Florence Nighingale or the Earl of Rochester actually spoke."
Tell us about I Just Stopped By.... where does your love of the Blues come from?
I Just Stopped By to See The Man
"It was when I was in my early teenage years listening to people like The Beatles and The Stones talk about the roots of the music they played. Then John Lee Hooker did a tour of the country. It was music I knew nothing about at all but I realised it was the root of all the popular music I’d been listening to.
It struck me as very odd that this music which had been formed in the cottonfields and places like LA - that that music over a period of 25 years had settled in the suburbs of Britain. And I liked the idea that a younger black generation had rejected that music.
Their relationship changes: at first Jesse dismissed Carl. But when he hears them [Carl's band] playing on the radio, then he talks about them differently. It’s the way that music makes it acceptable and they have this great shared thing…"
The play has only been produced a few times. Why?
Wyllie Longmore: 'Wonderful performance'
"Well, it’s had three productions in the US – in Chicago and LA – as well as at the Royal Court here five years ago. Basically, it’s not an easy play to do in this country. You have got to get a guy who can play quite an old black guy and who can sing. There are very few in this country and we were were very lucky to have Wyllie in this production. Black actors in the US don’t put on their CV that they can sing because they get cast in musicals!
What's it like working with Wyllie?
"I thought it was a wonderful performance. The thing about Wyllie is that he can deliver the low key moments and then stand up and talk in a Shakespearean voice. He’s got that dimension in his acting to move up a gear. It’s a difficult part to play but I think Wyllie got it just right."
Do you prefer writing for stage or screen?
"They are such different jobs but I like both of them and I like moving between them. But I suppose the experience of The Libertine has taught me that: it’s all very well doing a film but anything can happen with it and as a playwright, I’m much better off doing a play which I’ve got more control over."
last updated: 16/11/05
Click here to read
The Libertine: interview
By Richard Turner
The Libertine is about to hit our cinema screens, and film fans can't wait for Johnny Depp's portrayal of the hard-drinking, bed-hopping, poetry-writing Earl of Rochester. But who created the role? We interview writer Stephen Jeffreys:
It's taken eight years to make The Libertine - and if it wasn't for the Isle of Man offering itself as a cheaper location - it may never have been produced.
Stephen Jeffreys
But it first began as a stage play in 1994. Writer Stephen Jeffreys - who has also written the screenplay - has a long pedigree as a playwright.
One of his more recent plays, I Just Stopped By to See The Man (2000) enjoyed a three week run at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton.
It starred stalwart of the Manchester theatre scene, actor Wyllie Longmore as a legendary Blues guitarist Jesse 'The Man' Davidson persuaded to come out of retirement by a young English musician called Carl.
Richard Turner caught up with Stephen during the run to talk about I Just Stopped By.. and the forthcoming release of The Libertine:
The Libertine – how did the film come about?
"I wrote the play 12 years ago. We did it with Out of Joint theatre company and it seemed to do pretty well. Then a couple of American guys saw it in London and said they wanted to take it to America. So, it went on at the Steppenwolf in Chicago with John Malkovich in the lead. Then I was asked to write the screenplay for the film – and when someone asks you that, you don’t say no...
Oscar-winning? Johnny Depp
It’s actually taken a very long time. The film was announced in 1998 and we didn’t start shooting until April 2004. Actually, the film was almost destroyed by changes to the tax laws until the Isle of Man stepped in and saved it.
John Malkovich was filming on the Isle of Man at the time for a film called Colour Me Kubrick. They had a major funder drop out so it wasn’t made but the Manx government said we could film The Libertine there. So that’s what we did.
They have different tax laws there and normally 50% of the filming has to be done on the island. But as we had to such a lot of building to do, it went ahead and we started the shoot in April 2004.
And it’s out soon…
"Yes, there’s been a lot of editing to do and it’s scheduled for a November release. Johnny Depp’s performance [as the Earl of Rochester] is Oscar-winning standard and I think it is the best performance he’s given. And if it’s going to be nominated for the Academy Awards, it’s got to be on in the US by the end of the year."
As the writer of the screenplay, how closely do you work with the director?
"It varies a lot. Some days I’m the least important person there, other days I’m right at the centre of things. Most of the time I have plenty to do because it’s a period production and I’m consulted when there are the slightest changes to the dialogue. I haven’t seen the most recent cut but there are only two or three things which I wish were different. And that’s pretty much down to Laurence [Dunmore, the director] because he’s involved me at every stage discussing the script."
Why all the period productions?
"I suppose I’m known as someone who can do historical writing – I don’t know why. I’m doing one now about Florence Nightingale and there are certain techniques I work with. But essentially, what we’re doing is forgery! You can’t ever reproduce exactly how Florence Nighingale or the Earl of Rochester actually spoke."
Tell us about I Just Stopped By.... where does your love of the Blues come from?
I Just Stopped By to See The Man
"It was when I was in my early teenage years listening to people like The Beatles and The Stones talk about the roots of the music they played. Then John Lee Hooker did a tour of the country. It was music I knew nothing about at all but I realised it was the root of all the popular music I’d been listening to.
It struck me as very odd that this music which had been formed in the cottonfields and places like LA - that that music over a period of 25 years had settled in the suburbs of Britain. And I liked the idea that a younger black generation had rejected that music.
Their relationship changes: at first Jesse dismissed Carl. But when he hears them [Carl's band] playing on the radio, then he talks about them differently. It’s the way that music makes it acceptable and they have this great shared thing…"
The play has only been produced a few times. Why?
Wyllie Longmore: 'Wonderful performance'
"Well, it’s had three productions in the US – in Chicago and LA – as well as at the Royal Court here five years ago. Basically, it’s not an easy play to do in this country. You have got to get a guy who can play quite an old black guy and who can sing. There are very few in this country and we were were very lucky to have Wyllie in this production. Black actors in the US don’t put on their CV that they can sing because they get cast in musicals!
What's it like working with Wyllie?
"I thought it was a wonderful performance. The thing about Wyllie is that he can deliver the low key moments and then stand up and talk in a Shakespearean voice. He’s got that dimension in his acting to move up a gear. It’s a difficult part to play but I think Wyllie got it just right."
Do you prefer writing for stage or screen?
"They are such different jobs but I like both of them and I like moving between them. But I suppose the experience of The Libertine has taught me that: it’s all very well doing a film but anything can happen with it and as a playwright, I’m much better off doing a play which I’ve got more control over."
last updated: 16/11/05