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| A marathon of Shakespeare's plays to be performed in 37 languages |
Today the Blog is
dedicated to England’s greatest playwright. April 23rd is William Shakespeare’s
birthday. I am running a marketing course back at Radcliffe House, Warwick
Conferences, Coventry.
So I am celebrating
Shakespeare’s Birthday in the county of Shakespeare’s birth, Warwickshire.
Yesterday Sunday 22nd
April London witnessed two marathons. One was the more conventional running
variety namely The London Marathon.
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| London Marathon 2012 - photo taken from Blackfriars Bridge, North bank side |
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| Shakespeare's Globe , on London''s South Bank, open to the Public for free for Sonnet Sunday |
The other marathon
in London has weeks to go. It is has
been started at the Globe Theatre with ‘Sonnet Sunday’ . Shakespeare’s Globe on
the south bank was open free to the public for the day include the museum.
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| Model of the Globe Theatre in the museum of Shakespeare's Globe |
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| An Australian Actress performs a sonnet in English |
During the period I was
there, I heard sonnets spoken in Japanese, Romanian, Flemish, Welsh Hungarian
and English ( well beautiful Aussie ‘strein’ to be more accurate by a beautiful
Australian).
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| She performed the Sonnet using the full area of the stage engaging the audience in the 'groundlings and the seated areas of the tiers, the master of ceremonies looks on |
Even though I did not
understand the non-English versions I was taken away by the passionate
performance of the young actors delivering the Sonnets. The music and rhythm of
Shakespeare crosses languages. The translations still seemed to have the music
and rhythm of Shakespearean English. The actors and actresses love of the words
transmitted to all in the open air theatre space by actors through body
language, eye contact.
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| bathed in Spring sunshine visitors to the Shakespeare's Globe listen to a sonnet |
It was fun to be amongst
the ‘groundlings’ standing , looking up at the actors and watching their
performance.
The event was also the
launch day of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre putting on all 37 plays in 37
languages a veritable marathon of drama.
A Shakespeare sonnet in Hungarian on the stage of Shakespeare's Globe, London
part of Sonnet Sunday at the Globe
What has this to do with
Selling?
Well it’s to do with
WORDS. As professional salespeople we not only have to be first class listeners
and questioners but also we need to know about words and how they are expressed.
Although there were not
salespeople in our postindustrial revolutionary sense in Shakespeare’s time,
there were folk who sold things as part of the job.
There were:
Factor
Persons who made business transactions for another person (sort of agent) ,
Haberdashers who sold men's clothing.
Salters who sold salt or salts meat,
fish, and other food. Silversmith who made, repairs, and sold items of silver. Vintners
who made and sold wine. Other sales types included the Tranter Peddler who sold
their wares from a horse-drawn cart .
Maybe the closest to most
playwright’s stereotype of a field sales person in Shakespearean England at the
time the Peddler - an Itinerant seller of merchandise. The Peddler stove no doubt to try and be ‘well liked’
as Arthur Miller’s Willie Lomax in Miller’s
twentieth Century play ‘Death of a salesman’ .
Yet of course we engage with Shakespeare not particularly because of the rank or status of the characters, or the times they are set but what he reveals about human nature.
Human has not changed much over time. his observations are timeless.
Being both aware and knowledgeable of human nature both our and our clients helps us enormously in our work. - Shakespeare sells.
In your are in London over the next few weeks why not go to a play at Shakespeare's Globe and enjoy the universal appeal of Shakespeare in whatever language.
Globe to Globe at Shakespeare's Globe
Globe to Globe at Shakespeare's Globe
a quote to finish in English
"And Since This Business So Fair is Done, Let Us Not Leave Till All Our Own Be Won."
Henry IV, Part I
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