A historical review of Bill (2015)

Welcome to my historical tour through the film Bill (2015) from the Six Idiots, the original cast of Horrible Histories, featuring some literary history, the Elizabethan royal court and the most extra 16th-century playwright you need to know about now. Is it really possible for a comedy film to represent the past accurately?

After five seasons of Horrible Histories, the Six Idiots (Matthew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Jim Howick, Ben Willbond, Martha Howe-Douglas and Laurence Rickard) are no strangers to historical comedy. So it only made sense for the group of actors and writers to make a film about the early career of the most revered playwright in history - William Shakespeare. The only problem, of course, is that we don't know anything about how Shakespeare arrived on the London theatre scene. But with the use of comedy caricatures and a generous helping of dramatic irony, the Six Idiots manage to fill the gaps in their story.

In the video, I go through all the main characters and look at how the Six Idiots represent the big names of Shakespearean England. But the quest for the historical doesn't end there! Here are some extras that didn't make it into the video:

Did Shakespeare actually write the things?

This is a point that would have been good for the video but it was getting too long and I was feeling increasingly like the Earl of Croydon when I was trying to write it. Some literary theorists propose that Shakespeare may not have actually written all of his plays! One theory says Christopher Marlowe may have faked his death to write the works of Shakespeare. Another says that the Earl of Oxford is secretly the author of Shakespeare's works. They're all pretty outlandish theories. But Bill pays homage to them in its depiction of the process behind writing The Comedy of Errors. The Earl of Croydon plans to steal the play and take the credit for it, while Christopher Marlowe takes on a prime role in the creative process. Croydon's downfall and the appearance of Chris' ghost mean that the film does not indulge these theories as legitimate, but the references are still present!

Playfulness in Shakespearean Adaptions

I highly recommend taking a look at the entry on Bill in the recent book Playfulness in Shakespearean Adaptions (https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Playfulness_in_Shakespearean_Adaptations/vKTgDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1). Here is something I found interesting:

'Through a process of mutual education, the film gradually equalises the two playwrights, moving them closer to each other in a tonal middle ground, whereby Shakespeare learns true theatrical craftmanship and Marlowe learns a greater sense of levity.'

The setting

Most of Bill is set in London with some scenes in Spain and Stratford. However, most of the filming locations are in the north of England, particularly York. York Minster masquerades as Westminster Abbey. Redmere in North Yorkshire becomes the Stratford countryside. Some of the indoor scenes of the royal court and London's courtiers are actually the Treasurer's House in York. For Philip's palace in Madrid, the cast went to Stowe School in Buckinghamshire (not Yorkshire this time but you get the point).

After my Yorkshire upbringing, I noticed quickly that the sets were very York-centric. This was kind of immersion-breaking because I recognised the sets as familiar places and not as the intended locations in Shakespearean London. A lot of attention in other historical media reviews on the internet talk about the perceived accuracy of things like the set designs and visual backdrops. But does that really matter? How much does a creative instance of location scouting impact historical accuracy?

I would say that it doesn't matter as much as the ways the story itself interprets the past. And if it did, I would have to give Bill a break because the budget made accessing the real locations impossible most of the time. Part of the funding came with the commitment to use filming locations in the north of England. Trying to film around all the London commuters queueing to get into Prett is inconvenient enough without the cost of it too. Meanwhile, I imagine many smaller heritage sites in the north of England would be delighted to welcome filming crews (as well as to receive the extra recognition and coin).

The reality is that the north of England is underrepresented in media produced in our own country. To have the beautiful heritage sites highlighted as film locations (even if they're presenting as somewhere else) is pretty cool! And also if we're accepting the joke that Shakespeare worked as a street campaigner for vegetables, I think we can let York Minster pass as Westminster Abbey.

Comedic influences

It feels like an omission to not mention some of Bill's biggest comedic influences. Monty Python and Blackadder are dripping from Bill's warm colour palette. As some of the most popular historical comedies from the past century, it's not surprising that Six Idiots were inspired by them.

Blackadder is the go-to for historical comedy and Bill even references some of its famous lines ('oh, God, I'm dead'). Meanwhile, Monty Python is the forerunner on how to produce a historical film on a tight budget. Bill had about $I million to use and so careful planning and creative solutions were needed. The filming locations were the more convenient (and less costly) choices, while the costumes are simple and often repeat (especially for the wealthy royal courtiers). Some of the set design is a little bare, but there's no need to hit up the antique store when there is a perfectly aesthetic stone wall in your wonderful Yorkshire location. But like Monty Python, Blackadder and even Shakespeare's history plays, Bill's jokes, dialogue and characterisation are more important to our enjoyment than sets decked out with the utmost historical consideration. It's the smart humour for history nerds and the literature references for our literary friends that matters the most.

Shakespeare in modern adaptions

Another major influence is inevitably other film adaptions of Shakespeare's life. These adaptions seek to explore the unknown parts of Shakespeare's personal life, which usually leads into suggesting answers for where he got his real-life inspiration for his made-up stories. His marriage is often a focal point of these adaptions. Shakespeare In Love depicts his fictional relationship with Viola de Lesseps and a cold marriage with Anne Hathaway. Other adaptions depict William and Anne's loving relationship and this is the stance that Bill takes. Like adaptions preceding it, Bill proposes sources for Shakespeare's literary inspiration. The film suggests that his arrival in the literary scene came partly from his adventures in London, partly from his mentorship by Christopher Marlowe and partly from Anne Hathaway's gumption.

Notes

[00:00] Into Film Clubs, 'Bill: Behind-the-Scenes Part 3 - on set cast interviews', 16 Sep 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H91lNzItWfU&list=LL&index=3&t=26s

[00:15] Sena Hazal Okmen, 'Yonderland Series 3 Full Cast Q&A - Part 1', 26 Sept 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2t3j7qOpEk&t=1007s

[01:46] William Shakespeare and the Lord Chamberlain's Men performing his play Love's Labour's Lost for Queen Elizabeth I, 19th-century engraving, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lord-Chamberlains-Men/images-videos

[02:00] Robert Greene, Greenes Groats-Worth of witte, bought with a million of Repentance. Describing the follie of youth, the falshood of make-shifte flatterers, the miserie of the negligent, and mischiefes of deceiuing Courtezans, 1592, https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/greenes-groats-worth-of-wit

[03:14] Unknown English artist, 'Queen Elizabeth', oil on panel, c. 1600, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02070/Queen-Elizabeth-I?LinkID=mp01452&search=sas&sText=queen+elizabeth+i&role=sit&rNo=12

[03:19] Unknown artist, 'English Ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588', painting, c. 16th century, National Maritime Museum, https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-11754

[03:21] Sofonisba Anguissola, 'Philip II', oil on canvas, 1565, Museo del Prado, https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/philip-ii/7d7280d6-5603-488a-8521-933acc357d7a

[04:27] Thomas Dekker, title page from Gods tokens: or, A rod for run-awaies, London, 1625

[04:35] my first video (hehe) https://youtu.be/itYLePjBB6k

[06:55] Unknown artist, 'Putative Marlowe portrait (Painting of a young man, perhaps Christopher Marlowe)', painting, 1585, British Library https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/painting-of-a-young-man-perhaps-christopher-marlowe-1585

[07:14] Aernout van Buchel, Johannes de Witt, 'Aernout van Buchel's copy of Johannes de Witt's drawing of the Swan playhouse', illustration, c. 1596, British Library https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/shakespeares-playhouses

[07:17] Royal Shakespeare Company, 'Trailer | Doctor Faustus | Royal Shakespeare Company', 10 Jun 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8WImpUkPHk&t=73s

[07:20] Royal Shakespeare Company, 'Hamlet | Act 3 Scene 1 | Royal Shakespeare Company', 11 May 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--tWffBTyqM

[07:40] Charles Nicholl, 'Marlowe [Marley], Christopher', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 23 Sep 2004 https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-18079

[07:58] 'The murder of Thomas Arden on 15th February 1550, from a woodcut published in 1633', from Lionel Cust, Arden of Feversham (London: Mitchell Hughes and Clarke, 1920), p. 12 https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/archcant/1920%2034%20Arden%20of%20Feversham%20Cust_1.pdf

[08:02] Eric Ravilious, 'A charge, the cable cut, a caldron discovered', from Series: The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta, wood engraving, 1933, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1936-0613-138

[08:18] George Vertue, 'Procession portrait of Elizabeth I of England c. 1601', painting, c. 1700 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_I,_Procession_Portrait..jpg

After Robert Peake, 'A Procession of Elizabeth I', oil on panel, c. 1600, Manchester Art Gallery https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/a-procession-of-elizabeth-i-205783

[08:22] Unknown artist, 'William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley', oil on panel, after 1587, National Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw00919/William-Cecil-1st-Baron-Burghley?LinkID=mp00645&role=sit&rNo=5

Unknown artist, after John De Critz the Elder, 'Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury', oil on panel, 1602, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw05580/Robert-Cecil-1st-Earl-of-Salisbury?LinkID=mp06865&role=art&rNo=1

[08:26] Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, 'Queen Elizabeth I ('The Ditchley portrait')', oil on canvas, circa 1592, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02079/Queen-Elizabeth-I-The-Ditchley-portrait?LinkID=mp01452&search=sas&sText=elizabeth+i&role=sit&rNo=10

[08:29] Unknown English artist, 'Sir Walter Ralegh (Raleigh)', oil on panel, 1588, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw05204/Sir-Walter-Ralegh-Raleigh?LinkID=mp03700&role=sit&rNo=1

[08:32] Unknown artist after Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, 'Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex', oil on canvas, early 17th century, based on a work of circa 1596, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02131/Robert-Devereux-2nd-Earl-of-Essex?LinkID=mp01492&search=sas&sText=earl+of+essex&role=sit&rNo=1

[08:35] Adriaen Brouwer, 'The Brawl', oil painting, 1635, https://wikioo.org/paintings.php?refarticle=8YEB23&titlepainting=The%20brawl&artistname=Adriaen%20Brouwer

[09:09] Associated with John Taylor, William Shakespeare, oil on canvas, feigned oval, circa 1600-1610, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw11574/William-Shakespeare

[10:02] Jooris van der Straeten, 'Philip II of Spain,' oil painting, c. 1554, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jooris_van_der_Straeten_-_Portrait_of_Philip_II_of_Spain.jpg

[10:12] Vertigo Recording, ''Bill' Behind the scenes', 26 Aug 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvwW4aMZCYY&t=41s

[10:23] Hans Eworth, 'Queen Mary I', oil on panel, 1554, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw04265/Queen-Mary-I

[10:25] François Clouet, Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87), Watercolour on vellum, c. 1558, Royal Collections Trust, https://www.rct.uk/collection/401229/mary-queen-of-scots-1542-87

[10:28] Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, 'Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 8 August 1588', painting, 1796, National Maritime Museum, https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-11756

[11:48] Attributed to John De Critz the Elder, 'Sir Francis Walsingham', oil on panel, c. 1589, National Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw06570/Sir-Francis-Walsingham

[12:12] Unknown artist, 'Queen Elizabeth I', painting, c. 1610 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth-I-Allegorical-Po.jpg

[12:20] Unknown continental artist, 'Elizabeth I', oil on panel, c. 1575, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02075/Queen-Elizabeth-I

[13:28] Unknown, 'The funeral procession of Queen Elizabeth I to Westminster Abbey, 28th April 1603', illustration, 1557-1603, British Library, https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/drawings-of-the-funeral-procession-of-elizabeth-i

[14:00] Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 'Shakespeare's Consort', sketch, 1708, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Anne_Hathaway#/media/File:AnneHathaway_CUL_Page4DetailB.jpg