Canadian
theatre 
Image
Gallery Songs from What Ho!
The Williams
From What Ho!, 2002
 |
 |
|
The Williams, What Ho! (2002): |
What Ho! contains ten songs in which the "great plays of Shakespeare [are] reconstructed as post-modern popular song" (CD jacket). In December 2003 The Williams began developing a theatro-musical version of another Shakespearean adaptation, Rosaline and Benvolio by Jerry Prager, in conjunction with Suitcase in Point, a St. Catharines-based theatre company. The Williams are a spinoff of the Woodchoppers Association, a Toronto-based free-style improv orchestra. What Ho! brings together innovative musical improvisations with postmodern adaptive techniques using Shakespeare as a focus.
Audio Clip: "Iambius Hannabius"
The text for "Iambius Hannabius" is taken from Twelfth Night, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, and Hamlet by William Shakespeare, as adapted by Lois Burdett for the "Shakespeare Can Be Fun" series of children's books.
Audio Clip: "Caliban Cannibal"
"Caliban Cannibal" is adapted from The Tempest and A True Repertory of the Wreck and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates, Knight by William Strachey.
The Williams
Blake "William" Howard: drums, percussion, vocals
Richard "William" Gregory: electric guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, vocals
S. "Willy-Nilly" Sponge: viola, flute, saxophone, percussion, electric guitar, harmonica, loops, vocals
Lewis "William" Melville: acoustic, electrical and pedal steel guitars, mandolin, bass guitar, banjo, percussion, vocals
Dave "William" Clark: drums, percussion, acoustic and electric guitar, jaw harp, loops, samples, vocals
Hannah "William" Zbitnew: vocals, whistles, buggos and tinks on "Iambius Hannabius"
DROG: Canadian Recordings
The Woodchoppers Association
