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Shakespeare & Beyond

Ben Elton’s 'Upstart Crow' and 'All Is True': Shakespeare in different keys

All Is True and Upstart Crow
All Is True and Upstart Crow
All Is True and Upstart Crow

Kenneth Branagh in All Is True and David Mitchell in Upstart Crow. (IMDB)

Ben Elton is no stranger to Shakespeare. The British author and actor played Verges alongside Michael Keaton’s Dogberry in Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film Much Ado About Nothing. He incorporated Shakespeare — both the man himself and his words — into several episodes of his Blackadder TV series, which he co-wrote with Richard Curtis starting with the second season. He even passed his A-levels (in English and History) in Stratford-upon-Avon. And now he’s written the screenplay for Branagh’s elegiac film about Shakespeare’s final days, All Is True, on the heels of three seasons (plus two Christmas specials) of Upstart Crow, the British sitcom he created and wrote about Shakespeare’s life and work (that also features Branagh in a cameo role).

Elton has managed something rather remarkable: He’s taken the same sets of facts, texts, and cultural associations to script two distinctly different creations — a mournful minor-key family drama in All Is True and a bright workplace/domestic comedy in Upstart Crow.

Comments

I work as a volunteer guide at New Place, and it’s amusing when guests ask, often in a worried way, what I think about Upstart, nervous I think that it’s felt to be too irreverent or unfactual! It is so much more than a guilty pleasure!

Martin Kimber — July 5, 2019

Agreed, Martin!

Austin Tichenor — July 8, 2019

The “upstart crow” quotation is not posthumous. It was written in the early 1590s, when Shakespeare was just beginning. Not after he died.

Phil Diser — July 8, 2019

Thank you for catching this error. We’ve updated the blog post.

Shakespeare & Beyond — July 10, 2019

Yes Upstart Crow much better…. All is True has a terrible mismatch between Elton’s jaunty dialogue and thesps like Branagh and Dench taking it all too seriously. A painful watch..

Hugh Thomson — July 9, 2019

Weighing in as one who liked All is True, I loved the performances but thought the dialogue was less subtle than it might have been. Re: “jaunty.” Dialogue that looks jaunty on the page takes on a different tone when the speakers are older. In this case, it takes on a more melancholy cast; all are aware that they don’t have much time, that the world is changing and they are much closer to the end than to the beginning. Making amends and stitching up the loose threads of a family is often painful. In my view, All is True does a lovely job of reminding us of the questions we have about Shakespeare’s later years and presenting palatable answers.

Deborah — July 10, 2019

I like where you are going with this discussion.

John Orr — July 11, 2019

The “Upstart Crow” reference was partly posthumous. It was written on Greens deathbed and published after his death and probably refers to a leading actor at the time Edward Alleyn. The Upstart Crow series is not meant to be factual it is fun, and the two dead characters Green and Marlowe add to the comedy.

Clare — May 1, 2020

All I can add is Upstart Crow is the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen. All is True doesn’t interest me as the comedy is what keeps my interest. Being an English major, although 40 years ago, this show flatters what little memory I have of the Bard. Cheers Ben Elton!

Jeri Thompson — May 17, 2021