Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay: Scene 10 FBFB: Scene 10 Director Peter Cockett Author of Annotations Peter Cockett Video Director Holger Schott Syme Video Compiler Peter Cockett Production Company Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project Conversion and Remediation LEMDO Team Queen’s Men EditionsQME

The Queen’s Men Editions anthology is led by Helen Ostovich, General Editor; Peter Cockett, General Editor (Performance); Andrew Griffin, General Editor (Text; until 2026); and Janelle Jenstad, General Editor (Text; 2026–)

 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada McMaster University Poculi Ludique Societas University of Waterloo University of Toronto Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies University of Victoria Friends of the ISE

Released with Queen’s Men Editions 2.0

 University of Victoria on the Linked Early Modern Drama Online Platform

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Queen’s Men Editions

Page written by Peter Cockett. First published in the QME 1.0 anthology on the ISE platform. Converted to TEI-XML and remediated by the LEMDO Team for republication in the QME 2.0 anthology on the LEMDO platform.

Encoded in TEI P5 according to the LEMDO Customization and Encoding Guidelines

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 Published file. Copyedited, encoded links and persName, added paragraph xml:id. Updated metadata Created remediated file from emdFBFB_video_scene09 Peer review arranged by QME Editorial Board

The speaking of the Brazen head is the zenith of Bacon’s mighty magic but, rather than meeting the heroic expectations raised in , this climactic scene presents an opportunity for virtuoso clowning. Alon Nashman’s performance of this scene is an excellent example of the clowns’ ability to construct a sequence of comic action that is absurd but at the same time logical. Nashman developed the physical routine through close attention to the textual evidence and a creative exploration of his props and the stage environment. He worked alone, feeling his way through the text and the physical logic of the action he was creating. The result was an extended scene, the longest in the play, which for me was a virtuoso example of contemporary clowning but reminded others of complaints of clowns speaking more than was set down for them. The speaking head is the culmination of Bacon’s seven years task (), but it comically misfires thanks to the sleeping clown. At the end of the scene Jason Gray (Bacon) is left with the task once again of shifting the treatment of the magic back into a stately, tragic tone, completing the dualistic affect of the magic in the SQM production.

 Navigation See Production Credits. Go back to scene index for the SQM production of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay.