Drown My Books

Sunday Miscellany: Texts from the Bard

2012-02-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

My Google Reader is now almost completely devoted to Shakespeareana. Today I share with you the only feed that is guaranteed to make me snort so loud my office compatriots think I'm having seizures. Besides the heaving sides, its language is definitely NSFW. I give you,

Texts from the Bard

If you've been on the internet at all for the past five years, you've probably heard of texts from last night - the collection of actual text messages so drunkenly horribly wrong I eventually lost faith in humanity while reading it and had to curl up in my happy place for a month to get the smell off of me.

Someone. Some glorious genius decided that superimposing some of these entries over stills from well-known Shakespearean movies made them funnier. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! BEHOLD!

Go forth and spend your Sunday afternoon reading ALL THE TFTB! Link also conveniently located to the right (on the site) under Fellow Shakespeareans.

The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Zeffirelli

2012-02-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

This is one of those movies you'd probably be shown in class to work with the play. I saw the wedding scene only in my Shakespeare in Film class in college, and from that it seemed like a great adaptation. It's certainly a classic, anyhow.

But. I hated it. Maybe it's just too far out of time for me to appreciate it, but there just wasn't enough for me to like. Taylor's Katherina shrieks and shrills and beats on everything for most of the movie, until it behooves her to stop. And when is she behooved? When her groom a) doesn't bed her (because she clocked him with a heating pan!) and b) destroys some pretty clothes. And yeah - I know that that's mostly how it is in the play ,but for jeebus-sake, give us something more believable for a film!

And the best scene in the whole play, the witty exchange when Petrichio and Katherina first meet, is completely overshadowed by the settings as Katherina leads Petruchio on a chase around Brabantio's manse. Through spice lofts and wool mounds and hidden rooms and rooftops - it was way too much for what can be such a simple exchange. It's a dance, not a WWE wrestling match!

I still love Zeffirelli's use of music for this movie, and you know his costume houses never disappoint. The costumes were really sumptuous. But there were no people in them. It was a bunch of costumes running around talking to each other.

One thing I admitted, though, was that the final kiss between Petruchio and Katherina was sweet. All the ones before it had been power play or comic, that one showed that they truly cared for each other. Too bad not much else in the film led me to believe it. Sad face. It's a hard play for a modern audience, even harder when half the script is cut away, I'm sure.

EDIT: after discussing this with some people who liked this movie, my eyes are opened to a couple of things I didn't notice: 1) Katherina's keeping house is a sort of rebellion on her part against Petruchio. If he's going to force her to live here, by God she'll make it a hospitable place. And if he's going to mistreat his servants, then she will be kind to them. 2) Her speech at the end of the play is sort of an apology to him. She's spent a lot of time being uncivil, and she sees what she's missing at her sister's wedding. Her coming when commanded makes him see that she does want to try, and he does want to be a good husband. I get that. It's still hard to see, though, after most of the film is spent with both sides abusing the other.

Macbeth: A Novel, Hartley and Hewson (narrated by Alan Cumming)

2012-02-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

After Agincourt I really didn't think I'd be reviewing an audio book again soon. But just as I finished that one, the Shakespeare Geek tweeted a link to this one. A novel that had been specifically intended to be an audio book. So, of course, I hopped right back to Audible.com and downloaded the 10 hour book.

The authors, in their commentary before and after the novel, said that they didn't want to create a novelized version of the play we know from Shakespeare. They wanted to take that play, like Shakespeare took Holinshed's history, and create something new and visceral to a modern audience. Hot damn did they.

There's enough of the play to recognize lines and elements without it being too on-the-nose (except, I think, the "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech - that sounded almost like a word for word translation). But here we got personal histories, motivations, small elements that change the way we look at the play.

For example, the Macbeths in this novel are not wildly ambitious for the sake of being crowned alone - but for the good of Scotland they believe they have to end Duncan's reign before his spoiled son Malcolm can take it for himself. In feudal Scotland, kings were chosen by a council of thanes, so Duncan naming his son his heir would have changed the way Scotland's political system had worked for hundreds of years. But because we get to be inside the heads of many characters in this novel, we understand his good reasons for making that decision, too. No one is truly good or truly evil - they're all humans.

The Weird Sisters were certainly something. Are they evil? Are they magical? Are they spiteful? Or are they seeking good themselves? Their arc over the course of the book was just as conflicted as everyone else's but with very little history to go off of - leaving them as mysterious as before.

This is a bloody bloody book, too, so not for the faint of heart - nor for the person who hasn't eaten lunch and crams herself on the metro home only to hear the grisly end of one of the main characters and almost faints on the train. Not for you. However, aside from that one incident, the violence actually made the novel really present in my imagination. Duncan's murder was terrifying, and the Macduff family's end was heartbreaking - I found myself almost in tears during that scene.

Will history ever look fondly on the Macbeths? This novel might allow us to, for it's a very human portrayal of two people who wanted better for themselves and their country, and paid too dearly to get it.

You can download this novel for $20 at Audible - and I strongly recommend it. I mean - Alan Cumming's rich brogue is reason enough. See the video below for a sample of the audio and some words from authors A. J. Hartley and David Hewson:

Check it! The paperback novel of this book will be printed in May! You'll be missing the brogue and the music, but getting the great story.

Macbeth: A Novel

Paperback
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (May 21, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1612183018
ISBN-13: 978-1612183015

Sunday Miscellany: First Time

2012-02-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

Photo from Shakespeare's Birthday 2011 by Lloyd Wolf

Last month I've had the pleasure of challenging myself to seeing a Shakespeare play I've never seen nor read before. Shakespeare Theatre Co has a flash-bang production of Two Gentlemen of Verona as a sort of an R-rated 90s grunge movie. I did not read any synopses, liner notes, nor any reviews -save what sketchy information I already knew: Two Gents is about two gents from Verona and there's a dog.

Granted: I know Shakespeare. I first picked up Romeo and Juliet as a nerdlette 18 years ago, became obsessed with the Animated Tales for years, and was the only student in my 5th grade class to cross-dress for our living biography project so I could be Shakespeare.We're tight, is what I'm saying. I'm not your average first-time audience.

Still, though, it was sort of nice to see a Shakespeare play where all of the words were new to me (except for "What light is light if Sylvia be not by?..." I have seen Shakespeare in Love a few times).

And it just made me think of a small bit from a recent article by STC's former literary associate, Akiva Fox, the week I saw the show (the whole article is the genre-fication of Shakespeare and how that's hurting more than helping our audiences):

"I wish I could be shocked when Cordelia doesn’t make it—what a ballsy and maddening and vital way to end a play! I wish I could hear jealousy described as a “green-eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds on” and remember what jealousy felt like and realize what an insanely original and right way that is to describe it. I want to be 15 again for that (and not for any other part of being 15), but I understand that genie is not easily rebottled."

For one glorious evening, I was able to be surprised by Shakespeare again. I got to see him testing ideas for his later plays, playing with words in different ways, exploring the limits of a relationship. Yes, I will always feel something for Hamlet, and Juliet, and Beatrice - but to meet new characters for the first time after a lifetime of loving the old clique, it felt like a gift.

Now if only Coriolanus would come to DC, I could try it again!

Stage Beauty (2004), Eyre

2012-02-03T07:30:00.000-05:00

During the Restoration period of England, when King Charles II ascended the throne, the playhouses - which had been closed during the Civil War - were reopened. And they performed exactly as they had before they closed: with men in women's roles. In fact, it was still unlawful for women to take the stage. That is until Charles II decreed that women were to be allowed to perform.

It is interesting to me that a film about this time of great change would set the crux of performance history to the fate of Desdemona, though there were certainly more popular playwrights of the time whose plays were actually at the center of the storm.

Ned Kynestan has spent his life performing women's roles, and is incredibly popular with audiences. His dresser, Mariah, secretly yearns to be an actor herself, and pays a tavern stage for the chance, taking the name Margaret Hughes. The novelty of a woman onstage makes her an overnight sensation, and Ned does not handle it well . His reaction leads to men no longer being allowed to play women's roles as it perforce must lead to unnatural behavior. As women storm the stages of England, Mariah discovers that she is, in fact, talentless and has been copying Ned's performance tricks. She cannot play the role of Desdemona without his help, but will he offer it?

Kynestan and Hughes are historical figures - he was a famous actor and she is decidedly one of the first (if not the very first) women to take the stage (and her first role was Desdemona). However, as with historically "inspired" movies, they did not rely on each other to perform - and Kynestan was not put out by women acting, his career playing men was just as illustrious. But what a story.

Having recently participated in a poetry reading on the topic of Gender Identity, this film spoke volumes to me about that. In the film, Kynestan says he was raised by a man who taught him "and all the other pretty little boys" to perform women's roles. The gestures, the movements, the style - but there was abuse in his training, too. They weren't allowed to wear dresses or wigs until they could prove they could be women. Obviously that would be confusing for young men, and Kynestan leads a long life of bisexuality - unsure of which side he comes down on, but enjoying the attentions of both. I was actually rather disturbed by the scene where Hughes asks him how a man and a man are together (sexually) and they proceed to simulate sexual positions - asserting that one or the other is the woman or the man. It struck me as perversely psychotic - in the way that doctors seek to "cure" homosexuals by teaching them the "right" way to have sex.

Anyway, the scene I really watch the movie for is the rehearsal and subsequent performance of Othello (or, at least, the death scene). One of Mariah's big problems with Ned's feminine portrayal of Desdemona is that she doesn't fight - she just dies. 400 years later, high school students are expressing the same distaste with Desdemona. However, it's all in how it's performed, and in this movie it is truly emotionally stirring. Not in the least because Claire Danes is one of those actresses who is just never afraid to be ugly - and the panicked desperation her final Desdemona exudes is just... it always brings tears to my eyes.

This is definitely a film with many layers, but one of the things I take away from it is that it's not in how you read Shakespeare or speak Shakespeare's words - but in how you perform them that really makes the work endure.

Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story, Fiedler

2012-02-01T07:30:00.000-05:00

Knowing my new goals require a lot more dedicated reading time than before, I decided to start with something I could re-read in less than a week. It took me one day. It's a very fast-paced novel, which is appropriate considering the action of Romeo and Juliet happens in less than a week's worth of time.

One trick to keeping the pace going is that the POV switches from character to character. I'm not a fan of it in this book, mostly because sometimes it's clunky. It's like we, the audience, have to be present for every scene from the play, but there are certain characters who will never have the POV (Juliet), so we have to overhear them through another character - even if that character is already dead. Which is awkward. And some characters get only one shot at POV, then never return to the helm - which is also awkward.

HOWEVER, I love this novel. I love the way it moves, and I love the way Rosaline thinks. Sure, sometimes I wanted to shout "TROPE!" when she did things like study healing herbs or deny love then fall directly into it with the wrong man, but her mistakes in that department don't last long, satisfyingly. Because, really, what's an exploration of Romeo and Juliet without a real romance to parallel the impetuousness of the two leads? PLUS there are a few characters from other plays who show up occasionally on the streets of Verona, and not arbitrarily. I don't want to give that all away, but one of them is a dog.

Above all, I love that this novel is about consequences. Romeo and Juliet are the type of characters who do not think things all the way through, and their behavior is reckless and dangerous as a result. A lot of times they're looked to as romantic or heroic, but really they're cowardly. They marry in secret, rashly underestimating their parents' wrath and the dangers it creates for everyone else, then they commit the most selfish act of all: suicide.

And for all the romanticizing suicide gets in this play, Rosaline's reaction to Juliet's contemplation of it is great:

"'The only victory is summoning the audacity to stay. If you truly wish to exert power in the face of your father's cruelty, there is only one thing for you to do.'
'And what is that?' she asks.
'Live.'"

This is after delivering a ringing slap to the tweenage Juliet who has already received the Friar's potion. Is it comforting, though, to think that Juliet had someone who cared about her this much, who offered her better advice than anyone else, and that she still followed through on her impulses? Or more tragic?

This novel definitely doesn't shy from the dark stuff, but it's very mature and gentle in its presentation of young love, age-old hate, and untimely death.

Romeo's Ex

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (September 19, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805075003
ISBN-13: 978-0805075007

Sunday Miscellany: My Soapbox

2012-01-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

So, since that Twitter-sation last week, a lot of blogs, journals, even publications have been talking about - even defending - texts like SparkNotes "No Fear" Shakespeare and the Cliffs Notes cartoons (7min parodies that reduce R&J's wooing to "OMG, you are totes hot!").

[drags soapbox centerstage] Lights, please?

What is there to fear of Shakespeare in the first place?

Shakespeare isn't famous because of his plots or characters. He's famous because his words - his magical, poetic words - moved his audience. Not readers - an audience is a part of a present piece of theater, whether that's Kevin Spacey limping at BAM as Richard III, or Timmy Smith reading Hamlet's sixth soliloquy aloud in class. If you change the words, you are NOT doing Shakespeare. You can be "inspired by" Shakespeare, or "based on" Shakespeare, but you can't do NOTShakespeare instead of Shakespeare and call it "Shakespeare."

People argue that these materials are supplemental. I argue that they are detrimental. They define where they should explore. To say that "to be thus is nothing," means "To be king is nothing" you are taking away the power of that word and removing all manner of meaning from it. You are stating to your readers that this is the one meaning of that word, of that line, and removing any room for discussion or exploration.

By even translating it in the first place these "resources" are telling students AND teachers that they cannot understand the original words. "Shakespeare is hard," you say with a pouty face, "our resource makes it easy." You neglect to say 90% of Shakespeare's original text is modern English, the other 10% is easily figured out from context or even just playing around.

More people argue that anything that gets students interested in Shakespeare is a good thing. I was once among their ranks. But anything that bastardizes Shakespeare in order to appeal to a more mass audience is not helping anyone. It's sending the wrong message. It's insulting the intelligence of anyone who approaches the pedestal Shakespeare's been placed on and telling them in as few small words as possible, YOU WON'T GET IT. DO NOT TRY. Instead of creating more levels for that pedestal to sit higher on, remove it altogether - it isn't there. If you come to the text thinking there's something to fear, you will be afraid.

And BAD ENOUGH that the plays are mistreated like this, but I find out that the POEMS are getting "translated" as well! Seriously? WHY?!

If you're looking for resources with original language, THEY EXIST. FIND THEM. Here are just a few:

Want to show a short animation? BBC's Shakespeare the Animated Tales

Want to read a brief novelization with lines from the play? Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield

Want a play's summary with lines to read aloud? 15 min Plays from Folger (Pages 10-11 for OTHELLO).

Want more? DO RESEARCH! Explore Folger Library, Royal Shakespeare Co, the Globe, your local Shakespeare Theatre's Education pages for resources, performances, recommendations, classes, professional development opportunities - GET OUT THERE and LEARN!

But, CGriff, I hear you crying, you read and watch and love adaptations of Shakespeare - how is that different?

Here's how: Shakespeare's plays, when adapted for screen, stage, and page, take on a new life there. They grow by these adaptations. They're further explored, further depths of character and multiple meanings of words are plumbed. The books and films and miscellany I've read - thus far at least - respect the original plays, and it is out of love for those works that these new and vital pieces were born. Not out of any need to "update" or "modernize" or "translate" what is there to be learned or to discussed. These works actually do enhance the plays they were built on by continuing a 400 year old discussion of what they could mean. Not what they do mean. They do not seek to define, as these "no fear" editions do. They come at the play believing there's nothing to fear in the first place, and prove it.

Stop believing that these plays require these translations in order to be understood. Stop assigning them in class, or telling students they're a good resource if they're having trouble. Take them to see a play, watch a film version with clear acting choices, talk them through it if they have questions, read scenes aloud together, discuss!

A great man once said, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself," and, Twitterverse, it wasn't Shakespeare. Take away the pedestal, take away the fear, and read the plays as they were meant to be read: ALOUD, as PERFORMANCE, as PLAYS. We're not studying his work because we should, we're studying his works because the words endure. They will outlive us all, and deserve to be discussed intelligently.

Thank you. [drags soapbox off stage left. Exeunt]

Twelfth Night (1996), Nunn

2012-01-27T07:30:00.001-05:00

In my disappointment in not seeing Coriolanus as planned on January 20th (for it only opened in NYC for some reason...) I consoled myself with one of my absolute favorite Shakes on Film ever. Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night. If you are following me on twitter by now, you would have seen exclamatory tweet after exclamatory tweet heaping praise and love on this movie. And for good reason(s)!

But where to start!?

First of all, this is one of those movies where every actor knows exactly what's happening and why they're saying or doing what they are. A couple of times I wondered if it was overbearingly rigid on Nunn's part with such a strictly cut screenplay, interposing conversations between three settings, or creating action to force beautiful mise en scene, but this is such a talented and knowledgable cast that I can only assume that this film had at least two weeks of full time table work. If that's not the case, then everyone in this movie has ESP and they all agree on everything in each scene - that's just impressive.

I really do love this ENTIRE ensemble. They're all perfectly cast in their roles and bring such warmth and inflection to their lines and actions that within the space of a minute of meeting each character you can see who they are. And again with the screenplay's storytelling, I love the wordless scenes which (usually) Feste witnesses. Lastly for the screenplay, the text was altered a bit in the beginning (Messaline and Illyria are not at war in Shakespeare's play), but it made the stakes for Antonio and Sebastian so much higher! Good choice! Not a ProsperA!

Note to any philanthropists out there who specialize in making dreams come true: Please send me to Cornwall to explore these manses and gardens and landscapes! It's just about the most romantic setting I've ever seen, and the scenery is doing all the work! Kidding! Toby Stephens (Orsino) and Imogen Stubbs (Viola/Cesario) do a LOT of the romantic work in this one. Goodness, when Feste sings them a sad song in the barn and they lean to each other and their eyes are closed and Feste's confused but watching carefully and the song ends and they shake it off... AAAUGH, Romantic tingles.

And, OH!, the music. It does so much for this movie - which has a very coastal England setting (though originally set in Italy) - to have a Celtic-ish set list. The instrumental stuff sounds a bit Victorian, but whenever the vagabond Feste sings it's very homey and warming.

For a romantic comedy this play is so sad for so many people, and Nunn does not shy away from showing us the bad with the good. We can be happy for Viola and Sebastian and probably Olivia, but Antonio, Malvolio, and Andrew Aguecheek get totally shafted. Their individual departures from Olivia's court were just as heart-wrenching as the twins' reunion is heart-warming.

But this movie has the weirdest trailer I've ever seen:

TWELFTH NIGHT: Movie Trailer. Watch more top selected videos about: Twelfth Night, Trevor Nunn

Kill Shakespeare Volume 2: The Blast of War, McCreery, Del Col, Belanger

2012-01-25T07:30:00.000-05:00

Occasionally, ever so occassionally, there is an extra perk to my job. One that could make me the envy of a handful of nerds. Occassionally. Before this graphic novel's final issues dropped last year, myself and a couple of other staffers were treated to a first look at the completed Volume 2. I read it in an afternoon and promptly forgot to write about it. No more!

Volume 1 introduced us to our protagonists: Hamlet, Juliet, Othello, and Falstaff; as well as the antagonists: Richard III, Lady Macbeth, and Iago, among others. Central to the plot is the preservation (or destruction) of The Creator - Will Shakespeare. Hamlet is on the Quest of the Chosen One (caps for tropes), while waffling on just which side he falls upon. Richard III has promised to raise Hamlet's dead father if he kills Will, but Will's supporters believe that his existence is key to their own - that killing him could destroy the world.

On with the show!

Besides some text, there are a lot of throwbacks in this volume. The protagonists attend a play called What you Will, which embroils Hamlet into reenacting his father's murder After Hamlet and Juliet share an emotionally harrowing experience reliving their pasts in a hall of Mirrors there is a balcony scene, only it's a little different this time.Will Shakespeare does appear in this volume, but he's not the Will Shakespeare we know and love... or is he?

Something I will always enjoy in any story is the feeling that no one is safe - you can pick your favorites and root for them, but it's up to the storyteller for who comes out alive and well. Some live, some die, some come out well, others are destroyed forever. Even though we know the characters, their fates are not determined by what we already know. PLUS each new episode holds the possibility of introducing new characters to the plot that we totally weren't expecting! In novels, this can be annoying. In this it's like the cameo effect in a nerdy movie.

And, again, the art is really cool. Not being an avid GN reader, sometimes the floating boxes of text and speech bubbles were hard to follow in order as they wove around the stunning pictures, but it is a really engaging story with a lot of fun thrown in for fans of the Bard. Not so much for Tarantino, I think, but feel free to correct me on that.

Kill Shakespeare Volume 2

Paperback: 148 pages
Publisher: IDW Publishing (November 22, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613770251
ISBN-13: 978-1613770252

Sunday Miscellany: TWITTER!

2012-01-22T12:00:00.000-05:00

Image Found HERE

Tweeps, Tweeters, Tweople,
Lend me your hashtags...

I never used to spend much time on the twitter. It was a great place to quickly complain (in <140 ch) or send someone a quick DM, but I did not see the possibilities for connectivity. Also, my brain hurt trying to read so much. Did you know Nathan Fillion posts a lot of pictures of sunsets?

So as part of my New Year's Resolution (caps make it important), I vowed to clean up my lists, dive back in, and use the Twitter like it was meant to be used - for social networking.

Also, to stop calling it THE Twitter.

Lo and behold during my very first week of Tweeting there was to be a Twitter-bate-cussion on the topic of Shakespeare! My colleague, Mike LoMonico, took a bolder stance on an issue I had blogged about before and got the interest of Howard Sherman and Peter Marks, who started a tweet-bate about using Shakespeare's original language. Sherman suggested a Twinternet Gathering including STC's Artistic Director to discuss further with more people and a hashtag. Thus was there to be the #pmdhes gathering of 2012.

Honestly, I couldn't follow half of it. And I'm not sure we were always on track with the original intent of the discussion (which was about the "Soul of Shakespeare") but I had a lot of fun, made some new friends, got rewtweeted and favorited a few times, and totally feel like I'm making progress on my resolution. It is, of course, January.

A Transcript of the whole thing is HERE (thanks to Sherman for turning that over in record time!). You have to read from bottom to top because that's how the internet works.

Keep me honest! Follow me @linthenerd and let me know if cool things Shakespearean are happening. Also, I obviously have no idea what Twittering Conversations With Many People are called... so help me out with that, too.

Much Ado About Nothing (2011), Rourke - starring Catherine Tate and David Tennant

2012-01-20T07:30:00.000-05:00

Not having the pleasure of living in London, nor the funds to procure a flight there AND tickets to this buzz-worthy production, I was as giddy as a gadfly (do they get giddy?) when Digital Theatre announced that this production was now available for download. After waiting a month, I bought it and announced it on Facebook - forgetting that all of my friends are nerds. This review is now based on what became a viewing party for people who love Shakespeare, Doctor Who, and (now) www.DigitalTheatre.com.

I am of the opinion (the uninformed one, of course), that Shakespeare invented the romantic comedy as we know it today. I don't mean "lovers overcome obstacles to be together, le sigh," romantic comedies - I mean the 80s kind of romcom where the lovers' are their own obstacles. Beatrice and Benedick are the Harry and Sally of the English Renaissance. If I may presume without program notes, I think that is what inspired this production. Like in a good 80s comedy, we're treated to loud music (specially composed for the production - Shakespearean poems and songs set to sax, synth, and electric guitar), garish colors, and physical comedy of the highest caliber. This Messina is a large rotating marble pavilion with giant columns and epically tall folding doors. Lots of places to hide or be seen, as needed.

I'm certain that my love for the two leads did not color my enjoyment of them overmuch. I just LOVED their Beatrice and Benedick. Their timing, execution, and emotional reality was really exciting to watch (although we all agreed that this Beatrice would have totally clocked Don John and Claudio and the Prince for their wedding antics), and the way their interactions with each other evolved throughout the show was so squee-worthy. I know this, for we did squee. Muchly.

And I love seeing modern productions of Shakespeare because I love seeing what sort of little changes directors make. For example, Antonio - Leonato's brother - was replaced by Innogen as Leonato's wife. (Why they needed to name her Innogen and not Antonia is a decision only Rourke understands). This should have colored the scene where Leonato and Antonio inform Claudio and Don Pedro of Hero's "death" with new anguish, but this actress brought none to that scene. She did douse Claudio in champagne, and we all sat up - ready for a throw down, but then she backed off and sighed her lines. Also, we were of the opinion that the crypt scene is never truly necessary, just because it's a little slow and boring and let's get to the end, please!, but it was a short scene here with Claudio's humiliation and remorse palpable. Why it needed to be followed by a night of his drinking in front of the crypt while blaring rock music and contemplating suicide was beyond me.

However, except for those Act 2 disappointments, the gulling scenes were probably the most hilarious I've ever seen. The shock and wonder of discovering love was excitingly evident on Benedick and Beatrice, and the ways they avoided being seen (and at what costs), were belly-clutchingly awesome.

I'm actually really glad I watched this with a group of nerdy ladies - it's who you should always watch a good rom-com with. "Just say it!" we'd cry as Benedick and Beatrice stared at each other awkwardly, or protested their love in front of the family. And oh, how we clapped with glee when they finally did.

GUESS WHAT!? You can enter to win this download for free by entering THIS CONTEST by Monday, January 23rd. Get on it!

Agincourt, Bernard Cornwell

2012-01-18T07:30:00.000-05:00

The holidays are a great time to find lots of discounts. For example - Audible had a sale of 100 books for $9.95 (even for non-members) for the New Year. Finding this title in the pack I thought, why not? I am not as good with the histories, and Henry V is as good a place as any to start. Shakespeare's play is certainly one major reason this remarkable battle has been remembered, but even without it we might look back on the bravery of the English invaders and stand in awe at their survival. And even if it's not based on the play, I might learn something.

I learned that it is very hard to review audio books. When you're spreading a 17 hour book over more than three weeks of listening, and most of your listening is done while walking on the morning commute, things might get lost. However, Charles Keating's narration is really engaging, with great growelly voices and a hint of humor or wonder where needed.

Cornwell's novel follows an archer, Nicholas Hook, who escapes to France as an English mercenary after hitting a priest (a killing offense - even if he hit the priest in an attempt to stop him from raping and murdering an heretic girl). During a devastating loss in Soisson, Hook saves a young novice, Melisande, from being raped by an English traitor, and together they steal away across France to Calais and back to England. Hook becomes a favorite of his new lord, Sir John, whose company he remains in through the campaign in France in 1415, appointed to the longbow by King Henry V, himself. Throughout his adventures, Hook is often visited by the Saints Crispin and Crispinian, martyred brothers who offer him advice and strength (or tough words on St. Crispin's part).

Out of everyone in the novel, I'm pretty sure Sir John and Father Christopher were my favorites. Sir John is constantly cursing and telling his men what sorts of violence befit the death of a damn Frenchman, looking to Father Christopher as if - I think - taunting him. But FC only ever replies "As you say, Sir John." Occasionally the priest would offer up his own slurs against the French, which (along with the mad and evil Sir Martin) made room for some interesting speculation on the role of religious men in Henry's campaign, and the fallibility of men.

Some of the more memorable scenes from the play are hinted at here, but I think that's more because they are memorable scenes from history. Harfleur in the play is where Henry V calls for his men to go "Once more unto the breach," and is conquered. In history, and this book, Harfleur was an embarrassingly long siege. The scene in the play where Henry hangs his old friends for stealing goods from a church is transferred to a personal loss for Hook, which informs a later scene where the eve of St. Crispin (and Crispinian)'s day gives the archer a "little touch of Harry in the night."

Mostly, this book is one long account of how horrifying warfare was in the 15th century. Tunnels and counter-tunnels, trebuchets, how an arrow pierces flesh and scrapes bone, how dysentery is effing awful, how swords rip through bellies and throats - but also how organized it was. Messengers and Heralds (as in the play) are treated with respect and candor. Sir John and "Le Signeur de Feurre" (The Lord of Hell, Melisande's father) share a mutual respect for each other's skills on the field, even though they hate each other. "Maybe they are friends," one archer thinks watching them walk and talk together, though it's an odd kind of friendship.

I do feel like I learned a lot, and the book is action-packed since it's pretty much brawl after siege after battle after war. The characters are interesting and likeable, and it's not hard to see why the English remember Harry with such reverence and fondness - he was their brother for a day after all.

Agincourt

Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition (December 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 006157890

Audio Book

Publisher: HarperAudio; Unabridged edition (January 20, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060780967
ISBN-13: 978-0060780968

IDES of January: What's New Here?

2012-01-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

Well, hello, and Happy New Year! You may have noticed some oddities lately as I've buckled down and cleaned up this blog after two and a half years, but I have to say I'm pleased and excited that it's finally in a new stage of life. Some twenty-something soul-searching has shown me that researching and discussing books, movies, and miscellany based on Shakespeare is my true passion, so this blog will be getting a lot more attention from me.

What's New?
If you're viewing this on-site, you'll see there are new pages and a new fancy layout. If you're in RSS feeds, you shouldn't notice anything, BUT should you ever want to come over to the site, I'll try to have treats for you. I'll still play with this for awhile, but you can learn a little more about me, or find old reviews by category. It's New!

Posts will become more regular. I've set up a schedule for myself, and succumbed to the siren call of the Kindle Fire for my reading needs. I still have a lot of paperbacks to document, but new stuff will be easier to travel with. Wednesdays will be for Books, Fridays for Movies, and Sundays for Whatever I feel like sharing. Might be Miscellany, might be discussion threads for the week, might be a picture of a cat in a ruff. It's New!

IDES! The IDES of each month will be dedicated to Non-Fiction. I spend so much time in the world of fantasy that sometimes I forget to be about the real stuff as well. Today is sort of an exception as I have not read a NF book in quite awhile, though I have a pile. If the NFs become DNFs, I might switch it up. It's New!

Internet Presence. I'm going to get good at Twitter. You can follow me @linthenerd. I'll consider a tumblr only if someone makes a really really good case for it. I want to keep Facebook separate for now, but we'll see how stage one shakes out. It's New!

So What?
Maybe nothing. Maybe it means nothing in the grand scheme of things to you. BUT If this blog grows and gains followers there will be opportunities for Giveaways, Games, and other Fun Things. So share it with your friends who like books, or like Shakespeare, or like movies, or like being nerdy on the internet together, or all those things. If you have suggestions for the site, let me know. I'm not looking to buy a domain name anytime soon, but I would like to be a sort of reference point for people interested in the world of Shakespeareana. I think it's really fascinating, all the ways his work is re-imagined, and maybe you are, too!

In any case, WELCOME! Here's a picture of a cat in a ruff:

Tempest (2010), Taymor

2012-01-04T21:21:00.000-05:00

I wanted so badly to see this movie in theatres, but it was in and out and gone and so I had to wait for the DVD. Then I figured, why not wait for the blu-ray. It's a visually rich Taymor film. So I got it for Christmas on blu-ray and sat back to finally watch it.

I know that I overset this movie up in my head, so to say I'm disappointed isn't going to paint the whole picture.

The casting, to start with, was really good - but with some really bad choices thrown in. Some people brought interesting new sides to the roles (who knew Gonzolo was lovable? that Chris Cooper would make Shakespearean villainy look so easy?), but others just made me uncomfortable. And I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be comfortable with them. Am I scared of Caliban? Do I think Ferdinand is kind of a loser? Is that your point?

I'm sorry world, changing Prospero to ProsperA just doesn't work. Textually and emotionally, it's a story of a father letting go of a daughter. Of a brother doing the incredible and forgiving his brother for usurping him. Of a wronged man quelling the natural urge to take revenge and soften it to gentle forgiveness. Of an older man, recognizing that what he's ending will leave the best parts of him behind. And as brilliant, truly wonderful, an actor as Helen Mirren is those moments were lost to me. A mother giving up her daughter, forgiving her brother, and accepting old age seem more natural to me. But leaving the best parts behind - oh, that she nailed. But if you have to change the text (and I don't just mean "sir" to "ma'am", you're doing it wrong.

What does it MEAN?

Artistically, I was extremely disappointed. Early on I admired the costumes and thought oh, that's interesting. But then I couldn't explain to myself why they were also necessary. Whole outfits made out of heavy black fabric with intricate zippers making up designs and ruffs? Cool. But why? What are the zippers telling us about the characters? That they are shiny and have teeth? And Miranda emerging wearing a corset with the faded face of the Virgin Mary on her torso to proclaim "O, Brave New World," was just so <dances like a monkey and points at symbolism>.

Just stop it.

With The Tempest, with a person as visually creative as Taymor, with a budget as this one may have had it is Go Big or Go Home, and this movie just didn't get big enough. The images that inspired Ariel truly are gorgeous and on for it, so why was he no more than a wisp of air most of the time? If you have a play full of songs of love, freedom, and magic, then BRING the love, freedom and MAGIC! The music was whiny and atonal and made me want to cut my wrists with a plastic knife. If you're going to do the scene with the gods entertaining the young lovers, BE FREAKING FANTASTIC. We got kaleidoscopes of constellations. That is a jip. The most stunning and emotionally moving part was the end credits, where over some more sad atonal music with Elizabethan lyrics on a background of dark water, Prospero's books slowly sink. Now that was gorgeous and inspired, and the movie just... wasn't.

With all these faults, though, I really had to love Ariel as the harpy - so deliciously terrifying, Russell Brand and Alfred Molina as Trinculo and Stephano - a rougher go than usual, but I liked it, and the sheer inhospitableness of the island itself. It was imposing, barren, and dark - however did Prospera manage to carve out a life for herself and Miranda against such odds? There were some scenic-ly and actor-ly beautiful moments throughout - it was my disappointment with a number of things that made me swing so negative.

I'm glad I have it. It is interesting enough to have and watch again, but I can't help but feel let down on many counts. Yep - even rewatching the trailer to post it for you below - it looks so good! But it did not live up to the challenge. Next time, Julie. I believe in you.

But hey, don't take my word for it. The Shakespeare Geek is giving away his Christmas bounty of copies of this movie on DVD. Enter to win one and see it for yourself. DaNaNA!

EDIT: Missed the Shakespeare Geek Giveaway? Try BardFilm's!

All Men of Genius, Lev AC Rosen

2011-11-28T14:21:00.001-05:00

As soon as I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. Not just had to add it to my wish list, or lazily browse the preview - had to read it. Luckily, Reichelt felt the same way and had already taken it out on her library card - then generously and wonderfully renewed it twice so I'd have time to finish it! And boy, was it worth it.

Violet Adams is a bright, headstrong inventor, and spends a lot of time tinkering with gears and springs in her laboratory. Her greatest wish is to become a student at Illyria, a college for scientific geniuses, but - alas - she is a woman and it's sort of the Victorian era and women need not apply to Illyria. Seeing as she is no common woman, however, Violet conspires with her brother, Ashton, to apply in his name, and to don a man's disguise for one year and prove that she is worthy of studying science among London's greatest minds, and may do so as a woman afterwards. Their childhood friend, Jack Feste, is in on the scheme and is also an applicant. Obviously Violet and Jack get in and hi-jinks ensue - especially when Duke Earnest, the headmaster of Illyria, finds himself enamored of Violet while his ward, Cecily, falls for the pretend Ashton!

Yes, not only does this book explore Twelfth Night, but also The Importance of Being Earnest! It is a comedy of manners, with polite conversation precluding any hurt feelings, but with a bawdy underside as so many cross-gendered comedies sometimes forget to include.

First, let me say my heart was SO happy with the way relationships were built in this novel. Characters like Cecily fall in love at first sight (she is, after all, only sixteen), but Earnest and Violet's relationship takes its time to blossom. I'll let you find out why that's a play on words later. Everything was handled deftly and sweetly: Jack's infatuation with Cecily; Toby and Miriam's comfortable affair, and Ashton and Antony's discreet to-do's. Each character is presented, their relationships laid out, and nothing ever felt forced.

And there are so many textual in-jokes - but they weren't just plainly lifted (like how Cecily keeps her diary with her for something interesting to read, and insists to Violet that they simply must be the very best of friends), but also show a real knowledge of the plays they were based on. For example, when Malcolm Volio (a really twisted psychopath) receives his forged love-letter from "Cecily,"

"But in retrospect, it wasn't really so surprising. He was, as she said, a genius, and he did have piercing eyes, not to mention a proud masculine brow like his brother and father, a scientist's brow. It all made sense to him now. Her seeming to never know he existed was pure shyness."

Just like the textual Malvolio doesn't see how Olivia could not love him. Similarly, later, he muses that he may have to take Cecily by force, and thrust himself upon her. Oh - this is not simply your maligned Malvolio, though his character is handled in much the same way (abandoned and imprisoned and forgotten), this is a really sick individual with Malvolio-like tendencies - which actually makes me afraid of the Shakespearean characater.

I loved how well-drawn the characters in this book were, overall, and how naturally the action unfolded. I enjoyed reading it so very much, and I cannot give it higher praise than that.

All Men of Genius

Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (September 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765327945
ISBN-13: 978-0765327949

Equivocation, Bill Cain

2011-11-21T14:34:00.001-05:00

Last week I was treated to the invited dress rehearsal for Equivocation, now in it's third incarnation with the original cast at Arena Stage. The play took its first breath at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2009, then headed to Seattle Rep in 2010. While it has had a run in New York (with a different cast and director), somehow this cast can't seem to shake this play - and I won't be able to, either.

This play is about the commissioning of a new play. Shagspeare is called before the crippled counselor Robert Cecil to begin work on a plot outlined by King James I: The True History of the Gunpowder Plot. An event which happened only a year or two prior. "I don't write new plays," Shagspeare protests, "I adapt!" The inflammatory piece wreaks havoc on his business partners and fellow artists at the Globe, especially with long-time collaborator Richard Burbage, but also creates a bridge between the playwright and his daughter, Judith - a Wednesday Adams-ish character with a dark sense of humor and a sharp attitude. In trying to write this play in a way that tells the truth without getting anyone killed for treason, Shagspeare interviews the remaining members of the accused plot - a young man named Thomas Winter, and the famous equivocator, Jesuit Father Henry Garnet. Shagspeare is impressed with the man's turn of phrase - of answering without answering - and begs to be taught. "What question are you really answering?" poses Garnet. Amidst betrayal, political danger, entrapment, and artistic ennui, Shagspeare's famous Scottish play begins to take shape.

The whole thing was a tight three hours, with only six actors distributing the roles. Well, Shag and Judith were played by one person, while everyone else had many more parts to play. Each part informed the others, though, and while in some productions a man swapping between playing MacDuff onstage and King James in the audience would be hokey, this was just entrancing.

I don't want to talk too much about the performances, but the text speaks for itself. Playwright Bill Cain (a Jesuit Father himself) obviously studied Shakespeare's work well. In a time of disappointment that intelligent yet entertaining discussions of Shakespeare's influences, humanity, and work are not available, this play was incredible. My brain buzzed with the possibilities and connections between politics and art - and how they still influence each other today. My heart ached for Shagspeare and Judith, a struggling father-daughter relationship that never got over Hamnet's death. My pulse quickened with the incredibly deft insertions of recognizable text from not only Macbeth, but Richard III, Hamlet, and others.

I loved this play so hard, and I am doing my damnedest to see it again and obtain a copy of the text for myself. I feel at this moment I would clutch it and weep with happiness.

EQUIVOCATION
Trade Copies available at Arena Stage during this run (Nov 18-Jan 1)

Enjoy this youtube clip of Bill Cain and director Bill Rauch discussing the play, and Sub/Text reading materials provided by Arena Stage.

The Beard of Avon, Amy Freed

2011-11-10T10:24:00.000-05:00

When I was but a college lass, I went to see a play which cost $12 in a large back room of an old church in a bad part of town. The production was sparse but colorful, the jokes witty and over-the-top silly. I laughed until I cried, and went home thinking about the question of Shakespeare's authorship, but ultimately just giddy with entertainment.

As the controversy surrounding a current film on this same subject began (I'd rather not say anything specific in case of internet creeps looking for a fight), I wasn't too miffed. The authorship question exists and continues to be discussed. Interred with Their Bones makes a stab (a far-fetched, over-complicated stab), and no one will ever be satisfied because no one will ever know until definitive proof is found. Good luck with that. Then the Occupy Wall Street protests grew more heated, and the movie began promoting itself as educational. This is when my ire began to flame. How dare these damn anti-Stra'fordians foist their elitist mumbo-jumbo on my poet, and how dare they pretend that this film would be anything but a costume drama! I had been looking forward to an intelligent portrayal of the question of authorship, not a biased over-wrought telanovella!

I did not wish to review the film, again because there are fighting Oxen out there just looking to pick apart my poet's life and history, and to call me names like religious zealot. (Go see our post on Folger Education about it, and tell me those comments are not from Oxen). But it made me miss this play. The lighthearted spirit in which the potential for a relationship or collaboration or even cover-story between the Earl and the Poet is handled is just lovely. The in-jokes for theatre-types (come on, did Elizabethan actors warm up or do motivational speeches for opening performances like, "just have fun!" ?) are adorable. The wordplay is magnificent, and reminiscent of true Shakespearean wit. I enjoyed reading this play after the awful propaganda of the last month, and if you're looking for an enjoyable approach with just as much "historical accuracy" as the film, pick it up!

The Beard of Avon

Publisher: Samuel French, Inc. (2004)
ISBN-10: 0573602581
ISBN-13: 978-0573602580

Boys from Syracuse (Musical), Rogers and Hart

2011-11-08T13:12:00.001-05:00

My familiarity with Rogers and Hart pretty much ends with Rodgers and Hammerstein, though I have heard "Lady is a Tramp" too many times to count, so I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into when I saw a concert performance of this musical this weekend. It's a very cute re-setting of The Comedy of Errors plot with a few modern twists.

I would guess that it was set in the 1940s, given the jazzy tone, and apparently the swinging forties were even more swinging than I thought!

First there's the fleshed out character of Luce - the kitchen wench married to Dromio of Ephesus - who, in Shakespeare's play, is "all grease" and as big as the globe (one of my favorite comic passages in the canon compares her body parts to different parts of the continents). In this musical, Luce is a slim vivacious and hungry (no, not for food) young woman who is completely dissatisfied with her husband's, er, lack of effort as a, erm, husband. [blush!]

Next, the action of the play cuts off for intermission about an hour in with Adriana having unknowingly locked the door on her real husband while taking the stranger, Antipholus of Syracuse, to bed (Luce doing the same with Dromio). Enraged and jealous, Antipholus of Ephesus seeks out the, um, ministrations of the local Courtesan.

I don't know what it was, but I was more than a little disturbed by how no one seemed to notice or care that Antipholus definitely slept with the Courtesan, while Adriana didn't sleep with AofS (he claimed a headache); nor did it bother a soul that Luce is now being unsatisfied by both Dromio brothers. Ick.

Sex aside, the show really is very cute, especially between Antipholus of Syracuse and Luciana, who fall in love at first sight. Their song then, "This Can't be Love," is a catchy simple little tune, and I left still humming it. Well, ok, it's also the reprise at the end of the show. And in the middle. There were a LOT of reprises, and for a 2 hour show (including an intermission!), that's a lot of repetition.

The story also follows the Shakespearean plot pretty closely, even with the Duke soliciting the town for any help for the Antipholii's father, Aegon, with Shakespeare's own text (thanks for that unnecessary reminder, Dromio). The reveals at the end are rapid-fire... Here are the other twins, you're brothers, I gave you money, no I have your money, no I have your padlock, I'm your father, I'm your mother, no I didn't sleep with your wife, let's ignore where I slept, HURRAY REPRISE IT'S OVERRRRR!

Overall, I probably wouldn't buy the soundtrack or see it again, but it was nice to have seen a musical adaptation of one of the lesser-knowns.

The Boys from Syracuse
Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart
1938 (link to 1963 recording)

Othello, Julius Lester

2011-10-24T10:57:00.002-04:00

Othello opens tonight at the Folger, and to celebrate, I thought I'd revisit this novel, which I read awhile ago, but could come up with nothing to say at the time. Maybe now that we've finished our study guide for the play, I'll have more to say...

First of all, can I just point out the cover art? Damn, Othello. You will break that poor teenage Desdemona like a twig.

So much of the play is based in light and dark imagery - especially when it comes to Othello's blackness. Interesting, then, that Lester chooses to make both Iago and Emilia black as well, and gives the trio of Africans a shared past together, before they were brought to England (oh yes, England - not Italy). There are a lot of internal musings over how each of these people feels about the others, but it really made Iago's treachery more troubling. He hated Othello for turning his back on his history, and so decided to destroy his future.

The women are still incredibly tragic roles. Desdemona is so young, and so innocent, and so enamoured of Othello. Emilia is so submissive in this novel, too, because she also adores Othello and wants to keep Iago happy. I usually don't feel too badly for Desdemona - not because she deserved what she got, she didn't - but because after she stands up to her father she just seems so... meh. Hi, I'm here, I'm a plot device. But Emilia - Emilia's last scene when she finally displays her cojones is the scene I perform solo in my living room after I've had too much wine. It's a GREAT scene. Maybe it's because this whole novel is only 150 small pages, but it just seemed so... brief.

Lester does do a decent job of weaving text in with his own re-telling, though I'm not sure that was necessary. It's not that it doesn't fit, but that it can be a little jarring to go back and forth with your own story (which is, admittedly, different) and Shakespeare's. The language is nice, but it's not making your point.

If it were all about race, this novel would be a perfect summation. However, I'm realizing that more than race, this is a play about passions, and being swept up in them. Even racism is it's own passion, just like jealousy and love and revenge. This novel was all about only one of these passions, which sort of lessened the overall impact of the story - but it is a good jumping-off point for a discussion about the history of racism, and its effect on people still.

Othello

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (February 1, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0590419668
ISBN-13: 978-0590419666

Macbeth (2010) Goold

2011-10-16T00:42:00.002-04:00

Whoa, y'all. Whoa.

So Macbeth is a bloody play. We know that. And there's a lot of creepiness, too. But this film played out like a sequel in the SAW franchise at its levels of both.

Based on the stage version (also directed by Goold), this film sets the story somewhere between the two world wars - everything is very tense, politically, and lines of loyalty are not always clear.

More than the overall concept, I found myself ooh-ing over little quirks. The "witches" (dressed as nurses) steal the opening messenger's heart (literally... they rip it from his wounded body while he's still struggling...). The Porter is a disturbed post-war head-case (and also Seyton). Ross is a nerdy bumbling clownish character with no backbone, and his discovery of the MacDuff family post-slaughter is... <shudder>... Also - they made certain Banquo was dead. Like, really really dead. Just letting you know.

However, the banquet scene just made me think of this. (skip to 0:45 if you want.)

It's a very clever adaptation of Macbeth as a horror movie. Tilted camera angles, long tarnished tunnels leading nowhere good, bright white lights which still can't show everything and cast even larger shadows, and weird voice modulations and quick cuts between reality, the supernatural, and the imagined.

It must not be unsaid that Patrick Stewart is top-notch in this film. All the energy, power, and malice I wanted him to have as Claudius in 2009's Hamlet he brings tenfold to this Macbeth. And his Lady M, Kate Fleetwood, is so hard at first you might think she's stone, but she's all glass as events unfold.

And because it's PBS - here's the whole 2.5 hour movie on Youtube! Or, if that stops working, it might still be steaming on Netflix, if they haven't driven themselves under.

Othello (2001) Sax

2011-10-06T13:09:00.002-04:00

Unexpected tears are still wet on my face at the end of this film.

Christopher Eccleston, as Ben Jago, tells us directly at the beginning of the film that it isn't about race - it's about love. It's hard to see the love, though, because race is such a huge part of this film's setting. There are tense race relations in London, and Scotland Yard is politically forced to make changes to create more diversity in their ranks. This comes just as yet another black man is beaten to death by police. The commissioner loses his job for making a racist statement, and John Othello is offered the huge leap in rank to make up for it (though they assure him it has nothing to do with his race). Jago, who had been deputy commissioner and expected the promotion, is extremely angry and plots to bring John down.

I wasn't into the first 30 minutes of this film - and since it's only 96 minutes, that's a large portion. Mostly, that was because of the setup of racial tension, the fallout over the beating victim's death, and the over-setup of Othello and Dessi's relationship (they met 3 months ago and married quickly - passionately). Then Jago blew his top off when Othello was promoted over him. It was terrifying. Mostly because the cinematography in this made-for-tv movie was incredibly on. Creepy focus pulls, quick cuts, strange angles on Jago. Partly, too, Eccleston was really really creepy as Jago. It was odd, sometimes, that he would say exactly what was on his mind, his anger would come out, and Othello would laugh it off. He was emotionally detached from his relationship with Lulu - even, oddle, perching like a gargoyle on her tub while she bathes, pressing her for information.

And there was a LOT of sex. Just in case you're sensitive. And the N-bomb. A Lot.

I really did wonder for the longest time what the race riot plot had to do with the main Othello plot (jealousy), but it was actually a really effective way to underscore Othello's insecurity both on the job and at home. The stress of bringing promised closure to his community, as well as somewhat knowing that he was not the best man for his job - just the most PC choice, really affects his security with his wife. Jago is really good at dropping little hints and even big lies at the right time to drive him crazy.

I wept at the final moments. Othello's intense grief over the body of his innocent wife, the hurt and fear in Lulu's eyes, and the cold detachment in Jago's face as he ascends to his promised post. Whew. What an intense film.

I can't embed a video for you to preview, but CLICK HERE for Part 1 on youtube.

Falling for Hamlet, Michelle Ray

2011-09-13T10:02:00.002-04:00

Denmark's a prison.

My boss returned from a month traveling around the world to conferences and workshops and whatnot and handed me this book's ARC (even though the HC came out in July). I had been waiting most of the summer to read it, so I started at lunch and did not put it down (except to work and drive home) until midnight last night when I finished it.

The three words above are never uttered in the book but by the last few chapters that was the bleak thought pounding through my head: Denmark's a prison. (That should have been the tagline.)

In this modern re-telling, the royals of Denmark live in the public eye in a sleek and sophisticated tower. Ophelia, like many of the staff's children, lives in an apartment in the castle with her father and brother, and is raised alongside Hamlet and Horatio. The three of them are great friends their whole lives, even when Hamlet and Ophelia succumb to the inevitable and start a tumultuous teenage relationship, fraught with very public drama as he goes to college and she remains in high school. The king, Hamlet's father, is an affable man - responsible and proper but also able to see through to the heart of the matter and make everyone feel respected. Gertrude, on the other hand, is a selfish prima-donna, hungry for the attention of her son and finding comfort in late-night talks with her husband's snake-like brother, Claudius.

We know the events of Hamlet. And still parts shocked and horrified me. It was actually wonderful that Ray started the story about a month before the beginning of the play so we could see the contrast between what had been normal and how far things spiraled out of control. Between Ophelia's true account, there are also transcripts at the beginning and end of each chapter of her being cruelly interrogated by officers Francisco and Barnardo, and of her interview on the television talk-show Zara (like Oprah, I'm guessing) where she tells "her" side. She acknowledges early that she is only telling part of the story to the public, the rest is too personal.

I have to say the thing that killed me the most was Ophelia's relationship with Polonius. Ray gives us a heartbreaking account of what happened to Ophelia's mother, and how that affected the family. There was one particular scene over dinner between Polonius and Ophelia where I started to choke up a little, knowing what was coming. Polonius is still an adviser with too much to say, and his array of proverbs is impressive and insightful more than tedious. And he really cares for Ophelia's well-being, and she for his. It was really hard to read the scene after the play.

And there were elements, too, that I appreciated from a long history with re-tellings of this play. "There must have been a moment when we could have said No." from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern played in my head a lot when I recognized moments where Ophelia or Horatio or even Hamlet could have said No and ended the tragic spiral. It is so frustrating being in Ophelia's shoes and feeling so damned trapped.

Denmark's a prison.

Whew. Once my boss has read it I am going to beg to be allowed to keep it forever. A+, Ms. Ray.

Falling For Hamlet

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Poppy; 1 edition (July 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316101621
ISBN-13: 978-0316101622

Kill Shakespeare Volume 1: A Sea of Troubles, McCreery, Del Col, Belanger

2011-08-17T11:12:00.000-04:00

I read this for work last year, and was only too excited to hear that the authors would be visiting the Folger in February to talk about Volume 1. In fact, Conor and Anthony each wrote a guest blog entry for us to promote it!

I have to say that before I read it, I went back and forth on this graphic novel. I'm all for re-imagining Shakespeare's characters in new situations with each other, but what do you do with that? Apparently a LOT. There are so many interesting "what if-s" and thoughtful character insights throughout the story:

For example: What if Othello and Juliet both survived their ordeals? How would they deal with their past? These two are currently my favorites because of the depth of their characters, and how well it is tied into their literary counterparts. Juliet becomes a militant rebel, set on bringing down the evil King Richard III, while Othello, wracked with guilt over the death of his wife (at his hands), joins the cause to take revenge on Iago. Characters pop up in some surprising places, and there is quite a bit of religious undertone, as well, since the characters' beliefs are divided over the existence of (and plots to kill) The Creator. You can guess who that is.

The language is sometimes shudderful. Like they thought "hey! let's throw in a 'thou' there, even though it's grammatically incorrect and linguistically jarring!" I could do without trying to do that. Sometimes, though, it is really effective to put a quote in a completely new character's word bubble - like Juliet saying "our voice is in our swords" - to tie the old creation with the new.

It's nice to see familiar characters interact with each other, and the art is truly rich and fantastic. Since I'm not that into comic books, I don't buy each issue individually, so I look forward to Volume 2's release in November!

Kill Shakespeare

Paperback: 148 pages
Publisher: Idea & Design Works Llc (November 9, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1600107818
ISBN-13: 978-1600107818

The Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown

2011-07-14T09:45:00.001-04:00

I read this a few months ago, actually, and at the time I was a little disappointed in how not Shakespeare it was. The more I think about it, though, the more I do think that the characters may be extensions of their Shakespearean counterparts, and examinations of how they might fare in today's world.

The novel centers on three sisters: Rosalind (or Rose), Bianca (or Bean), and Cordelia (or Cordy). Their father is a huge Bard fan, a professor at a local small-town college, and got the preference of naming his daughters. It's actually quite funny they way they tell it - what else could a second daughter be called but Bianca? Or a third but Cordelia? Duh. Their mother smiles and bears it, but is the more practical of the two parents. However, EVERYONE reads. A characteristic of their household is that they will read any book set in front of them, even if they pick it up from where someone else left it and just pick up in the middle. The town they live in is so small, too, and so full of professors, that the girls were educated in a sort of commune-school. All of the professors chipped in for a house, and held lessons on their subject whenever they felt like it for all of their children. You could wander in on a chemistry lesson in the kitchen, or read a book on literary analysis in the attic. Crazy, but fun.

In the present day, Rose is engaged to a successful professor who is being offered a wonderful job in London, but she doesn't want to leave home. Bean returns home in disgrace from a flashy New York lifestyle, and Cordy finds her way back from a windblown existence on the road. They couldn't be more different, but then neither could their namesakes be more different.

I might have to read it again to really see the connections, but it could be that Rose is an extension of Rosalind - who loses her home and everything she ever knows only to truly find herself when she is lost. Bianca is a favored second daughter tormented and overshadowed by Katherina (potentially in jealousy for the way men flock to Bianca's side?), while Bean is a tour du force of sexual attraction, but she must find herself without being defined by a partner. And Cordy is a sort of prodigal daughter, the beloved youngest, the one who needs forgiveness for one misstep from her father, the one who wanders lost and alone until she comes home again to find everything changed.

Anywho - it was a lovely read, with some wonderful characters. I'll give it another shot.

The Weird Sisters

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam (January 20, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399157220
ISBN-13: 978-0399157226

The Wednesday Wars, Gary D. Schmidt

2011-07-06T09:27:00.001-04:00

I first heard of this charming Young Reader novel through Bardfilm, and added it to my wish list. When KJ repeated his recommendation for this book in the comments of a Shakespeare Geek post, I bumped it up to must read. I searched it out and read a few pages in the bookstore, and, finding it a little slow to start, decided to wait a little while. Then I read Okay for Now, a companion book to The Wednesday Wars and bought this title immediately afterwards. That is a long introduction to how I got to this book, but I needed you to know that it was worth it.

The novel focuses on seventh grader Holling Hoodhood, who - like any typical young man - loves baseball, has a wild imagination, and - unlike any typical young man - a passion for literature. The world around Holling is changing astronomically. It is 1963 and while the United States is at war in Vietnam, the civil rights movement is picking up speed at home. Holling's homefront features a business-centric father ("Architecture is a blood sport"), and a teenage sister who wishes to change the world with other "flower children." The small Long Island town in which they live is divided into Catholics and Jews fairly evenly - except for Holling, who is a Presbyterian. This merely means that on Wednesday afternoons, he is the only boy left in school as everyone else is excused for religious study. This definitely means his teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts.

Every Wednesday while his classmates are out, Mrs. Baker gives Holling a play by Shakespeare to read for the month (which is how the chapters are divided), and discusses them with him openly. Holling has a good memory for quotations, and is drawn in by how Shakespeare's words sound (He especially likes Caliban's curses "Toads, Beatles, Bats!"), and begins to apply quotes to his life as he sees it. Throughout his spectacular year, he reads eight plays and learns about what it means to grow up, even if he's not quite ready to do that yet.

This was an excellent read. Schmidt has a wonderfully expressive voice for middle school characters, and his storytelling is just fantastic. There is wit and humor in abundance, alongside truly dark and emotional parts, and all are deftly arranged by Schmidt to be an engaging story. I very much want this to become a movie (look! it's already been a stage play!), so where do I go to sign that petition?

The Wednesday Wars

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books; None edition (May 21, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0618724834
ISBN-13: 978-0618724833

Caliban's Hour, Tad Williams

2011-05-24T10:32:00.001-04:00

From the cover, you might think this is a romance novel. The cover of my copy shows the same basic scene from the other side of the window. Sexy dark haired lady showing too much skin in candlelight, with a dark muscle-y intruder waiting to enter from the night.

Despite this, the book is really very good.

Caliban has traveled a long way to finally take his revenge for all that Prospero and Miranda did to him while on his island. They taught him words, took his innocence, and made him a slave on his own island. They both betrayed him as fully as anyone can, and he's never forgiven them. Before he takes his revenge, though, Miranda must know his whole story. She must understand how he became who he is, and how incredibly wrong she was in the way she treated him.

It's a story you would expect to read of Caliban. His mother had him on the island where she'd landed after being expelled from her homeland, accused of being a witch. Though she frightens him, she is also a comforting presence on the island - the only other thing like him. He describes his life on the island - his island - as not without care or strife, but a world that was simple, and his own. When Prospero and Miranda arrive, they name him - they name everything to him - and build him up into a shadow mockery of a man, without ever naming him that. Caliban's name even comes from mockery - a mispronunciation of Cannibal. He doesn't understand what they have done to him until they leave - and break his heart after breaking his spirit.

It moves quickly, and simply. Nothing seems out of place as far as the story from the play we know, and is a very interesting insight to a much maligned character. It's also not far off from our own history of assuming land from its original inhabitants because they are too curious, too kind, too trusting, and allow us to destroy their world and themselves.

It's also a kind of fairy tale - a Beauty and the Beast story. Miranda doesn't understand how she hurt him, but there is never just one side of a story.

Caliban's Hour

Product Details

Paperback
Publisher: Harpercollins (Mm) (November 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061054135
ISBN-13: 978-0061054136

Love in Idleness, Amanda Craig

2011-05-24T10:19:00.000-04:00

This book had been sitting on my "to read" pile for months - dating back to before we moved last fall, waiting to be read because it states it is a perfect summer read on the cover. So it being summer weather I figured now was the time.

Maybe it's just official summer reading. If you're on a vacation, say, and want to zone out for awhile, then realize you've "read" 50 pages and nothing has happened and you don't really remember it. In the first 200 pages, nothing happens. I'll spoil that for you right now. The premise is laid and for 200 pages everyone mutters around in their own heads and has lengthy discussions with everyone else about their philosophies of life, love, sex, and art. The action (really anything) perks up for the last third of the book, but it was hard slogging there.

Not that I don't like discussions on art, love or sex - but the point of view would swap every few pages to someone new (of the many characters) and I would be subjected to their tedious backstory and even more tedious unhappy musings.

The plot is centered on the Noble family and their holiday to an Italian villa. Theo (work-a-holic) and his wife, Polly (dowdy, depressed), their children Tania and Robbie (terrors), Theo's brother Daniel (bookish) and his ... something, Ellen (strong but lonely), Polly's friend Hemani (single mother) and her son, Bron (brooding), Daniel's hanger-on friend Ivo (a life of empty pleasures), and Theo and Daniel's mother Betty (elitist). They are all boiled down to a single problem and left to their own musings for 200 pages.

Once things get rolling, though, it's pretty fun. The children are able to see the People living in the backyard and woods beyond their villa. They look like insects to everyone else, but they instruct Tania in creating a potion to make the adults fall in love with each other. You learn from the 200 pages of musings that everyone in this villa has a history with everyone else, and their love lives seem complicated to them, but by the end of it almost everyone is happily paired with the one they love.

I really can't get over (can you tell) just how slogging the first 200 pages were, but the climax was brilliant.

Love in Idleness

Product Details

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Anchor (June 8, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781400031078
ISBN-13: 978-1400031078
ASIN: 1400031079

Juliet, Anne Fortier

2011-05-21T12:24:00.000-04:00

Dear Jennifer Lee Carroll,

THIS is how you write a Shakespearean History-Mystery. This novel is everything you tried to do in three books, and it's better than all of them by far. IT TOOK PLACE IN ONE LOCATION, for God's sake, JLC!

First of all, the characters are well-introduced. I hate those chapters where characters tell you everything about themselves (or a narrator does it for you), but Fortier gives us action in between descriptions so the plot is moving even as we get better acquainted with the leads. Julie Jacobs and her sister, Janice, were brought up by their Great Aunt Rose in Virginia after their parents died in Italy. They never knew much about their parents, but Julie can't shake a connection to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet - she just knows the whole play by heart without meaning to, and she hears strange whispers in her dreams.

Secondly, for three quarters of the book, the action shifts between Siena in the present day with Julie and Siena in 1340 with Giulietta Tolomei - the historical figure associated with Juliet. While there are few parallels for much of the story, the action always shifts at just the right time, leaving you desperate to know more about the era you were just reading about, but hungry to continue the story you're now in. The historical accounts of a Siena divided by family honor are so very interesting, and Fortier had so much to work with!

Thirdly, the words. Oh, Anne Fortier, your prose is magnificent. The way you weave in allusions to quotes, and true quotes, and words that flow well together... Mostly when we're in 1340 the text is surprisingly beautiful, especially with Maestro Ambrogio:
... the Maestro proceeded with greater confidence. "There is lust, you know, and then there is love. They are related but still very different things. To indulge in one requires little but honeyed speech and a change of clothes; to obtain the other, by contrast, a man must give up his rib. In return, his woman will undo the sin of Eve, and bring him back to Paradise."
"But how does a man know when to trade in his rib? I have many friends without a single rib left, and I promise you, they were never once in Paradise."
Or exhibit B:
With the Virgin Mary it was different. She had been a human being and she understood what it meant to suffer. She was the one who wold always listen to your woes and make sure God sent his thunderbolts in the right direction. Like the lovely wife of a mighty man, she was the one to befriend and beseech, the one who knew how to reach his divine heart.

Finally, the romance. I mean, this is a Romeo and Juliet story, so there had better be some good romance. It was a little clunky in places, and I could have done without the bronze statue imagery, but Julie and her Romeo have an amazing story.

I'm not even sure how much I should say about the plot. It was so exciting, surprising, interesting, and most of all good. Julie finds out early on that she inherited a family name that her Aunt never told her about: Giulietta Tolomei. When her Aunt dies, Julie is sent to Siena to recover her mother's work to discover the original Giulietta and Romeo's story and break the family curse on Siena. Friar Lorenzo plays a part over the centuries, there are so many twists that I almost got whiplash, and it's so enthralling that I had to stay up and turn every last page to find out the ending. One million stars.

Juliet

Product Details

Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (August 24, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780345516107
ISBN-13: 978-0345516107
ASIN: 0345516109

Saving Juliet, Suzane Selfors

2011-05-07T19:30:00.000-04:00

Since this book is the single most YA thing I have ever read, I am going to rip off my new favorite book blogging site (Forever YA) with a review in their style. Please don't take offense, Forever YA, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (also the creepiest?)

cover story: hell to the no
bff charm: never
swoonworthy scale: 4
talky talk: thanks, captain obvious
bonus factors: time and relative space travel, Shakespeare, happy endings
relationship status: let's keep this our little secret.

cover story: hell to the no

I was embarrassed to be seen in public with this cover. The dress is right out of the book, and I suppose the sunglasses are supposed to show that she's a time traveler and the gum that she's a wannabe rebel ... but all I feel is shame.

the deal:
Seventeen year old Mimi Wallingford is sick of her life. She acts in the same theater three generations of Wallingfords performed in before her, and it's going bankrupt. Her father is dead and her mother is overbearing, and she is currently being forced to star in Romeo and Juliet opposite a hunky pop star, Troy Summer, whose rabid fans set the place screaming every night. Her anxiety at being something she doesn't feel passionate about, and her feelings of being trapped from the future she really wants have created a crippling stage fright which causes her to freeze every night. On the night of the last performance, her mother's insistence that she attend a prominent acting school instead of medical school, like she wants, makes Mimi snap and storm out of the theatre. She is pursued by Troy, and an amulet containing ashes from Shakespeare's quills shatters and transports the both of them to a fictional Verona c1594. They quickly realize that things aren't going quite like the play, and the people around them are almost nothing like the familiar characters they performed. How can they set things right and get back home?

bff charm: never
Mimi is ridiculous. She is whiny, hysterical, dazed, and really annoying - even when she is thinking clearly and right. And she will point all of these things out to you. A few times. Juliet, on the other hand, is a cool little firecracker with moxie and creativity. She would definitely get the charm... IF SHE EXISTED.

swoonworthy scale: 4
I'll admit I got one or two tingles from this book - there's some nice moments of (fantasy) romance between Mimi and a hunky-yet-smarmy Benvolio and the cliched more-than-meets-the-eye Troy. And especially in the moment where Romeo and Juliet finally lock eyes. Ohh to be young and ~~in love~~ infatuated.

talky talk: thanks, captain obvious
This was laid out like it was meant for elementary kids, even though at times the subject matter was very teen. One moment we're talking about virginity and being bad at kissing, and the next we're describing how peeing feels warm and because it feels warm this might not be a dream after all. Gross. Plus, check out this eye-rolling example:

I told you at the beginning of this story that one year had passed since these events. Certainly it is no secret that Tory and I made it back to the twenty-first century; otherwise you would not be holding this book in your hands. But we almost didn't make it back. I shudder to think how close we came. Turn the page for the grande finale.

It's all like that. So much obvious "well of course I didn't know what was happening, have YOU ever time traveled?" Over-explaining and hindsight noting.

Plus, every tiny chapter begins with a trite quote from Shakespeare, one that is overly familiar and has almost no place in the plot - 75% of them aren't even from the play we're trapped in.

bonus factor: time and relative space travel

Who doesn't want to travel in time? Who doesn't want to leap into their favorite book and meet their favorite characters? Answer: nobody. Give me Thursday Next's Uncle's book-leaping invention any day and I will read myself into every book on my shelf for a year. Plop me in the TARDIS with the Doctor and I will go anywhichwhere in time. Partner me with Mimi and I leave her in the first ditch I pass.

bonus factor: Shakespeare

SHAKESPEARE! He never shows up, but it's kind of a given that this blog is about books based on Shakespeare's plays. It's another take on Romeo and Juliet, and it's another look at those characters.

bonus factor: happy endings

It's apparent from the beginning that this isn't the kind of author to set up cool characters and then kill them off, or set up lame trite premises without wrapping them up tidily with a pink frickin bow. So that's comforting in a way.

casting call:

Anna Sophia Robb as Mimi

Anna Sophia just has that classic look - plus she's been around movies forever, so she might know a thing or two about a long entertainment career.

Zefron as Troy Summer

It could only be this obvious.

Ariel Winter as Juliet

She is the cutest thing, and I could definitely see her busting out of the uptight Modern Family character of Alex to be a spunky, onion-eating, boil-lying kid-Juliet. Dammit, now I want to see this.

relationship status: let's keep this our little secret.

This book and I have seen each other before, but it would always end with a snort from me and a quick replace back on the bookstore shelf. Then it was $1. How could I resist? We spent a little time together, and the book was just like it's cover: lame and lamer. But it had some Shakespearean relevance, and at least Juliet was interesting to meet. In the end, though, I'd pay this book to keep quiet that we'd ever talked or even met. No one can ever know... besides the blogosphere.

Saving Juliet

Product Details

Hardcover: 256 pages

Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (January 22, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0802797407

ISBN-13: 978-0802797407

Tromeo and Juliet (1996) Kaufman

2011-05-02T11:02:00.001-04:00

If you ask Shakespeare nerds what violent, visual adaptation of Romeo and Juliet came out in 1996, we're more likely to remember the Luhrmann version, rated PG-13.

Tromeo and Juliet doesn't always use Shakespeare's language, but it is also a violent, visual, and modern adaptation of the star-crossed lovers. The title comes from a combination of the characters' names and "Troma" of Troma Entertainment: known for their ultraviolent, hypersexual, crass and gross-out films.

The plot is the same, lovers - warring parents (Daddy Cap blackmailed Mr. Monty out of their partnership in the porno biz) - feuding friends and a lightning flash of young love. But there is more than a little Troma in the mix. Cappy goons get their fingers chopped off, decapitated by passing trucks carrying ill-placed ladders, faces stomped in, and spiked mallets to the face. Characters urinate on each other, jerk off in the punch, and vomit on cue. It is hilarious. The effects are, I hope, meant to be funny since they cannot be realistic.

For all its grossness, the writers really took the time to explore the characters. Tromeo gets off to CD-Rom (ah, the good old days) porn of women blowing kisses and saying "I Love You" over and over. Juliet's father is abusive in more than one way, punishing her by locking her in a large glass box wearing a leather bikini. When she and Tromeo meet at her father's costume party (he dressed as a cow, she as a medieval maiden), they say an adaptation of Shakespeare's sonnet before attacking each other's throats with their tongues. It's kinda sweet. Kinda.

Hey. I enjoyed myself. It's gross and it's definitely at least MA, but it's funny and has some in-jokes for us nerds. I can't really recommend it if you can't stand bodily fluids or explicit sex, but if you can it's worth a watch on Netflix instant!

O, Juliet, Robin Maxwell

2011-05-02T10:38:00.001-04:00

The day before lots of Borders book stores near me went out of business, I hit four of them up to see what I could find. At the end of the day I went home with 7 books having paid only $7 and half of them were Shakespeare based fiction! I wanted something simple to start with, and I have a history with Robin Maxwell's novels, so I thought she'd be a great place to start!

O, Juliet takes place in Florence, Italy where, Maxwell says, the legend of the lovers grew before being set in Verona in the immortal play. In this novel, Juliet Capelletti is a learned young woman, confidante to Lucrezia de Tournabouni (soon to be de Medici). Both women have enjoyed a vast education thanks to Lucrezia's soon to be father-in-law, Cosimo de Medici, and revel in poetry and dicourse. Juliet is promised to her father's business partner, Jaccopo Strozzi, a vile small man with almost no redeeming qualities. At Lucrezia's bethrothal ball, Juliet meets a young man who can quote Dante Alleghari (her favorite poet) at length, and who sets her soul aflame. She has the same effect on him, unfortunately he is the only surviving son of the Montececco family... who just sank a ship of her father's full of expensive goods. The two must make peace between their families and find a way to be together despite the obstacles facing them.

You can never read a novel based on a familiar story without that story clamoring in the back of your head. You're always seeing the parallels and the differences in the new story. This novel, though, makes you hope for a new ending. The romantic elements are pretty swoon-worthy, too. Sure, sometimes it's a little trite and romance novel-y with physical descriptions and certain turns of phrase, but Romeo manages to make peace pretty quickly, and the Capellettis and Montececcos get along for a good part of this book. Then something spins the wheel and Romeo shows up with Juliet's cousin's blood on his hands. In a way this novel has all of the tragedy, but keeps the hope alive through the very last lines.

This book is a pretty fantastic read - quick, beautiful, and balanced. It makes me wish I'd read the other 'Juliet' book I'd gotten first so I'd have this to look forward to!

O, Juliet

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: NAL Trade; 1 edition (February 2, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0451229150

ISBN-13: 978-0451229151

Shakespeare the Animated Tales (1992-1994, BBC) [part I]

2011-03-10T10:14:00.000-05:00

From the beginning of this blog I have wanted to write posts about the Animated Tales. These shorts formed the foundation for my love of Shakespeare when I was wee, and continue to provide entertainment, enlightenment, and all around warms and fuzzies when I need them. This love goes back across time and technology. This was back in the days of VHS tapes and rentals from Video Scene. Each Friday I would get to pick one tape to watch that night, and after Hook finally lost its luster, I turned to the 25-minute animated adaptations of Shakespeare.

I started with Romeo and Juliet because it was so recognizable, and also because I had just seen West Side Story for the first time. Unprompted, I gave a discourse to my parents on the similarities and differences between the two tales. Macbeth frightened me past sleep. The Tempest excited me with magic and romance. I was engrossed more with the animation styles (Christmasfilms at its height of awesome) than the language at first, but soon realized that the language, however cut and abridged, reached a part of me I wasn't aware of before. It soothed and thrilled me.

Season 1 was released on BBC4 in 1992, and on HBO soon after. This is the series I was familiar with back then, and I knew each of these 6 cartoons backwards and forwards:

A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Tempest
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
Twelfth Night

Leon Garfield was the adaptor - and had done many of Shakespeare's tales as narratives before. Stanley Wells was the educational consultant. A host of incredible Russian animators and directors signed on, as well as many RSC actors! Look especially for Bernard Hill as Bottom, Fiona Shaw as Viola and Zoe Wanamaker as Lady M. That's King Theodin, Aunt Petunia and Professor Hooch to you kids!

I love this series so much.

Something Rotten, Alan M. Gratz

2011-03-10T10:01:00.001-05:00

I picked this up from Amazon thinking from the cover (and the premise) that it had been written in the 60s. It looks so Mod, and who does Noir anymore? So when Playstations, iPods and cell phones tripped on the scene I was a little jarred. Also jarring was that the protagonist, Horatio Wilkes, is in high school. Preconceptions aside, I enjoyed this book for the whole evening it lasted me.

Horatio Wilkes is the townie best friend of privileged Hamilton Prince, son of the late Hamilton "Rex" Prince who ran a corporate paper-plant in a small town in Denmark, Tennessee. After Rex dies, his widow, Trudy, marries Rex's brother, Claude, who also takes over running the business. Horatio accompanies Hamilton home for a couple weeks of summer break to deal with the aftermath, where he meets Hamilton's ex-girlfriend Olivia Mendehlson, who protests the plant's pollution of a local river. Her father, Paul, and brother, Larry, are around to offer their advice as the Prince family's legal team. With all of these people in place, Horatio tries to figure out who murdered Rex Prince.

I will admit, the parallels are pretty funny. At the beginning of the story when Hamilton and Horatio pay a visit to the Prince Estate's security team, an older guard, Bernard, asks "who's that?" And the play the cast of characters is invited to is actually Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Since it's YA, there isn't as much death as in the original play - oh, sure, a couple of close calls for Paul and Olivia, but everything turns out ok. Even knowing that, it's a pleasure to read and - for this old-hat - pick out all of the references to Hamlet. For students, it might be fun to have read this and then see the play. Either way, it's quick, cute, and well-paced.

Something Rotten

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Puffin; Reprint edition (January 8, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 014241297X
ISBN-13: 978-0142412978

Henry VIII, Folger Theatre 2010

2010-10-19T16:38:00.000-04:00

I don't normally write posts about the Folger's performances, since I work there. HOWEVER, no one does Henry VIII and I want a chance to write about it because it combines my two favorite things: Shakespeare and Henry VIII's great matter!

The Ed staff read this play back in June to get an idea of what sort of play it was - none of us had read it before, and - it being classified as a collaboration - didn't know quite what to expect. We spent the whole time back-tracking to check names and titles, and goggling at the great discrepancies in time. The play, we decided, was sh*t. Shakespeare contributed some pretty great soliloquies, but Fletcher or whoever had the other pen really dropped the ball on a cohesive story. This conclusion was reinforced when our High School Fellowship Program read it in September, and also almost unanimously decided that it was crap.

This isn't news. Other, better, people have done the work of parsing out the collaborative efforts, the historical significance, and the implied intent of the play, so I have no need to go into the background. I wish the Dramaturg's notes on this one were online, but the best I can do is a link to our study guide.

I went in dreading a tedious afternoon of speeches and costumes - what I got was the equivalent of being snatched away in the TARDIS to King Henry VIII's Court (sidenote, make that episode happen, Moffat) and witnessed all of these events first hand. In this case the Doctor is embodied in the addition of Will Sommers (Henry's fool) to the play - he demonstrates some action in dumbshows with puppets, stops time, and embodies half-a-dozen characters to move the plot along. Princess Mary, also not in the text, appears as a somber reminder of what Henry's unknowing cruelty did for his England's future when he thought he was working to protect it.

The text appears to glow with Elizabeth's praises - forgetting that she is a second female child for Henry and not the male heir he hoped for. It also elevates Anne Boleyn to new heights as a paragon of courtly virtue and innocence.

Ian Merrill Peakes as Henry VIII is crushed by the news of Elizabeth's gender. And Karen Peakes as Anne Boleyn has the slyest of small smiles even as she says aloud "I would never be a queen." The only character written true-to-life, it would seem, is Katharine of Aragon, embodied perfectly in Naomi Jacobsen.

Honestly, across the board the characters act as they may have in life - though the text gives them words they might never have uttered. The timeline of the text is also jerky and difficult to follow, with a lot a LOT of people describing action that's already happened elsewhere offstage. The way this cast relates news, however, is just as interesting as seeing it happen. Every act seems to end in a soliloquy about the fickleness of fate's wheel - yet each delivery is a testament to why we have brilliant, commanding voices in the Theatre. Buckingham about slayed me as he was carted off to be beheaded, and even Wolsey illicited a little pity from me as he accepted his fortune.

And the design.

No matter how much or little you care about design, you cannot, simply cannot, see this show without marveling at what this team accomplished. The costumes are sumptuous, the set a marvel, the lights appropriately moody and shadowy, the music epic, the sound incredible (it makes you feel like you are there in the dungeons or on the lawns!). Everything works together to create a court of secrets and intrigues - a tangled web of words, not unlike the confused text.

Admittedly, Director Robert Richmond cut about 2/3 of the text to give us a cohesive, well-plotted story with engaging characters, intensely moving performances, and the best use of the Folger's space I have ever seen.

I'm so excited to have seen this, and to get to see it again!

Two Othellos: Synetic Theatre, 2010 and ASC 2010

2010-07-15T10:00:00.004-04:00

I'd BS you and say that I held off writing about Synetic's Othello for over a month because I knew I'd be seeing ASC's this past weekend - but that's not true. I'm busy.

Beginning with Synetic - This might be my second favorite of their "Silent Shakespeares." Usually I'm blown away by how much text I recognize in them, but in this one I was more compelled by the way they told the story. I missed certain lines like "Put out the light... I can again thy former light restore..." where instead of contemplating the difference between a candle flame and Desdemona's life being extinguished, Othello calmly strides from torch to torch and puts them out one by one. Eerie, but not as interesting.

However, the first fifteen minutes of the show are set up so we know who all of the characters are. Othello is still a slave, and his... girlfriend?... dies during a lashing from one of the slavedrivers. Othello goes Hulk and smashes his way out, only to be rescued by the Duke of Milan and his officers, Cassio and Iago. Othello fights with them in battle and for his prowess is awarded the office Iago believed he deserved. Othello meets Desdemona, they do some courtly dancing, and secretly get married. NOW we're into the play proper, and Iago - weeping into his 3-way mirror - finds himself becoming a 3-bodied creature. Accepting this, he uses his physical alter-egos (I wanted to write alter-iagos, but I like you too much) to manipulate the pawns around him.

Particularly of note in this production was Roderigo (Vato Tsikurishvilli) whose comic timing as well as expressiveness made him the perfect pitiable pawn. He did only as Iago told him and Iago's betrayal of him in the end was so much more difficult because of Roderigo's innocent belief. I enjoyed the darkness of the production, which allowed the three Iagos to literally project images of Desdemona's infidelity into Othello's consciousness (no, really, projectors. It's cool). The set (Anastasia R Sims) was made up of triangles to represent both the percieved love triangles as well as Iago's three-fold personality, and the costumes were... well red and black. Honestly I needed to see some green in this show... a show about Jealousy? Jealousy the GREEN eyed monster? The only green in the show was the lighting (again, the fabulous and in no way biased for being my husband) Andrew F. Griffin in a fantasy scene the Iago's play out to Brabantio to represent the "black ram tupping your white ewe" line. Which was hilarious, by the way.

ASC's Othello was a part of a field trip with the Folger's Teaching Shakespeare Institute. Beforehand we were treated to a lecture from Paul Menzer (head of the MFA/MLITT program there) about the racial history of the play, and especially the racial history of that play in the small Virginia town we were in. Othello had apparently had a long vaudeville history in the south, camped up to include vulgar racial epithets. Even today, the company occasionally has to confront discomfort when portraying Aaron, Othello and Shylock. In particular, something I had not noted before, when Aaron was threatened with hanging in Titus, it made some locals uncomfortable given their proximity to Lynchburg, VA.

The production itself was everything I've come to expect from ASC: Fast paced, clearly spoken, and stright up. I was sort of disappointed that John Harrell was such a small role in this one, he stood out as Roderigo with a sulky panache. The leads were a little hollow for me, but I chalk that up to it being a matinee. We were all agreed, though, that Emilia was played sincerely appropriately and excellently by Allison Glenzer. I am biased in that Emilia is one of my favorite parts, and her death scene the one I always perform for myself when I've had maybe 2 glasses of chardonnay, but Ms. Glenzer brought all of the emotions I wanted from her and then some.

All around, some excellent Shakespeare to be had in and near DC.

Discussion: Shakespeare in Prison

2010-07-13T10:29:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I heard a lecture from Amy Scott Douglass, an incredibly upbeat person whose book, "ShakespeareInside: The Bard Behind Bars" explores programs within prisons, juvenile offenders, and court systems which "sentence" or give the inmates the opportunity to perform a Shakespeare play.

She began with an excerpt from Mary Cowden Clarke's 19th century fiction "The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines," a book I am thrilled to find in its entirety on Google Books. Katharina Minola is forced to attend a cloister school where her fiery spirit and violent lashings out earn her even more punishment than attention. She finds that in looking, really looking, at a painting of a patron saint her soul is soothed and she is calm. When the nuns discover that she is studying the painting instead of worshipping it, they punish her still more.

What followed was an interesting discourse on Art and its effects on those labelled "bad" people. The gist of which Clarke and those influencing Douglas believe is that the action and study of Art can do much to give those with deep emotional pain an outlet for the emotions that society can't handle from them. Shakespeare, in particular, wrote incredibly deeply emotional plays in which the characters don't just act, but they discuss their actions and their consequences.

Violent teens performing Julius Casear. Cop-killers performing Macbeth. Wife beaters performing Othello. By inhabiting a character, they get the chance to confront their own demons and transgressions in an understanding place. They don't only read the play or perform it, they discuss their own lives alongside it. If you've seen the documentary about the program "Shakespeare Behind Bars" at Luther Luckett correctional facility, you know what I mean.

This is a tough issue to have a clear perspective on, however. Like with watching the documentary, you first meet these prisoners as people - knowing that they've somehow transgressed, but meeting them without the label of their crime. Slowly it comes to the surface what they've done, whom they've hurt, whom they've killed and those they've made to suffer. In the context of the Shakespeare play, it doesn't matter - they're actors with deep emotional wells to pull from. On the other hand, you now know that these people you're rooting for are the people you might otherwise would have simply said "let 'im fry."

The lecture became pretty heavy after awhile. Not only do these programs reach kids who have severe emotional scars - so deep that they can't bring themselves to make eye contact or smile at anyone - but they reach the members of our society that most of us fear or would like to forget exist. In one rehearsal for Julius Caesar at Luther Luckett, one of the actors directed his fellows by saying "you know, guys, how it feels when you've just killed someone? That feeling in your gut?" The others around him nodded while the program leaders internally reeled.

What we forget, A LOT, is that the people "on the inside" are people. They are men and women who probably transgressed badly enough at 17 or 18 to land themselves in jail for the rest of their long lives - developmentally and emotionally still children desiring leadership and an outlet for their problems. These programs provide that for them, though they cannot provide a way out. They do not "Fix" them, Douglass made clear, but the programs do enough good that they can see improvement in their charges. Maybe the juvenile offenders don't commit as bad a crime the next time, or maybe they don't at all. Maybe.

My question during the talk-back session was in reference to the victims of these people. Douglas had mentioned that being a murderer gave the inmates a certain perspective on producing Macbeth - to which I asked, What about being a victim? Roman Polanski was a victim when he directed Macbeth (though I'm aware he's also a criminal). And the friends of the cop that one inmate killed always show up at the inmates resentencing hearings to demand that he never get the opportunity for parole - but they have never seen a performance. I feel a little stupid for having asked that, but I'd created a fantasy in my head - a story about a family whose young son was killed by another young man, and instead of demanding "justice" and hating that young man forever, they forgave him and supported his rehabilitation. You would have to be a ginormously good person to do that, so I don't know that anyone ever has - but it's a fantasy to me because if someone hurt by these people could forgive them, could support their change, maybe the change could come faster, easier, and more fully.

However, it is a fantasy, Douglass had never heard of victims attending a performance ever having happened and doesn't hold hope that they would. In fact, a screening of Shakespeare Behind Bars at a public high school near Luther Luckett was almost a disaster when the principal realized at the last second that one of the female students had been a victim of the molester in the film. I feel certain that she would not have wanted to see him in any circumstance, regardless of his development towards change.

Long story short - these programs are incredible, and led by incredibly strong people and should be supported in any way possible. I know myself well enough to know that I am not emotionally strong enough to be able to lead these programs. However, I support arts rehabilitation and encourage those with finer mettle to carry on. What are your thoughts on programs like this?

Haunt Me Still, Jennifer Lee Carrell (and, by extension, Interred With Their Bones)

2010-05-24T15:27:00.006-04:00

It was my birthday and I had a gift card. So I got this book.

Quick plot description: In Interred Kate Stanley (Shakespeare Scholar turned Director) is caught in a chase to find Shakespeare's missing play - if it even exists. In Haunt she is called upon to find a missing early manuscript of Macbeth which may contain an ancient Wiccan spell. Poeple are dying while she searches. She likes a bodyguard who somehow recites sonnets.

I had already unknowingly read the first book, so - like Twilight - I had to keep going. Maybe she gets better at writing! I thought, Maybe!

And, like with Twilight, I was disappointed. Not as mind-numbingly disappointed, but frankly I think she could do better.

A) Overseas/Overnight travel in a timed thriller should never work. It's too clunky and leaves your characters almost no time to do anything! This worked less well in Interred since they went from London to France to DC to New Mexico to Spain to Narnia to Wonderland to Forks... I may have lost track of exactly how many private jet trips were taken. Did I forget Boston? I did. Because it's TOO MUCH TRAVEL. I know it all tied together, but there must have been an easier way! Also, as an employee of the Folger, I got a little miffed that the brief jaunt Kate took to the Capitol steps overlooking the Washington Monument was so easy. There are obstacles! Also s*tons of police. How could someone be murdered on the steps of the Capitol? Oh, look, a clever Shakespeare reference... I get it... sigh. In Haunt she did pretty well keeping it to one location, even when they had to drive from Edinburough to London I was ok with it... then they took a plane to New York. Sigh.

B) People are smart. You don't need to repeat your premise so many times. Nor do you need to practically write bold letters in the margins stating "THIS IS SO IMPORTANT, YOU GUYS! I'M SERIOUS! YOU'LL SEE!!! xoxoxo JLC"

C) Writing about people reading information is not interesting. I know that SO MUCH of the information Kate needs is in really old books, but writing passage after passage about the information she is finding in sources is just boring. Also, did Google pay JLC for advertising? She gets on the plane back to Scotland from New York and seeks answers in 'the largest online collection of free resources' Google Books. Classy. True, but... come on...

However. I am a Shakespeare Nerd and for this I do love a good premise surrounding Shakespeare's "missing" anything. And a lot of JLC's research in the book is interesting stuff for nerds, if only to see how certain facets of Shakespeareana intersect with each other. Plus, who doesn't love a good murder mystery. I kind of called the ending for both pretty early, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable.

Besides the glaringly obvious annyoances I have with these books (and the fact that JLC already wrote Haunt Me Still and bothered to re-write it and pretend she hadn't), I do enjoy the information found in them, and the "what if" ideas.

Interred with their Bones

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult (September 20, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0525949704

Haunt Me Still

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult (April 15, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 052595077X
ISBN-13: 978-0525950776

The Quality of Mercy, Faye Kellerman

2010-04-20T15:54:00.005-04:00

I literally just put this book down. And I'm supposed to be working, but you reach that point in a good book, you know?

To sum up: Rebecca Lopez is the daughter of Roderigo Lopez - physician to Queen Elizabeth... and a Jew. She and her family are in the business of sneaking Jews out of Catholic Spain (away from the Inquisition) and setting them on the road to a safer life. This is, obviously, highly illegal and dangerous, but they risk it anyway to preserve their heritage. Her fiance has been killed on the job at the start of the novel, and her engagement is transferred to his brother, Miguel, who is more interested in men. Enter William Shakespeare, whose good friend and actor Harry Whitman has just been murdered while returning from a regularly scheduled visit home. Shakespeare vows to avenge the murder, even though a "spirit" throws daggers at his back and warns him not to. He and Rebecca meet when she dresses in her brother's clothes to visit London and see one of his plays.

Of course there's a love story. What woman could resist penning a love affair with a swash-buckling sexy poet like Shakespeare? Not this chick. And I'd say it was hackneyed, but this book was written in the 80s, so it wasn't hackneyed when she wrote it.

There are some FAB adventures in this book, too! Like when Miguel is captured on the job and Rebecca, her cousins and Shakespeare pirate a boat to save him? Or when Lopez is accused of treason and sentenced to death and Rebecca plots to save him (and Shakespeare pens words for Elizabeth that give the title of the novel)? OR when Shakespeare is captured and tortured for a whole summer by an con-man who also had an interest in Whitman's murder? H'omg the tension and adventure!

I loved this book, and it was so worth giving up my streak of easy books-in-a-day that I should have been reading this month. There were times, sure, when I almost rolled my eyes at a pun but more often than not I was impressed. There were time, sure, when I wanted to slap Rebecca for claiming to be a strong woman and then screaming hysterically. Overall, however, it is a brilliant portrait of life in Elizabethan England for those who lived secret lives of religious duty and observance. Keeper.

The Quality of Mercy
Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Fawcett (October 29, 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0449218929
ISBN-13: 978-0449218921

Julie and Romeo, Jeanne Ray

2010-03-25T15:33:00.005-04:00

I have one word for this book: Sweet.

Not sickeningly-sweet, not adorable sweet, not even fat-free candy sweet. Just... I'm avoiding saying "well that was... good...?"

I think, mostly, that I am not the audience for this book. Like I'm the wrong audience for Nicholas Sparks' books because they make me want to throw shoes at people and scream at them to wake up and stop strolling on beaches together sadly thinking their lives mean nothing more than the person next to them. Seriously.

It's not even that I hated this book, I'm just not the right audience for a novel about a man and woman in their sixties who own flower shops and whose children act like assholes. I liked the cleverness of "what if" in that it's not about the young people falling in love with someone from the "other" family, it's the parents - but it just wasn't ok for me to see children harassing someone their parents' age. Maybe I'm anti-hooligan, but threatening a 60 year old just doesn't seem right on either side of the fence.

And I suppose it was an interesting discussion of "why hate?" Why do the Rosemans hate the Cacciamatis? Why do they act like friggin' apes and cougars? I don't think I ever got a real description of the characters, either, Julie or Romeo (though it was narrated by Julie). I just started picturing Helen Mirren and Richard Gere to make things in my head more comfortable because I didn't want to picture Grandpapa and Mami acting like this... ew.

So, I mean, wow, what a waffle. It's a quick, sweet, thoughtful, better-than-Sparks-but-not-by-much read. Something for your poolchair. If you're drinking super sweet lemonade, though, watch out for an overload.

Julie and RomeoPaperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Onyx (June 12, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451409973
ISBN-13: 978-0451409973

What, What, WHAT are you Doing?!

2010-03-09T19:32:00.005-05:00

Ok, so it's time to share these. It's time.

The one thing that might have saved some of Shakespeare's heroines is this: Sassy Gay Friend.

Here, SGF stops Ophelia from throwing herself in the river:

And again, most recently, SGF takes a stab (har, har) at stopping Juliet from joining a boy she just met!

NEW! Does "moor" mean "more"?

A Midwinter's Tale aka In the Bleak Midwinter (Branagh, 1995)

2009-12-23T14:49:00.006-05:00

I recently got to watch this again with Reichelt (it IS a Christmas movie!), so I'm glad to have something to post besides theatre! The reading thing is going slowly as I work my way through a stack of books that aren't Shakespeare.

I love this movie so much - as a Theatre Geek, as a Shakespeare Nerd, and just as a person who loves a feel-good comedy about a rag-tag bunch of wannabes who push through adverse conditions and low odds to create something wonderful.

The cast, first of all, is just incredible. I can overlook Michael Maloney's audible breathing pattern after the first 10 minutes, and I don't think anyone in this film has any noticable shortcomings. They're wonderfully emotive, solid, and leveled actors - sure, they're playing a "type," but they're giving their type a breathing life with ups and downs and flaws.

And THAT, I believe, is where Kenneth Branagh is also a genious AGAIN. He wrote the film and directed it (and didn't star in it) and incorporated so much humor and pathos in the dialogue, and left room for some really heavy moments among prat falls and visual comedy that the whole thing weaves an elaborate story of a handful of people. And ties it all up neatly at the end.

Plus, it's just so damn quotable!

Molly: What is the show, anyway? My brother wouldn't even tell me. Oh, I hope it's something Christmasy, a comedy.

Joe: It's Hamlet.

Molly: Great. "Hello kids. Do stop watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and come and watch a four hundred year old play about a depressed aristocrat."

Tom: Hamlet isn't just Hamlet. Oh no, no, no. Oh, no. Hamlet is me. Hamlet is Bosnia. Hamlet is this desk. Hamlet is the air. Hamlet is my grandmother. Hamlet is everything you ever though about sex, about geology...

I'd leave you with more, but instead I'll summarize the plot. The movie would be quite hard to find, mind you, and is NOT on DVD.

Joe is an out of work actor. He uses his agent to pull together a Christmas performance in a condemned church in Hope. Casting is freaking hilarious. The assembled cast makes their way to the church where they will lodge, rehearse, and perform Hamlet in 3 weeks. They all have pretty big emotional problems. Henry is an old actor who never got to do the classics or have a family. Terry is gay, but has a son whom he thinks hates him. Nina's husband is [SPOILER] dead. Conforth is a mama's boy who never got the support he needed to be a confident character actor. The others adjusted pretty well, so I'll skip'em, but Joe's pretty suicidal. British Humor, British Humor, British Humor... rehearsals are hilarious, Joe gets frustrated and rips the cast a new one. Joe gets offered a huge sci-fi trilogy deal, but he'd have to leave right away. Opening night happens and there's actually an audience and the show goes super well especially when Joe shows up.

That's a REALLY condensed summary, but I love this movie. Watch it as soon as you can. Or look for the pipe-dream stage show that Reichelt and I will one day produce for real, and not just as part of our Hamlet Conspiracy.

As You Like It - Shakespeare Theatre Company 2009

2009-12-23T10:55:00.005-05:00

*headdesk*

I've been putting off writing about this show for about 3 weeks just trying to think of anything to say about it except *headdesk* or *facepalm* because that's all I felt like doing whenever I thought about this show. I think I have to explain it like this:

Concept A: The outcasts go from England (old world) to America (new world) when they enter the Forest of Arden.

Concept B: The play is meta-theatrically actually a movie being filmed by an on-stage crew in varying genres from silent black-and-whites to Busby Berkley musicals.

Concept C: Each scene takes place in a different location/time period.

Why not throw all of those concepts into one over-budgeted pot? I mean, people will get it, right? Well I didn't. And neither did the genius high schoolers I was chaperoning.

Let's be honest, As You Like It's not Shakespeare at his best. AYLI is Shakespeare's "female Odd Couple." There were bills to pay that week and the people love a good cross-dresser.

You could do any one of these concepts (except C) without losing sight of the play, but to put them ALL together just makes it look like you were trying to spend as much money as you possibly could on re-creating famous movie costumes. Then to make it even more difficult, you throw in camera men and costume crews at the beginning and end of almost every scene to heighten concept B. THEN you change the accents from English to Southern Drawl to Grace Kelly Cliche and YOU'VE TOTALLY LOST ME. WHERE ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?! WHY?! And give Orlando a break on that hour late, Ms. Rosalind! He broke an hour's promise because YOU MOVED SIX STATES WEST! Leave an address or something!

I can't even get into the acting or anything artistic because you couldn't see the trees for the GD forest.

Titus Andronicus & The Merry Wives of Windsor - American Shakespeare Center 2009

2009-11-25T17:14:00.006-05:00

After almost 2 months without posts - I finally have the time and something to talk about! Wahoo! My apologies.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get to go to Staunton, VA to check out the American Shakespeare Center and Mary Baldwin College. I'm in that stage of "what do I do with my life?" and considering graduate school - MBC has a 3 year MFA/MLITT that has sounded just perfect, so one of the Folger Docents arranged my weekend to go see it! She got me a ticket to each show and a room at the Stonewall Jackson next door. Unfortuntely, I didn't meet any faculty, but I did see the whole campus and nearby attractions in under 2 hours! Such a cute little town...

Anyhow - The American Shakespeare Center Blackfriars Theatre is the only recreation of the Blackfriars Theatre that the Lord Chamberlain's Men would have played in with Shakespeare. It's an indoor space with wall sconces, hanging chandeliers, tapestries on the walls, and padded benches in a pit and along 3 sides. There are Lords' Boxes onstage in the balcony, but not many people chose to sit there. However, all of the stool seats along the sides of onstage were full for both shows.

The most impressive thing about both shows was the pacing. A scene would end, actors would whisk offstage and other actors would barrel on saying their lines. Each show was about 2.5 hours, and I couldn't tell you if anything was cut. Didn't feel all that long, I'll tell you that - everything just kept moving. And it's not like they never paused, either, but used pauses more judiciously to make points or land moments. In their program, the company states that there's no way of telling how long Shakespeare's shows would have been, but inspired by the prologue in Romeo and Juliet, the ASC strives to keep the "two hours traffic" of their stage alive and hopping! Obviously, being unencumbered by set changes makes that a little more doable!

Performances are done without set, and with no lighting effects - "you can see us, and we can see you, and you can see us seeing you, and you get it..." as one actress put it during the pre-show skit (SKIT! Instead of SPEECH! I LISTENED!). It also gives audience interaction meaning during Shakespeare's many asides, soliloquies, and offhand jokes. Instead of looking into a silent black pit, the actors chose people in the audience to address their statements to. It was extra creepy when Demetrius and Chiron ... sort of... propositioned an audience member in the second row - but it was also very personal. Everyone in the 200some seat theatre was completely engaged! Thrilling!

The "special effects" themselves were nothing to speak of particularly, except that they had such an impact on the audience - who could see that it was not real! After a particularly brutal hand-severing in Titus, one audience member fainted in the lobby. Another gagged into her hand when Tamora bit into her Prince Pie! And everyone in the audience screamed with laughter when Falstaff emerged as the Witch of Bedfort, or got kicked in the laundry basket.

The actors, too - a mix of professional and MBC company members - were a very special mix. Some were certainly student actors, and have a long way to go to work up to the level of their co-stars. Some were just incredible and engaging to watch - in particular to me were John Harrell (Saturninus and Master Ford) and Daniel Yiorgios Rigney (and apprentice! Chiron and Dr. Caius). Harrell brought an awkward comic timing to both characters (surprisingly), but the cold fury and danger of Saturninus was still present. Rigney was incredibly creepy as Chiron and incredibly hilarious as Dr. Caius bahGaw! Two syllables were never uttered to more mirth. Victoria Riensel (also an apprentice!) was a totally pitiable Lavinia, and a very diverse mix of characters in Merry Wives.

While it was refreshing to see Shakespeare done without the heavy cloak of "CONCEPT" by itself, it was just as refreshing to see young people enjoying themselves in a Theatre. This company rehearses up to 5 shows every 3 months, performing them on rotation - like a company in Shakespeare's England would have done. If for nothing else, than for their embracing of Elizabethan culture, spirit, and understanding the American Shakespeare Center is an incredible resource for educational Shakespearean theatre and entertaining to boot!

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Synetic Theatre 2009

2009-10-01T14:26:00.010-04:00

So this show is already up, and I won't get a chance to see it again before it closes on Saturday, but I did see it at the Kennedy Center last spring, and will be going off of that run.

It's always interesting to see one of Synetic's "Silent Shakespeare" performances, and interesting to discuss 'is it Shakespeare without the words?' The amount of text that these performers are able to convey with their bodies, however, transcends the performance beyond mere dance/movement, and makes it movement/acting to where they might as well be speaking.

For example, Hermia cries out in the play, "Help me, Lysander, help me! do thy best To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast! Ay me, for pity! what a dream was here!" In the Synetic version, Hermia sleeps on the forest floor, then begins to twitch, and awakens to see a snake-creature slythering out of the rope-like trees surrounding her. It pounces on her, then rewinds itself, disappearing underneath Titania's bower. Then Hermia wakes up for real. This is mostly accomplished with the help of the fabulous, wonderful, not at all biasing my opinion by marrying me Lighting Design by Andrew F. Griffin.

The physical comedy is all there as well - the mechanicals are hilariously led by Peter Quince (Ryan Sellars) through a round of auditions, rehearsals, and finally a performance of the lamentable tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe. Nick Bottom (Irakli Kavsadze) is a clownish over-actor, respected by the group of thespians for his obvious talent. When he prances about in a full-on satyr-suit after being magicked by Puck (Alex Mills), it's truly... something.

The lovers get to be very physically comedic as well. In one of the best sequences in the show, the four go at each other with gusto, clinging to their romantic interest, punching out their opponent(s), and sprawling when they trip on the forest floor.

Though the story is very well developed and delved, the exciting choreography dominates this show, as it usually does. In an impressive fairy battle when Titania and Oberon meet, one fairy literally went flying at Titania, then in mid-air changed direction and landed on the other side of the stage. Everything after that was a bit tame for a fight!

Unfortunately, the costumes were unevenely wonderful. The lovers looked great, and worked beautifully, but the fairies were very confusing, almost Terminator looking demons instead of ethereal beings. Except for Puck - all in Blue and Glitter, Mills looks (and moves) like something from another world.

If you get the chance, see it - if only to see something different.

Measure for Measure - Taffety Punk 2009

2009-09-28T10:00:00.004-04:00

Taffety Punk is one of those theatres that really gets it. It being that thing I have about pursuing a Truth in the telling of your story, and letting it come across strongly. Measure for Measure is a play that needs to have Truth or it will all fall apart as a convoluted mess.

This production was profoundly Truthful. In one of the most emotionally complicated plays of the canon, characters swear their lives by one code. Isabella has her chasitity, it is her rock, her foundation and reason for living her life in devotion. Angelo has justice, be it ever so murky, his truth is in the blind lady's scales. Lucio has lechery - hey, I didn't say they were all good people.
In fact that's the beauty of the truth of this play - they're not good people. They're weak, stubborn, biased, wrong people. They are People. And Taffety Punk made that point so very clear. These are people doing human deeds and needing not only each other's forgiveness, but also ours. If we cannot forgive Angelo at the end, then what point has been made?

Kim Gilbert was eye-poppingly good as a "young republican" Angelo. Her boyish appearance and small frame made her swim inside a big suit and high chair of an office that is truly too much for Angelo at present. Her face was off and on a mask of indifference and the plainness of open emotion when dealing with his demons. He is someone who "looked into the darkest parts of himself and was terrified by what he found there." Even in the end, when the Duke pronounces that Angelo must die, her reaction was both overwhelming and contained in such a way that anyone in the audience might have knelt on his behalf as Isabella and Mariana do.

Esther Williams played Isabella with a passionate spirit, one that would have fizzled and died if she had dedicated her life to the nunnery as she intended. It's a tough choice to make, given that she is so adamant about her chastity, but is offered marriage to the Duke at the end of the play (her answer is not recorded). It made me almost happy in a way to see her married instead of closeted because she could be wise, and you know that she vehemently sticks to her guns as long as it is right to (she did take the Duke in this production). The love she felt for her brother, and the heart-wrenchingness of her decision to let him die rather than let herself be violated was very real.

Add to that the rest of the team's emotionally deep (as needed) performances. To varying degrees, the ladies rocked the emotional hizz-ouse. Lucio provided much needed comic relief with a horny snake-tounged greaseball character played by Toni Rae Brotons. Rachel Lee Poole and Snannon Listol played the separated couple Claudio and Juliet with palpable grief in each look and kiss. Kelsey Grouge lent her own practical wisdom as the Porter to that of the disguised, well-meaning, Duke's (played by Michelle Shup). And Tonya Beckman Ross plays both the time-worn Mistress Overdone and the single-minded Mariana with so much fervor in the latter role (and such a character arch in such short time!) that you just want to cheer for her.

Ah, yes - and there's almost no set to speak of. Just two very tall justice chairs, a ledger for these, and two speakers on the floor. It's minimalist to the extreme, which allows all the focus to be on the incredible acting. The lighting and sound is actually awful, but you can see what is happening when you need to , and if you ignore the too-on-the-nose music for the important scenes you'll be no worse for the wear.

See it if you can, it plays at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop near Eastern Market until October 10th. And tickets are $10. Like you could do better than that!

http://taffetypunk.com/

Editing Shakespeare with Barbara Mowat

2009-09-25T09:53:00.006-04:00

[I apologize for the lack of posting, lately. It's September in an Education Department, so things are a little crazy - plus I'm still reading boehemoth non-Shakespearess... I know you're on pins and needles (:-/) but i'm on it!]

On Wednesday night I got to attend a lecture given by Barbara Mowat, editor of the Folger Editions of Shakespeare's canon. Early next year the final book will be released - Two Noble Kinsman. Below is a docent-write up of the evening's discussion, which - geek alert - was terribly interesting! (Thanks to Jennifer Newton)

“What do you do, correct Shakespeare’s grammar?”

Barbara Mowat, co-editor of the Folger editions of Shakespeare’s plays, gets this question a lot at dinner parties. Recently retired as the Folger’s Director of Academic Programs, Barbara kindly returned to the Library to deliver the 2009 Hoitsma Lecture to a fascinated crowd of docents, answering this and many other questions about what it actually means to edit Shakespeare.

Any editor, she noted, bumps immediately into the fact that all Shakespeare’s manuscripts are completely missing. For plays that only come to us in the First Folio, there is nowhere to go when a word or phrase makes no sense. For other plays, which may have been published in one or more quarto editions as well as in the Folio, the textual narrative can get complicated indeed. In fact, every play has its own history, and it can be misleading to generalize about editing Shakespeare.

Exactly 300 years ago in 1709, the first known editor of Shakespeare’s work, Nicholas Rowe, published his edition. Barbara remains fascinated by the power of Rowe’s impact even today. In his effort to reconcile the four Folio editions and 70-some quartos published by his time, Rowe also regularized character names, inserted stage directions, and wrote Dramatis Personnae lists that persisted into the 20th century.

In fact, every edition reflects its editor’s reaction to prior editions. Over the course of the 18th century, editors after Rowe gravitated back to the First Folio, viewing quartos as stolen, bungled versions. The discovery that the Folio texts of Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado about Nothing, and Midsummer Night’s Dream were simply reprints of quartos published during Shakespeare’s lifetime led to serious exploration of quarto texts and editorial efforts to judge which are “good” and which “bad.”

In modern times, some editors have argued that Shakespeare himself wrote different versions of the same play at different points in his life, others that he merely revised and edited the plays throughout his career. The “New Bibliographers” believe that different versions reflect different manuscripts circulating for different purposes—prompt books, for example, in addition to published texts.

Barbara and her co-editor Paul Werstine feel that in the end “we cannot discern where the texts come from and we just have to work with everything that comes down to us.” They start with the First Folio text, modernize spelling and verb tenses, and consult other editions to resolve the inevitable questions that arise. Much work is in revising and updating explanatory notes, because earlier ones were written for a very different educational system, when knowledge of the Bible and classics was assumed. They began work on the new Folger editions in 1989, and the first six plays were published in 1992. The last, Two Noble Kinsmen, will appear in February 2010. The hardest play to edit? It was Othello, “because two very different texts come down to us, both disasters,” says Barbara. But each play offered some challenge, because ambiguities are still being discovered and debated.

[This was one of my favorite moments of the evening, when things "got real," if you'll pardon my MTV. Apparently, Dr. Mowat had real trouble with editing Othello, not only because the texts were a mess, but because every decision had different repercussions and emotional meaning. In the end, she said, it almost killed her. And it still haunts her that she left Desdemona saying "I did love the Moore that I do live with him," instead of "I love the Moore..."]

[One great thing Dr. Mowat pointed out is that every editor should have a partner. She and Dr. Werstine apparently argued for almost a month about Montague's line: "I will raie her statue in pure gold..." Dr. Mowat insisted that it was meant to be "raise" as the statue would be raised up, but Dr. Werstine pointed out that it must be a different spelling for "array" as in "dress" since the statues he referred to would be reclining: "as rich will Romeo by his lady lie."]
In the end, the Shakespeare that is alive and beloved among us is the product of 400 years of different editions. “People are troubled and even offended that the Shakespeare they know is an editorial construct,” Barbara laughed. “They often say, ‘But I read him in the original!’ I like to think that if they knew how much love and care we editors lavish on the works, they might not mind so much.”

The Winter's Tale - Wandering Souls 2009

2009-09-17T23:16:00.008-04:00

The Winter's Tale is my favorite play. It's crazy! Act 1 is a tragedy to the Nth degree when the king of Sicilia manages to decimate his family in one fell swoop. Act 2 is a comedy to the Nth degree with disguised princes, traveling pick-pockets, and clownish peasants. This 90 minute production impressively managed to hit every note of each act with their limited resources.

Wandering Souls, led by Becky Peters and John Area, is a new company which provides free theatre for communities that otherwise would not have the arts available. They tour their show to detention centers, soup kitchens, community centers, churches, anywhere that asks - for free. So why would someone who has nothing want to see theatre? Well, why did the groundlings go to see Shakespeare? What I love about thsi company the most is it takes the innate "prestige" out of Theatre - which should be available to any and all persons who wish to see it - and brings it back to the level of pure entertainment. Messages for the masses are not meant for only those who can afford it. You don't see anyone else in DC giving away a free night of theatre, eh?

To help their efforts, the Bethesda Theatre offered their space for 3 nights so that the Theatre Community (which supports itself so well) could come for pay-what-you-will performances of the show. Though the tiny production was dwarfed by the immense space, the actors filled it out well.

Standing out in the 7-member cast (playing 20+ roles!) was Kelsey Mieklejohn as Mamillius, Clown and Lord. Each of her characters was incredibly distinct and physically present. Karen Novack and Betsy Rosen were admirably distinct as well as Perdita/Autolycus and Hermione/Perdita respectfully; as well as JJ Area as Leontes and the Old Shepherd (and several others) - meaningful to me because it's like Leontes got to father the daughter he never knew.

There was some a capella music in the show to accentuate moments and heighten the passage of time - but it seemed to come in the middle of important revelations and scenes, which only distracted me. (But... pretty music... but... information... bu-...bu-... AUGH!) No less distracting (but necessary to the company) was the casting of the majority of women in roles as men. This worked out fine for CamillA (nothing much changed character-wise, and even gave a chuckle on "I have a woman's longing [for Sicilia]), but worked less well for Florizel - who was such a GUY (rib rib) that it made it a little awkward to watch.

In the end, though, these were solid performances of a very emotional show - which apparently brings out the best in audiences in DC! At one shelter during one of their touring performances of this show, an audience member encouraged Hermione to "hit'im again!" after she was accused of adultery by Leontes. Now that's Shakespearean!

King of Shadows, Susan Cooper

2009-09-08T10:56:00.007-04:00

The premise was almost laughable - a boy actor goes back in time to swap places with another boy actor with the same name and meets Shakespeare who is rehearsing the same play the boy of the future was performing.

The book, however, is wonderful.

I'm finding myself surprised more and more by the Young Adult Fiction out there - some of it is actually very good and not pandering to its audience. There are times within the book where Cooper sort of jumps out of the narrative to point out how life in Elizabethan worked (no electricity, no toilets, no forks) while trying to keep it in the character's head, but aside from that the story is well-woven.

Nat Field is an orphan (alright, that's kind of whacked over the head) who has been chosen to perform with a new "Boys Company" doing Midsummer and Ceasar at the New Globe Theatre in London. Their director, Arby, is an ac-TOR - the type that bellows and exaggerates and emphasizes the necessary trust a company must have. Once in London, however, Nat takes ill overnight and wakes up 4oo years in the past being jostled awake for his first rehearsal with Shakespeare's company. Meanwhile, Nathan Field travels in Nat's place, bringing the bubonic plague with him, which is treatable in modern hospitals (which he, of course, has not experienced).

Cooper uses language well, pointing out that a Southern American drawl sounds quite a bit like what we believe Shakespeare's english sounded like. The language is written to try to sound like it's said "Tha wouldst not hit me," and still flows well. There is even some hint at political intrigue, but not enough to be a huge plot point - more like posing a minor question that, if the reader were interested, one could look into later.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not loveWhich alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove:O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken;It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come:Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom.If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Shakespeare himself is a stand-in father-figure for Nat, who manages to pour his heart out to Will after only a couple of rehearsals. His past is a traumatic one, and Shakespeare is the type of person to hear the heart's sorrow and know exactly what words will act as a balm. He writes out one of his sonnets as a gift for Nat. He is also very quiet and well-behaved for a man of the Theatre.

It's all wrapped up in a pretty bow at the end, and usually I don't like that sort of thing - here it was necessary. It all has to make sense, somehow, and somehow it does. This is a good introduction to the life of an Elizabethan, and also a good first-look at how Shakespeare's language speaks to the soul of poets, performers, and people over the centuries.

Product Details Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry; 1st US Ed edition (October 1, 1999) [pictured]
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0689828179
ISBN-13: 978-0689828171

Macbeth the DVD Edition

2009-09-01T09:59:00.009-04:00

You want this. I promise you.

Here's my whole sordid story that really has nothing to do with a review, sorry.

Back when I was fresh outta college (literally, a week) I was doing my job in the Folger Gift Shop, loving it. Apparently Aaron Posner and Teller had a production meeting that summer and were discussing their upcoming production of Macbeth. Teller stopped by the Gift Shop to buy a couple of DVDs, and I was able to talk him into the Animated Tales set so he could see that version. "I'm an easy sell, you'll find," he told me. Very cool.

That winter, I (along with thousands of other DC-ers) crammed myself against the back wall as a volunteer usher to watch the production. I was spellbound. It was magical, brutal, incredible, and palpable. Never had I seen the relationship between Lady M and Maccers more passionately pronounced, or the wyrd sisters more nightmarishly haunting. I am convinced that the Animated Tales made it into the depiction of the Witches and the use of percussion in the production. Don't try to tell me otherwise.

The following year, I joined the Education Division at the Folger and one of our projects was to choose and help edit 8 "learning moments" (or Special Features) to go along with the DVD of this amazing show for use in classrooms and for further insight. While the DVD has some documentary-like qualities, our features select further topics (like the use of blood in the production, the Macbeths' relationship, etc) and give them each our full attention for at least 8 minutes. Check them out.

And right now the DVD is $10.88 on Amazon.com, 32% off of the shelf price of $16 - which is what it will be here at the Folger soon, and as soon as it officially releases (though I don't know if they've set that date except for it is THIS MONTH)!

Do it. I'm not even joking. You'll regret it as much as if you'd missed the production live. Plus, how cool is it for Ian Merrill Peakes to be immortalized forever on a Folger Edition? New goal in life, kids.

Tales from Shakespeare, Charles and Mary Lamb

2009-08-31T13:25:00.014-04:00

I got myself an official looking leather-bound illustrated copy of this at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris when I went ages ago. It only seemed right. Even though they only have ONE bookshelf on Shakespeare their SEVERAL STORY house which is covered WALL TO WALL in books (even strapped across the ceiling) and his NAME is in their TITLE... anyway. It's an English Bookstore in Paris. I'm over it.

The stories themselves are pretty straightforward. Ol' Charles and Mar' didn't much care for kids to be subjected to the violence and potty-mouth humor Shakespeare himself was so fond of (more about that in a minute) so they sort of gloss over everything with a tangle of he said she said and a hurried "he stifled her until she died." They kept in some quotes and half-speeches, but they translated the rest into phrases like "Angelo remembered when..." instead of Angelo's soliloquy. If you need a quick outline and don't feel like sparknotes - here 'tis. It's good for getting out the plot of the plays, but not so much with the humanity and depth of poetry.

Which is, I'll say it, the whole reason to read Shakespeare. His plots are recycled not only from his own work but that of Ovid, Holinshed, Chaucer, Marlowe, and anyone else that touched his little finger before he put a pen in it! What makes Shakespeare great and memorable are not his stories, but the way he tells them. The way his words force you to see the human committing the actions (which is why hollow productions piss me off so much). S'anyway, the Lambs thought to make these into digestable stories, which is all well and good, but in no way creative (like today's fiction) or useful (since we now have sparknotes to do this for us).

Here's the juicy bit - the part I kept from you before when I referred to the irony of the Lambs being all non-violent. MARY KILLED HER MOTHER VIOLENTLY! No lie. Killed her mother. And Charles, her brother, decided that she was unstable and took care of her for the rest of their lives the end. Meanwhile they collaborated on this collection of short stories based on the plays of England's greatest playwright. Oh, how droll. WHAT?! I'm still not over the shock, honestly.

There you have it. Mary hacks up mum, Charles takes her home, they read ol' Willy and reduce his plays to bland story-time medleys. Joy.

Tales from Shakespeare
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Children's Classics (August 17, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0517205742
ISBN-13: 978-0517205747

News Article(s): The Onion Classics

2009-08-29T09:59:00.000-04:00

Unconventional Director Sets Shakespeare Play In Time, Place Shakespeare Intended

MORRISTOWN, NJ—In an innovative, tradition-defying rethinking of one of the greatest comedies in the English language, Morristown Community Players director Kevin Hiles announced Monday his bold intention to set his theater's production of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice in 16th-century Venice.

"I know when most people hear The Merchant Of Venice, they think 1960s Las Vegas, a high-powered Manhattan stock brokerage, or an 18th-century Georgia slave plantation, but I think it's high time to shake things up a bit," Hiles said. "The great thing about Shakespeare is that the themes in his plays are so universal that they can be adapted to just about any time and place."

According to Hiles, everything in the production will be adapted to the unconventional setting. Swords will replace guns, ducats will be used instead of the American dollar or Japanese yen, and costumes, such as Shylock's customary pinstripe suit, general's uniform, or nudity, will be replaced by garb of the kind worn by Jewish moneylenders of the Italian Renaissance.

"Audiences may be taken aback initially by the lack of Creole accents," Hiles said. "But I think if they pay close enough attention, they'll recognize that all the metaphors, similes, and puns remain firmly intact, maybe even more so, in the Elizabethan dialect."

Added Hiles: "After all, a pound of flesh is a pound of flesh, whether you're trying to woo a lady in 16th-century Europe, or you're a high school senior trying to impress your girlfriend with a limo ride to the prom, like in the last Merchant production MCP did in '95."

Though Hiles, 48, is a veteran regional- theater director with extensive Shakespeare experience, he said he has never taken such an unconventional departure. The Community Players' 1999 production of Othello was set during the first Gulf War, 2001's The Tempest took place on a canoe near the Bermuda Triangle, and last year's "stripped- down," post-apocalyptic version of Hamlet presented the tragedy in the year 3057.

Hiles said he became drawn to the prospect of setting the play in such an unorthodox locale while casually rereading the play early last year. He noticed that Venice was mentioned several times in the text, not only in character dialogue, but also in italics just before the first character speaks. After doing some additional research, Hiles also learned that 16th-century Europe was a troubled and tumultuous region plagued by a great intolerance toward Jews, historical context which could serve as the social backdrop for the play's central conflict.

"Even the names just sort of fell into place," said Hiles, who had been planning to center the play around an al-Qaeda terrorist cell before going with an avant-garde take. "Theater is about taking risks, and I'm really excited to meet this newest challenge."

Some of Hiles' actors, however, have reacted negatively to his decision. Some are worried Hiles lacks the knowledge and talent to pull off the radical revisionist interpretation, while others characterized it as "self-indulgent."

"I guess it's the director's dramatic license to put his own personal spin on the play he is directing, but this is a little over-the-top," said Stacey Silverman, who played Nurse Brutus in Hiles' 2003 all-female version of Julius Caesar. "I just think Portia not being an aviatrix does a tremendous disservice to the playwright."

Added Silverman: "You just don't mess with a classic."

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Shakespeare Was, Like, The Ultimate Rapper

As an English teacher, I have to make The Bard resonate with today's youth. I get the same questions every year: "Shakespeare? What does this dead white guy have to do with me? He doesn't know where I come from, what I'm all about. He's not from the streets."

Well, what's totally fresh about Shakespeare is that he wrote for ordinary people. His homies. My students say, "Then why did he write in this snooty poetry that no one can understand?" Well, that's just it. His poetry was the best street rhyming of his time. And Shakespeare was the best "player" of them all! Even today, 400 years later, Shakespeare is the world's ultimate rapper!

Shakespeare had the tightest flow in the history of the English language. His iambic pentameter couldn't be touched by the other MCs, although player-haters think he sampled heavily from Ben Jonson. In fact, were he alive today, I'm convinced he would be a rapper. Well, I guess he could be a playwright, too.

You see, Shakespeare never intended for his works to be read in some dusty old study! They were performed before a rowdy audience of ne'er-do-wells, servants, and charboys who interacted with the players and even threw things on stage. Sounds a lot like a rap show, doesn't it? The Globe truly was the Apollo Theater of the day.

Rap resonates because it talks about our lives, and tells stories of love, violence, sex—the things that get our blood racing. Well, word to your mother: Shakespeare may have worn tights and big lace collars, but he addressed the same questions as 50 Cent or Tupac Shakur. Are you feeling me? Try this: I'll list a plot point, and you try to guess if I'm describing an R. Kelly song or a Shakespeare play.

A daddy asks three homegirls to tell him why he's so fly.
A black gentleman suspects the white girl he's dating is playing him.
A crew of noblemen gets together and murders their homeboy.

Ready for a surprise? Those are all plot points from Shakespeare's tragedies! Compared to Shakespeare, R. Kelly is a choirboy. Why, Romeo And Juliet begins with bawdy jokes that would make 2 Live Crew blush! Shakespeare definitely knew a thing or two about "groping for trout in a peculiar river!" That's from Measure For Measure. We won't be reading that, though.
Big Willie Shakes rapped in his Big Willie style about everyday life, too. He rapped about friendship: consider Prince Hal and Falstaff, Hamlet and Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

He rapped about race issues: Othello, anyone? He even rapped about slammin' phat beats!
Back when Papa Tony's Pizza had those rapping TV commercials 10 years ago, I would recite a soliloquy from Hamlet in the exact same cadence, and it never failed to crack up the class! One year, there was even a student who accompanied me with the mouth-drumming noises, and we actually sounded very impressive together. I haven't done it in a while, so I'm a bit rusty, but I'll give it a shot anyhow:

'Tis now the very witching time of night,When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes outContagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood,And do such bitter business...
Well, uh, it goes on a bit more, but you get the idea, right? Yeah, I guess I'm a little rusty on the rapping. I'll practice tonight and try again tomorrow.

I've been teaching English for nearly 18 years, and even today, I'm still amazed at how fresh and current Shakespeare remains. Back when I was in college, I found so many parallels between Shakespeare and James Taylor. Then when I started teaching, I was struck at how Shakespeare explored the same themes as R.E.M. And boy, how my students from the '90s perked up when I played Kurt Cobain during the Hamlet unit!

Well, I hope that I've demystified the Bard Of Avon a little. I mean, trust me, I'm not some old fuddy dud who sits around watching PBS! I was down with Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet as much as you were! In fact, it happens to be in my personal DVD library, right in between Boyz N The Hood and Colors. How do you like those apples?

Shakespeare REtold - Much Ado About Nothing (Nicholls, 2005)

2009-08-28T09:59:00.005-04:00

Having watched these almost a year ago with my visiting buddies, I feel that re-reading our commentary gives me the nudge I need to start writing about this incredible series. I'll do each movie individually, they deserve that much attention.

In case you haven't heard of them, the BBC comissioned 4 adaptations of Shakespeare for a brief miniseries. They chose for this first run (hopefully a precurser to more? I ask 4 years later...) Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. What they are able to do (albeit without Shakespeare's language) is bring these characters into a new light, and show us just how not different we are nowadays.

In Much Ado About Nothing two daytime newscasters with a "history" are put on the air together against their will. Beatrice (Sarah Parish) is known about the studio as uptight, and Benedick (Damien Lewis) is... well... he's Benedick. He's got a flashy smile and a "winning" personality. Oh, and he stood Beatrice up for a very important date a few years ago. The sports-reporter, Claude (Tom Ellis), has developped a crush on Hero (Billie Piper), the weather-girl and the station's owner's daughter. She is only too reciprocal. Don, the "sad clown" of the commentary (a morose drunk) has feelings for Hero as well, and a pity-filled past with her.

The compression of events is one thing that doesn't translate well to the modern day. One day, Claude says he's fallen for Hero, the next they're planning their wedding. The relationship between Beatrice and Benedick already has a history, so the time-frame on them is just right, if a little convenient. But the adaptation is glorious in its parallels, and makes allowances for all of your favorite Much Ado moments! Geeks like me understand why these parallels might be funny on another level, and on its own it's an enjoyable movie to watch!

It sorta proves, too, that Shakespeare wrote some damn good soap operas in his day. Although the ending on this one is a little different (they're truly modern people, after all) it's very cool to watch the story unfold anew. And even slip some sonnets under the door.

Lady Macbeth's Daughter, Lisa M. Klein

2009-08-27T14:35:00.003-04:00

There can be too many books on one subject. This book is proof of that. Lisa M. Klein has the distinction of having written my top favorite for Shakespeare-based fiction and my least. This is the latter of the two.

I have given suck, and know How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.

~Macbeth, I.vii

Having already read several books based on the women in Macbeth, I am sorry to say that it would appear from this book that Klein merely took elements of those who came before and used them in her own story: Lady Macbeth's missing daughter (believed dead) being raised by wise women in Birnam Wood, Lady Macbeth as a sympathetic character, the long-lost daughter disguising her way into Macbeth's household as a servant, falling in love with Fleance, trying and failing to save anyone on Macbeth's bloody path, coming into her own right, etc. Unfortunately these elements are unoriginal and have been put to better use before. Perhaps I am tainted by what I have read before, but a book that does not move me is a book that does not move me.

Albia would be a decent enough character, had she been more fleshed out (and that is not a jibe on the fact that she has a deformed leg). She seems hollow, and in a story that is mainly action and reaction she seems to do comparitively little. Likewise the other characters have all but faded from memory as no one leaves an impression.

As I said, Lisa Klein's earlier book was worlds above this one, hopefully her next will be as well.

Lady Macbeth's DaughterHardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (October 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599903474
ISBN-13: 978-1599903477

Romeo and Juliet (Zeffirelli, 1968)

2009-08-27T09:59:00.004-04:00

Bringing Shakespeare to the big screen is a pretty popular endeavor for those directors who recognize the innate entertainment value in watching people fall in love, fight to the death, and soliloquize about their faults (ok, not so much the last part, lately, but it's interesting, no?)

One of my favorite stage-to-screen sucesses is Zeffirelli's passionate Romeo and Juliet. It's one of the more simple plays to read (thus, high school freshmen everywhere know the prologue by heart) and one of the stories that more teenagers relate to. Two youngsters from warring families somehow meet each other and instantly fall in love, only a series of misfortunes causes them to kill themselves for their love.

Zeffirelli captured the heat of a week in Verona. The sun is almost merciless on his unforgiving stone walls, and the pall of the feud hangs heavy in the first few minutes of the film as a Montague kinsman is interred. Even with all the starkness, though, there is color and life in the costumes of those who are alive. Traditionally (it seems) the Capulets wear red and yellow to signify the fire in their blood, and the Montagues wear blue - mostly because Romeo and Benvolio are more subdued and thoughtful people (I've always assumed). This is a "traditional-dress" Shakespeare in that they are, indeed, wearing tights and corsets.

It's the authenticity that makes this movie so special. Zeffirelli hand-picked Romeo (Leonard Whiting) and Juliet (Olivia Hussey) because they looked like a 14 and a 17 year old, but could still carry the weight of their words when they had to. Their bright-eyed innocence and optimism lent itself to the tragedy very well. They're also incredibly attractive people, so the sex appeal ain't bad either. Meanwhile the location and design are incredible, placing you right in the Italian city with the families.

Finally, the music. Part of why I, personally, love this movie so much is the song "What is a Youth." It is haunting, beautiful, and excellently forshadows the lovers' deaths even as they first lock eyes. "A rose will bloom / and then will fade/ so does a youth / so does the fairest maid." (Bonus: Josh Groban recorded a version of this song in Italian on his album Closer and it is wonderful)

The Turquoise Ring, Grace Tiffany

2009-08-26T14:52:00.010-04:00

"Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands,organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the samefood, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases,heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winterand summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? Ifyou tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?And if you wrong us, do we not revenge?"

~The Merchant of Venice III, i

Nowhere that I have yet found is Shylock's humanity more heartbreakingly apparent than in this book. Told from the perspective of five women over the course of his life, Shylock appears by turns zealous, cowering, monstrous and pitiable.

The one thing in his nature that is most apparent, though, is Love. The first woman to give her account is Leah, his wife. In a time of Jewish persecution in Spain (the Inquisition) she makes the choice to follow her mother's blood (but not her mother's life) and become a practicing Jew and marry Shiloh (Shylock). She gives him a startling turquoise ring which caught her eye in a moorish swordsman's shop.

Unfortunately, during Passover the family is sold out by the servant boy and the very pregnant Leah dies as her daughter is stressfully born after torture. Shiloh makes his way to Italy where he has heard a Jew may practice his own faith.

Though he is correct in that, there are still many laws governing practicing Jews in Venice - not in the least of which is restricting their career choices so that he must become a usurer in order to support his household. He keeps Jessica, his daughter, locked away in his house in the ghetto, worried that the oppulence and vanity of the city will corrupt her. It has anyhow, and Jessica follows in her maternal tradition of disavowing one faith for the other to become a Christian and marry the vapid Lorenzo. She steals everything of worth in her father's house, including his ring.

TUBAL One of them showed me a ring that he had of your daughter for a monkey.

SHYLOCK Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal: it was my turquoise; I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.

~The Merchant of Venice III, i

The next two sections join Nerissa and Portia. Nerissa is newly come to Portia after having lately been a courtesan (before that, she was Shiloh's housekeeper). Portia's quick mind and gruff demeanor intrigue Nerissa, as well as the apparent need to keep Portia from too much danger her hard-headedness may get her into. Portia is currently hosting a myriad of suitors clamoring for her dowery and property (oh, and her hand in marriage). She mocks them, and ever-so-slightly affects their choices in her father's dying wish: that her husband choose the correct casket of either gold, silver, or lead to marry her. She and Nerissa agree to choose Bassanio as the winner as he is slow of wit and would not necessitate the marriage bed too often after having her jewels. Yes, Portia and Nerissa are an "item." The way it's written it's not a terrible choice, and actually lends much to the story of their friendship and teamwork.

The famous trial takes place, Shiloh is brought low by Portia before he can either extract his revenge on Antonio's flesh or show that he is, in fact, merciful and meant it as an empty threat. He leaves Venice, broken. His ring was given to Portia as a gift, or that her servant, Xanthe, recognized it and Jessica and stole it in search of Shiloh.

This is a full, rich, and moving story. Again, this book is a wonderful gateway into discussions about the Inquisition, Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages, and the role of women in history. Deciding to write a book about a man from the perspective of 5 very different women, Tiffany chooses to show us the restrictions as well as the loopholes to personal freedom these women are willing to take.

Product DetailsPaperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (April 4, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425206661
ISBN-13: 978-0425206669

The Juliet Club, Suzanne Harper

2009-08-26T13:30:00.007-04:00

This is one of those books which is definitely meant to while away a car trip because you, Ms. 13 years of age, cannot drive yet and so need something to do besides yell at your brother for touching your side and listening to your iPod. And mom won't buy you a portable DVD player, OMG.
Kate goes to Italy with her dad (a Shakespeare geek) to take a month-long high school seminar on Romeo and Juliet. Her dad is the scholarly Shakespeare type; the host and Professora, Marchessa, is a passionate artist type and they HATE each other. Meanwhile her beautiful stuck-up SON is also in the class. Plus two other boys and two other girls. Can we all see where this is going? Teenage love-fest! After initially hating on each other, Kate and Giacomo decide to play a trick on the other students who plot to make them an item Much Ado style and pretend to fall in love. Only it works too well. Of course.
Part of the course requires the class to answer letters sent to Juliet House - where young lovers around the world send their passionate sob stories to ask for advice. It's an actual place so it seems pretty apt to use it here. It also requires them to perform scenes from Romeo and Juliet in different areas of the Marchessa's mansion for a ball she throws at the end of the summer. Now that's cool! So, you know, rehearsals and heat and passion again...
But there's very little book-learning in this book. Everyone seems swept up in the PASSIONS and the ROMANCE of Verona. Not that I blame them, but isn't there anything else to do? I will admit, because I am honest, that sometimes the pre-teen in me still swooned over certain passages where Giacomo touched Kate's hair or looked into her eyes, Twilight Style. But like Twilight this book is all matter and no substance. (Teen Girl Squad would love it!)
Fun to read, not too educational. Take it on a train ride if you don't have a video iPod to watch Branagh on.

The Juliet Club
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Greenwillow Books; Book Club (BCE/BOMC) edition (May 27, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061366919
ISBN-13: 978-0061366918

Scotland, PA (Morrisette, 2001)

2009-08-25T09:59:00.006-04:00

Macbeth is one of those timeless stories about a good man whose ambitions (or those of his wife) drive him to do unforgivable things. So timeless, in fact, that you could update the entire thing to a modern day fast-food "palace" and the story still works perfectly.

Joe McBeth (James Legros) works for Duncan's cafe (a sort of mom'n'pop place in '75) as the fry cook. His wife (Maura Tierney) is a bummed waitress, whom you can tell just wants more out of life. One night after drinking, Joe runs into 3 hippies on an abandoned fairground (Amy Smart, Andy Dick, and Timothy Levitch). They're not so much mystical as high, but they predict great things for Joe coming soon.

The McBeths finger the slimeball Douglas as a register-thief. Duncan, in his gratitude, invites them to stay late to hear his new idea for a restaurant where you can buy food from your car. Then, in a series of unfortunate accidents, the pair kills Duncan. In the fry cooker. Ewww. Duncan's sons - misunderstood teenagers who like rock and roll or musical theatre - go into hiding. McBeth is now the owner of Duncan's Cafe, which he renames MacBeth's.

But, of course, now there's hell to pay. Pat slowly goes just a little crazy - the burn on her hand from the night Duncan died is not going away - it's getting bigger. Joe spends more time at work, and plotting the murder of his best friend, Anthony Banconi (Kevin Corrigan), to frame on the local bum. All the while, Duncan's murder is investigated by liutenant McDuff (Christopher Walken), who has vegetarian dreams of his own.

It was not as hilarious as I wanted it to be, but this movie was certainly clever. Geeks like me draw the parallels not only between names, but also that damn spot. Having not shown this movie to my not-so-much-a-Shakespeare-fan fiance, I don't know how initiates would fare. It is as adult, as contemplative, and as bloody as the original, I'll give it that!

Swan Town - the Secret Journal of Susanna Shakespeare, Michael J. Ortiz

2009-08-21T23:13:00.014-04:00

My boss found this in his cabinet and asked me if I wouldn't mind reading it to let him know what I thought. I obliged, if reluctantly, because it was bound to be an easy read and had to do with Shakespeare. Reluctantly, because Young Adult novels are usually all moony-eyes and dumbing-down.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book was neither of those things.

The plot centers around a year in the life of Susanna Shakespeare, Will's oldest daughter. It is the year she turns 14 - the year the Shakespeares lost both Hamnet and John Shakespeare and also moved to New Place. [Ortiz did say he moved some dates around, but none of this.] Susanna is a witty young lady, who admires her father greatly as a brilliant playwright. Since she is confined to the tasks of housekeeping and womanhood, she keeps a journal to keep her mind sharp. Much of the plot centers on the family's hidden Catholicism, which faith Susanna joins in the course of this year after much intelligent thought and speculation. She is witness to the Protestant and Puritain mistrial of Catholics under the rule of Elizabeth I, and the atrocities committed in the name of faith astonish and sicken her. Susanna attempts her fathers' talents in penning a play meant to show the country of England that they are parroting a ridiculous vain leader, and her attempts to stage this are incredible. In her visits to London, Susanna meets John Hall, her future husband. This would be the part where Ortiz makes it easy to moony-eye her, but Susanna remains clear-headedly in love.

I might ask my boss if I can keep this book, simply because it is one of the more interesting looks at illegal Catholicism in Elizabethan England, and more brutal. I'm a firm believer that a good fiction book is a great gateway to fact if it has the ability to ignite interest in a subject. Without being overly dramatic, Ortiz has written a novel capable of educating without pandering.

In his notes, he says he based his Susanna off of the engraving on her tomb:

"Witty above her sexe, but that's not all...

Wise to Salvation...

Something of Shakespeare was in that..."

She is the only one of Will's children to be publicly compared to her father, and the "salvation" line hints that she was, perhaps, a Catholic though she married a Puritain.

Very interesting reading, and quick, too!

Swan Town
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (February 28, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060581263
ISBN-13: 978-0060581268

King Lear - Shakespeare Theatre Company 2009

2009-08-21T15:54:00.006-04:00

It's been 2 months since I saw this show and I'm still referencing it in conversation.

Let's start with this instead: the fiance and I have verbal battles in which he states that I think that "big" theatre is empty. In the most general sense it is true what he says (but not really). As I've stated - I think the most valuable part of performance is that a Truth is told, and with Shakespeare Theatre I often feel like there's no truth in performance - even if the design is great.

Not so here: I left feeling like I'd learned something not only about Theatre as it's performed - but as it's been performed, and should be performed.

To be fair - this is a remount of Director, Robert Falls's 2006 production from Chicago, which was recieved incredibly well. It deserved it. I say "to be fair" because this ain't yer typical STC show, which I feel is a whole lot of cash-tossing and not enough content. But I digress.

It begins with a party - well, in the mens' room of the ballroom the party's taking place in - and the detail is already palpable. One poor actress sits as the restroom attendant for the entire 30 minutes of audience seating. It's an interesting way to start a show about waste and rot. Then we get to the party and it is crunk! We gots dancing, czech rapping, more dancing... And a huge-ass cake! Which is what Lear uses to simulate the divide of his kingdom between his daughters -interestingly, a perishable substance - which he also doesn't cut into even thirds, Cordelia (Laura Odeh) is left with almost half. The eldest daughters, Goneril (Kim Martin-Cotton) and Regan (Kate Arrington) , look like spoiled vixens (Regan even looked enough like Paris Hilton that I was confused for a moment thinking "what's that b* doing in Shakespeare?")

Anyhow, skip ahead to Cordelia being banished and married to the King of France (Aubrey Deeker). Let the chaos begin. After lots of sex (none of it marital) and lots of betrayal (most of it familial) It becomes more and more apparent that things are deteriorating, no, Rotting from the inside out. Just as Lear is turned away from Regan's husband's house, the storm clouds gather in the distance and thunder begins its low rumble. Then - an incredible storm. A truly magnificent storm. Act 2 takes place in the rotting war zone that is now Lear's kingdom, trash heaps piled everywhere and bodies piling up right in the garbage. Then everyone dies at everyone else's hands or else just as tragically.

I wish I could sit here and dictate each moment of the performance as it happened, or at least give Jonno Roberts and Joaquin Torres their due as Edmund and Edgar respectively, but I feel I could not do it credit. Highlights: the subtlety of the storm as it gathered and then broke with Lear's mind. The stark stillness of death with each murder in the script. The heartbreaking emotion on everyone's face as they realized what they'd all done or allowed to happen. This was a performance FULL of truth and life and detail. This was a performance which proved to me why Lear was performed with a "happy ending" for 150 years. This was a play about brutality and fear.

It was beautiful.

Looking for Richard (Pacino, 1996)

2009-08-21T14:46:00.007-04:00

I have been debating about posting anything about this movie. On the one hand, Pacino and his friend, Frederic Kimball, are on a quest to discover what Shakespeare means to people today. The same question I asked a few months ago: Why is Shakespeare Important? On the other, about halfway through the film it becomes Pacino ego-driven story-telling of Richard III.

The first 30 minutes are pretty great - they stop to ask anyone on the street if they've heard of Shakespeare, or Richard III (Frederick claims that at the time Richard III was the most popular play being performed - this stat is not verified). A lot of great answers come out of it - a homeless guy emphatically declares that the reason so many young people are so inhumane, so violent, is because they're not studying enough Shakespeare. Shakespeare teaches us what it means to be human. Meanwhile educated white guys in polo shirts are all - yeah, I read Shakespeare in high school, had to, didn't get it... Interesting stuff.

Then Pacino et al decide to cast and perform scenes from R3 to illustrate the use of language, soliloquy, and political struggle are - while complicated - integral to performing and understanding. The whole movie was supposed to be about the culture of Shakespeare and study thereof (and yeah, we've already seen Al do some pretty self-indulgent things with his lines and his face - see right) so where is this going? Bonus note: they're using Folger Editions!

Things take a turn when during a rehearsal of the "Lady Anne Scene" Pacino suggests discussing Lady Anne's political position with a scholar or historian for this point in the movie - Frederick begins railing at Pacino - This was to be a movie about how Shakespeare belongs to "us" the performers, those who LIVE the roles - not those who read about the plays and stay in a stuffy library. A very interesting point - and a good starting point for a debate. I, personally, don't believe one would survive without the other. I'm strongly on the side that the plays are meant to be performed. However, without study and discussion of the context of the plays or their multi-faceted meanings - how can you put up a good performance?

Pacino also talks with renowned actors (like Branagh, Kline, Redgrave) about their experiences with performing Shakespeare - but none of those conversations stayed with me as much as the points made by the homeless man. To study Shakespeare - one learns what it means to be Human - hey, sir, you got some change?

Below is a video I found on Youtube - Pacino's intentions were good, and his passion is evident here. He truly meant to do something profound with this film - unfortunately it is a very personal journey he's taking - and instead of widening an audience, I think he widened his own eyes. Good for him - but not the stuff great educational films are made of. Worth at least a look:

Wm. Shakespeare's Five and Twenty Random Things Abovt Me

2009-08-14T15:51:00.005-04:00

(stolen from http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=401633472)

Wm. Shakespeare's Five and Twenty Random Things Abovt Me

1 Sometimes I Feele so trapp’d by iambic pentameter... Does that make me a Freake?

2 I haue been Knowne to cry at Bear-baiting.

3 I am not uery ticklish. I am Not. So prithee, do not euen try. Waste. Of. Time.

4 I cannot keep Lice, and know not why.

5 Sometimes I thinke plays are all Talke, Talke Talke, and wish for a cart-chase scene. I tried one in The Merry Wives, but it looked like Shitte, so I cut it. The men playing the horses were so Pissed at me.

6 I once threw vp on a man's head, from a high Windowe. I was so fvcking Sicke that Daye.

7 I hate to wear a Ruff, for I haue such a pleasing Necke.

8 As a player, I am painful-slow to learn my part. Once whilst playing Edward I, I used the prompter so ouermuch that a groundling yell’d ~Stop interrupting, Will! And it was my Dadde. (Kydding!)

9 Sometimes when I am Stvck for a rhyme, I new-mint a Worde because I jvst want to get the Damned script ovt the fvcking doore.

10 I play the Flute yet poorly, but I can make any crumhorn beg for Mercy.

11 When I am happy I call Anne my Kicky-wicky. When I am cross I call her “Olde Fun Killer Hag-Ass.”

12 I keepe my Stashe hidden in our seconde best bedde. Shhh. Don’t tell the Fyve-Oh.

13 The people that loue my Wordes the best are always the most disappointed vpon meeting me. Is thisse List ouer yet?

14 On the topic of dating, my daughter Susanna loues to remind me: ~Jvliet was only thirteen! And I remind her that i) she was Italian, an impulsive race ii), she was actually played by a middle-aged Eunuch named Ned, and iii) she died. That always shvts her right vp.

15 I deteste it when the Low-Comedians improuise the scenes I writ them… becavse they always make them so mvch fvnnier.

16 I haue, on occasion, thovght abovt hiring a Boy to fixe my Latin.

17 When I was sixe, my Goode-Friend Charles brovght to Schoole a wood-cut of his mother, qvite naked. After that we called him Charles Nudie-Mummy, whiche did make him Crye.

18 I take my eggs ouer-medium. If I get them O’er-Easily, I tell my Porter, ~You may thinke this is what I ordered, but it’s snot. I thinke that one is a real Slap-A-Th’Knee.

19 I work ovt my calues thrice weekly, usvally three pyramid sets of Calf-Rises whilst holding a flagon of Meade. I knowe I should stretch afterwards, but it Bores me so I do it not.

20 As a boy in my Bed, I would shriek i’the night that Witches wovld come to eat me. My Mother (bless her) wovld smooth my Hair and whispr ~ Be not afear’d, the Witches onlie eat the Jews.

21 Whitsuntide has become so commercial.

22 Nobody euer forgets where they were the moment they heard that Thomas Kyd died. I was shopping for codpieces in West Cheape. I came ovt of the Change-room and the proprietress was i’tears. I said ~What is it, now? and she replied ~Kyd is dead. There was a melancholy qviet, and then she said ~And that Piece is a mite too small on ye.

23 Euery time we do the Taming of the Shrew, some pvnter wants his Money backe, because we don’t actually show a shrew getting tamed.

24 I do not vnderstand all the Fvss over Currants. Sure, they are both sweet and Small, but must they bee added to EUERY FVCKING MEAL these days? Yestermonth, found I currants in a Tarte of Spinnedge. I meane come on, People. Seriovsly.

25 When I am feeling Melancholic, I console myselfe with the Knowledge that, aboue all else, I will be remembered for my Musick.

She's the Man (Fickman, 2006)

2009-08-12T13:13:00.004-04:00

Thanks to 10 Things I Hate About You (and others) Shakespeare is ripe for teen flick usage. Parental issues, unrequited love, mistaken identity, and slow-mo soccer set to chick rock.

I'm actually watching it as I type. I am thoroughly enjoying myself. For all her tween-i-ness, Amanda Bynes really is a talented commedienne. She uses her body well, and her face even better. You might mistake her for a dude without makeup.

And the script isn't terrible so far either!
"Remember, inside every girl, there's a boy... that... came out wrong but you get what I mean..."
"Girls with asses like mine do not talk to boys with faces like yours."
"I'm going to kiss him so passionately that even the people he hates are going to feel pleasure."

As with all of these endeavors, the names are sometimes a little silly (first name Duke, last name Orsino/ Illyria High School), but it's fun for a geek like me.

I especially like how it answers some questions raised in the play: How does Viola (as Cesario) get into Orsino's good graces between scenes 2 and 3? Answer: prove what an indomitable man's man you are with the ladies (played by your best girlfreinds) - then Orsino will share all of his woman-troubles with you! How is Orsino able to be in love with Viola so quickly when her true nature is revealed? Answer: throw in the Stratford carnival where Viola's mother makes her run the kissing booth, which Orsino patronizes with obvious chemistry. Viola is also a little more take-charge here, interrupting a conversation between Olivia and Duke as herself on the phone accepting a date from Duke for dinner, for example. How can Olivia accept Sebastian (the real brother, played by James Kirk) so easily? Answer: he comes home from London early, and is mistaken for his sister in the dark when Olivia kisses him with obvious chemistry.

Woman troubles about the emotionally damaged good-girl Olivia (Laura Ramsey), who is being stalked by brown-nosing Malcolm, who sees that Olivia's falling for "Sebastian," who is really Viola, who is falling in love with Duke (Tatum Channing). Just like in Shakespeare!

Overall this is a fun movie to watch as both a teen comedy and a Shakespearean adaptation with a lot of respect for the original. What it comes down to for me (and this will always be the case) is that a truth was told in a well-told story. Love is a complicated affair, and though you might get yourself into an outrageous situation - for whatever reason - things will fall pat as they're meant to.

Oh, and way to use "Be not afraid of greatness..." in a perfect and inspiring way, adaptors Ewan Leslie, Karen McCullah Lutz, and Kirsten Smith!

Fool, Christopher Moore

2009-08-11T10:34:00.007-04:00

This book was recommended to me by someone who knows my love of Shakespearean Fiction and Good Books. I was disappointed on neither count.

The plot follows the adventures of Pocket, black-clad fool to Lear, as he navigates palace intrigues between Lear's daughters, nasty innuendo of relations with said daughters, and Shakespearean shenanigans to reach a satisfying conclusion. While the story deviates from the tragedy of Shakespeare, it's a welcome change, and much more satisfying to be sure. Not only do the evil-doers get their just desserts, but we also get to travel into Birnam Wood to meet the Weird Sisters as they assist Kent and Pocket in their own special way.

I was a little embarrassed to be reading this in public at some points - Pocket and his companion fool, Drool, have lusty adventures with all sorts of people - graphic lusty adventures - but it's all in good fun. I spent a lot of time trying not to laugh out loud (not always accomplished). Moore has a special brand of humorous writing that somehow has perfect timing. At times it read like a Monty Python sketch.

This is my favorite kind of Shakespearean Fiction: taking a minor character from a play, examining the way they fit into the story, and giving them a life of their own. Moore did an excellent job of making Pocket crooked but sympathetic. While he did not stick to the confines of the play for the whole book, I found I actually enjoyed that more than if he had tried to fit the tragedy into his comedy. The moment where you figure this out (I won't ruin it for you) is both shocking and surprisingly satisfying.

Especially after seeing Lear performed this year (another post), it can become terribly rank and oppressively depressing. Moore kept it from ever being that without it being all farce. The human truth that the Lear Family projects is still evident, but they can't be taken too seriously and so can't be too threatening to a good life led by a good person.

Fool
Hardcover: 311 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (February 10, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060590319
ISBN-13: 978-0060590314

Living Dead in Denmark - Rorschach Theatre 2009

2009-08-11T09:20:00.008-04:00

Ok, so Shakespeare, Joss Whedon, and Bruce Lee walk into a theatre...

This show is that punchline.

Ophelia is wakened from her "coma" to discover that everyone she ever loved is dead or worse, and she has been recruited by Fortinbras to team up with Lady Macbeth and Juliet to defeat the Zombie Lord who is terrorizing the world with his Council of Winter. The lady-licious trio discover things about themselves along the way - things like "what's it like to kiss another chick?" "whom can I turn to in dire need?" "would I kill my best friend if they were a zombie?" Hard-hitting life lessons.

If you want the high drama of Hamlet, the pathos of Romeo and Juliet, the introspection of Macbeth... you won't find it here. However, you will find the dialogue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the action moves of Jet Li, and more geek-jokes than you thought possible for any type of geek! Luckily, I saw it with a very geeky audience - one that got Buffy references (lines such as "Bored now" and adding -y to any word), that smirked at Shakespearean references ("Mark meeee"), and twitched excitedly as the zombie hoarde descended on the fighting chick trio.
There were, of course, a lot of groaners (and not just the undead! YadadadadaDA!) and seeing as it's stage combat the on-screen conceit of each attacker waiting their turn just doesn't fly as well. I literally found myself almost punching the air or calling "watch out!" For the most part, though, the group fights were excellent, Casey Kaleba knows a lot about what he's doing there. One thing that kinda bothered me - sometimes the actors addressed the audience. I can be ok with it, but it just didn't fit into this script. The point of this kind of comedy is that it takes itself seriously, it doesn't need to invite the audience into the joke, they're already there! Also, James Bond does not fit - don't try to force that square peg. Lastly, the musical numbers didn't always work, they weren't frequent enough not to be jarring, the pre-recorded music sometimes got away from the actors, and at least one had some very stagnant choreography.

Anyhow, there's a lot to love about this production, not in the least of which is the cast. Scott McCormick and Sarah Taurchini also made a delightful duo as "Ro-ro and Gilly" as well as several other cameos. Adrienne Nelson exuded frustrated sex appeal as Titania, without being totally evil. As Horatio, Andres Talero brought the sort of kick-ass sensitivity of Whedon's good guys with his own arch delivery. Blair Bowers, Danny Rivera, and Eddie Walsh made a fantastic amalgamation of characters from Caliban to the Three Witches. Rivera also had a heartbreaking scene as Ophelia's brother Laertes that had a depth the rest of the play could not match. Tony Bullock as the Zombie Lord and Ben Cunis as Fortinbras squared off perfectly, leaving you in awe of their prowess and physical ability while wondering which side to root for at times. Katie Atkinson and Megan Reichelt obviously had a lot of fun kicking ass. They delivered their lines as directly as their kicks. Together with Amy Quiggins they would be cast in a Whedon show any day. Amy was a great balance of girly and brazen, even if her character spends maybe too much time being upset.

And I cannot go without mentioning the designers. Brian Allard nicely used saturated color and moody dimness to create everything from the bogs of Scotland to a moonlight bathed field on Robbie Hayes multi-leveled playing field of death (literally, fear for these actors if they were any less well trained!). Andrea "Dre" Moore's props had both humor and accuracy, but the star of the evening's design was Debra Kim Sivigny. Her costumes were incredible. Just... I mean, tube lights, creative use of fabric shape and color, belts in new places, strategically hidden knee pads, AND MORE!

The show runs in the Gonda Theatre at Georgetown University until August 23rd. I wish I could see it again!

Love's Labour's Lost (Branagh, 2000)

2009-08-07T17:11:00.007-04:00

I have had debates about this movie. Heated, heated debates.

Let's start with the fact that no, this is not my favorite Shakespearean Comedy (he did write some duds, you know?), and this is certainly not my favorite Branagh (he did make some duds, you know?). Branagh has taken one of the more obscure selections from the canon and turned it into a war-era musical.

This adaptation is certainly peppy and fun, and with a cast to die for-almost. Branagh takes Berowne, the right-hand man of the king of Navarre, though he is clearly much older than the young men playing the students. Alessandro Nivola (King of Navarre), Adriane Lester (Dumaine) and Matthew Lillard (Longaville) - HALT EVERYTHING, you mean SHAGGY is in this?!?! Oh yes, Rooby-Roo, he is.

Anyhow, the young men are fresh-faced and bright-eyed enough to play the dewey love-struck scholars, and all have wonderful movement abilities for the dance sequences (oh my yes), and physical comedy.

The women are just as unevenly cast, but no less apt to the roles. Alicia Silverstone (a la Clueless) is a bit mush-mouthed as the Princess of France, but she is very sweet and enjoys the girlish game of switcharoo. Natascha McElhone plays Berowne's foil - Rosaline - with studied grace, characteristic of movies such as Casablanca. Though I think there is no greater foil for Branagh than his own Emma Thompson (such a shame). Emily Mortimer and Carmen Ejogo round out the maidenly foursome as Katherine and Maria - because it would be just awful if one was left without a partner!

Clowns are especially important to Shakespeare's comedies (to me), and Nathan Lane was pitch-perfect as Costard. He was given fantastic support by Richard Briers and Geraldine McEwan. However, the most memorable clown is the boastful, braggish Don Armado - played by Timothy Spall.

The plot is rather simple: Four men swear off women, and are immediately met by Four Women staying nearby. There is room to woo, for disguise, and for playfully mistaken identity. However, the end of this play is off-key in writing, and a problem for those performing - the Princess is called home to attend to her Father's death, promising to return to the King of Navarre in one year and a day if he remains hermetic and faithful. Her ladies swear likewise. This movie, for all its faults, handles the end so well it almost makes sense. It adds both gravitas and bouyancy to an otherwise jarring end - one that required at least a Shakespearean sequel.

Branagh is a brilliant filmmaker and actor (who doesn't need at least one brilliant monologue delivery?). This movie, for me, was not quite there. Perhaps in time I will come to love it as I do his earlier work, but for now this remains a rather "eh" note in my book.

Titus X

2009-08-06T09:33:00.013-04:00

Shakespeare... the Rock Musical, you ask?

Oh Hells Yeah.

I went to see this for the first time (it's been workshopped in DC and NY before) during the Fringe Festival. It helped that it was in one of my favorite small spaces: The Warehouse.

After a pretty loud pre-show set, the band and Anne Marie Dalton started a driving chant of "Titus, Titus.." filling the audience in on the General's success in war against the Goths - but at the cost of 23 of his sons' lives. Titus arrives with his Goth prisoners, Tamora and her sons Demetrius, Chiron, and a baby standing in for the son whom Titus slaughters right in front of her (though being a plastic baby doll wrapped in a trash bag diaper - the effect was rather funny). From there the story only gets bloodier - with Shakespeare lending some words as lyrics, and Shawn Northrip adding his own witty dialogue, as well as some disturbingly bloody fun.

Much of the ingenuity and comedy of the production also came from the fact that they had a cast of six people - and three of them played only one person. This gave Cesar Guadamuz and Kevin Duffin so much room to have fun as they played not only brothers Bassanius and Saturnine, but Titus's deadbeat sons (Quintus and Martius, but who can remember?), Tamora's brit-punk sons, and anyone else they needed to be. Anne Marie Dalton also played Lavinia - who's toungeless solo was both hilarious and heartbreaking. I really couldn't describe the intricacies accomplished with each of their performances, as they were too numerous to list! There was even a special performance by Beckett Martin as the unfortunate son of Titus, Mutius, who is killed by his own father for disobeying. Beckett died pulling out his own "guts" to one of the loudest rounds of applause of the evening. Also, Beckett is 10 years old.

Stiles was a rockstar in the roll of Titus, and watching him descend from an aloof General to madman was incredible. Perhaps the greatest moment of the show for me was when Titus returns to the stage after dressing his handless stump with a mic attachment. That about sums up the show right there: Bloody Gruesome RockNRoll Humor. Emily Webbe had obvious fun in her turn as Tamora the seductive Goth Queen - reveling in inhumanity, as well as Andrew Honeycutt as Aaron. The way they gyrated and maliciously grinned made even their horrific actions pardonable.

As dark as the play gets - Northrip (and the actors) kept a wonderful balance between drama and laughter. In a moment when Titus bewails his family's fate, one audience member got swept up and said "Oh No," audibly. Titus responded with "I know, it sucks right?"

Overall I would love to see this show again and again, and I'm not the only one! I bought a ticket for my boss (who is above the age of loving Rock and Roll, honestly) because his favorite Shakespearean play is Titus. He left me a note the next day not only thanking me, but saying it was "f-ing awesome!" One more cheer for Rome, for Titus, and for a Rock Musical that holds nothing back - not even the bard's words! The show is back in NY until the end of this month, and will hopefully have more incarnations!

Mistress Shakespeare, Karen Harper

2009-08-05T14:32:00.001-04:00

First Book to be catalogued: Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper

And it's one I don't even own yet!

I borrowed this one from the Docent Library because I very much enjoyed Harper's The Last Boleyn. She is very good at providing motive and history for an otherwise forgetable character.

All we can know "historically" of this girl is that "Wm Shaxpere et Annam Whateley" are registered for legal marriage on November 27, 1582. However, "William Shagspere... and Anne Hathwey of Stratford " are recorded mere hours later. It is commonly believed that Anne Hathaway was our illustrious poet's wife - so who is Anna Whateley?

According to Harper, she is a young woman who lives in Stratford with her widower father, and grows up aside young William Shakespeare. Though their fathers' business relationships force them to avoid each other publicly, their affection for each other is strong. A tragic event in their young life forces them apart for years - until Will shows up on Anne's doorstep, asking to court her. Much of their relationship is bickering and verbal sparring - not uncommon for a hot-tempered couple, but close and loving nonetheless, and they marry. Unfortunately, a seduction from Will's past forces him to publicly marry a woman he doesn't love (Hathaway), and forces Anne to make the choice to move to London. Will eventually joins her there after more unforgiving and bickering, but they can never reveal their marriage. She inspires many of his characters, not always flatteringly, and manages to do a lot of social networking on his behalf. They are also thrust into the political arena - where Queen Elizabeth I's forced Protestantism makes Will do very dangerous things in remembrance of his slain Catholic kin.

Other famous characters make appearances in the book, such as Lord Wriothesly, Kit Marlowe, the Burbage family, Philip Henslowe, William Kempe, and other such actors in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, as well as a host of imagined colleagues and cohorts.

Much of this book was impressively well-thought, and quite nicely detailed. The London Harper paints for us is not un-romantic, but romantically honest. The dirt, the smells, the Plague horrors - all are marked with care. The same with the Stratford of Anne and Will's childhood - places and people are given description and depth - but not so much that it distracts. In fact, the only failing in this book, I believe, is that Anne Whateley was never as strong as I wanted her to

be. She was given to tears aplenty - and of course the harshness of her life merited such tears - but it was all so much repetition. There are only so many times one can say how much she hated Will, only to take him back as soon as she saw him.

As redundant as the narrative became (being told in the first person) it was no less interesting.

It is a rich story for those who love Shakespeare and the mystery that is his life. Quite a story to come out of words that may have just been a clerical error in the marriage ledger, and one that explains quite a bit.

Product Details
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (February 5, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399155457
ISBN-13: 978-0399155451

The Upstart Crow

2009-08-05T00:46:00.001-04:00

Evening, Blogosphere,

I have decided that my wealth of Shakespeareana must needs be catalogued - and as I do not have a book journal in writing, it has stuck in my mind that I should create one. Complete with pictures!

Ok, it won't always be a googled standard (and infringed) image - mostly book and movie covers.

quick Low-down: I work in Shakespeare Education in DC, I have a LARGE collection of Shakespeare-based fiction, am working through trying to see many many films of Shakespeare or Shakespeare-related topics, and I work in Theatre as well so MUCH to talk about as I see it there!

Something to keep in mind: Posts will always be of my opinions, so feel free to debate 'em nicely!