I’m on vacation this week, down Cape Cod. And as we’re trolling the center of town we (my wife, mother in law, myself, and 3 kids in tow) wander into one of those shops that’s loaded with street signs, movie posters, lunch boxes and all sorts of other random kitschy goofy stuff that, well, no one in their right mind would buy. And then I saw the Shakespeare bobblehead. I took him reverently down from his shelf and walked over to my wife like I was 7years old again about to ask for a new bike. She told me it was silly. I told her of course it was silly, that’s the point. My mother in law told her to get it for me. While they debated, I put it back and kept looking. Then I saw a collection of what looked like Fisher Price Little People, only they were all classic geniuses – Picasso, Freud, Beethoven, Einstein, and Shakespeare. My 3yr old is at a phase where she’s a total packrat, always carrying a little toy in her hands. The thought of her carrying a teeny Shakespeare around the house just thrilled me to no end. But alas, I showed it to her hoping I could come up with an excuse to buy it for her, you see, but she just said, “Where are the princesses?” so I decided not to blow the $20. At last I saw the action figure. I knew it existed, I’d seen it in the Archie McPhee catalog. Not quite as goofy as a Shakespeare bobblehead, but still fun, and half the price. Apparently I’m getting him for Christmas. 🙂
Month: August 2007
Romeo and Juliet
http://geek.shakespearezone.com/?p=2529 Tad Davis, in what appears to be his first post on a new blog, merits a link for the depth of his analysis of Romeo and Juliet while still remaining actually readable. It’s not a small novel, it goes maybe 10 paragraphs, but he manages to touch upon the loneliness of Juliet in the second act, points out a few of the more overt sexual references, makes a comparison of Lord Capulet to King Lear, offers some thoughts on staging in the Globe, and even hypothesizes parallels to Shakespeare’s own children. I’m not sure I agree with his opening line that the play “has to be his most heartbreaking one.” It’s certainly his most popular and approachable (who hasn’t been in love with someone that society told them they couldn’t have?) But I think that both Cordelia and Ophelia both die more tragic deaths than Juliet.
Shakespeare Rules
http://redshoesonathuuursday.blogspot.com/2007/08/shakespeare-rules-instilled-in-dench-by.html I’m guessing that “The Dench” refers to Dame Judi Dench. I’m no actor, but I found the rules interesting. I think we often assume that the greatest actors we see have some sort of natural instinct for it and everything just happens. It’s nice to be reminded that they have to work at it as well. The greatest actors still take direction.