And the winner is ….. All’s Well That Ends Well?
CommShakes continues to build itself back up to prominence after the disastrous Citibank years. I love going to free Shakespeare on the Common, I think it’s one of life’s great pleasures. I’ve seen all of their shows in recent years, excepting only their Hamlet where I mistakenly waited until the last weekend and got rained out :(. So each year I await the announcement of their new main show. This year, it’s All’s Well.
Here’s why I’m a bit troubled by that choice. I understood when they reinvented themselves with Comedy of Errors a few years ago – budget, mostly. But just recently I started the What Play Should I Tackle Next? thread where I listed 7 plays – some minor, some I simply haven’t experienced yet. All’s Well was one of them. Every play got two votes – except for two. Merry Wives, and All’s Well. This concerns me, I worry that audiences less familiar with Shakespeare will never have heard of this one, and simply won’t care.
What do we think? If you only get one Shakespeare in the park show a year would you be happy that it’s All’s Well That Ends Well?
Author: duane
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Temptation is a fire that brings up the scum of the heart.
I saw this one go by and thought, “Are you kidding me? Do we really want to think that the best Shakespeare could come up with is something like ‘scum of the heart’?” It didn’t help that there’s even places on the net where people asked “What play is this from?” and were told “Merchant of Venice.” Not true. Shakespeare does use the word “scum” four times in his work, but never in this context.
This one took me awhile to find. It is quoted often in the history books, and always with the word “Boston” next to it. For awhile I thought that had something to do with a collection of papers or a particular essay that was being cited. Then it dawned on me that this is an actual person — Thomas Boston, a Scottish church leader born in 1676 (so, not too long after Shakespeare). Here, from Google Books, is the man’s own words:
Observe your hearts all times but especially under temptation. Temptation is a fire that brings up the scum of the vile heart: Do you carefully mark the first risings of corruption.
Taymor Tempest Release Date?
I’ve just learned that the December 10, 2010 release date for Julie Taymor’s The Tempest is a strictly limited New York / Los Angeles release. This doesn’t help me in Boston, and pretty much kills my plans next weekend. Anybody got information on when a wider release is planned? This is very upsetting news.
The greatest risk in life is not taking one.
Alternate: The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.
Another one of these random attributions, with no good evidence for it being Shakespeare. However some searching turns up the alternate version, which to my eye looks very close — “being too cautious” equals “not taking risks”, doesn’t it?
The alternate version does have a source – it comes from Indian politician Jawaharlal Nehru.
Shakespeare Reading Challenge 2011 : Sign Up Now!
Reader Elena let me know that she’s running her Shakespeare Reading Challenge again for the coming year and asked me to get the word out to Shakespeare Geeks. How many of the plays you think you can read during the year? Challenge Extended!
First off, the Levels:
1. Puck: Read 4 plays over the year, 1 of which may be replaced by a performance
2. Desdemona: Read 6 plays, 2 of which may be replaced by a performance
3. Henry V: Read 12 plays, 3 of which may be replaced by a performance
Now, the Rules:
1. All plays must be read between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. Anything begun before that cannot be included.
2. Audio versions are also acceptable but all plays must be unabridged.
3. You don’t need to list your plays ahead of time but you may, if you’d like.
4. Review pages for each month will be created but are optional.
On your mark ….. get set…….