Hey, is anybody out there a member of the Shakespeare Association of America?  I just came across their site in my travels and it looked somewhat intriguing.  The dues are modest – around $100/year dependent on income level.  I’m wondering if anybody’s a member who can fill me in on whether it’s worth it to  a guy like me to join up?  As I’m sure you all know I’m far from a stuffy old academic when it comes to dear Will.  I’m not at all interested in reading ancient tomes and comparing notes on how the meaning of “sullied” was different in 1599 than it was in 1587.  Is it, to put it simply, any fun? It’s probably not for somebody like me.  Part of the registration for the yearly program says, “Registrants in Shakespeare Association programs are expected to complete significant work in advance of the meeting: research papers, common readings, and bibliographic compilation, in the case of seminars; and pedagogic, scholarly, or theatrical exercises or exchanges, in the case of workshops. Seminars and workshops are appropriate for college and university faculty, independent scholars, and graduate students in the later stages of their doctoral work.”  Yeah, not really me.

Yesterday I got a question from Sara, a university student from Italy, who asked for my help.  She’s going to be translating Theobald’s The Double Falsehood (sometimes known as Shakespeare’s Cardenio) and wanted to know what print editions were in existence — available for purchase online —  that had a particularly good “critic preface.”  I’m not sure exactly what she means by that, but I think she means that she doesn’t mind an edition that is more on the academic side with lots of editorial comments.  Not a mass market thing. Does anybody have experience in this area?  Fiona, I know you’re out there someplace and you mentioned that you’d be teaching the text.  Do you have a favorite version you’ll be using? Thanks everybody!  

Ok, this has the potential to be insanely cool, and I hope they film it.  Are you familiar with Penn and Teller?  They’re the magic act that’s famous, really, for three things:

• It’s “the little guy who never talks, and the big guy who never shuts up.”  You know, those guys.
• Part of their gimmick is “there’s no such thing as magic.  We’re con artists.”  Some of their popular tricks start with the premise “Look, we’re going to show you how it’s done”, and they do, and yet you still walk away not really sure how they did it.
• They do a very violent show.  Lots of blood, bullets, knives.  Good stuff.

What could be more perfect than taking their talents for magic and illusion and bringing them to Shakespeare’s supernatural horror story?  To be fair, I should say that this appears to be Teller’s project – he’s the quiet one.  I don’t see much reference to it being a team effort, it’s just force of habit to refer to them as a set.   According to the essays they’re taking it very seriously – read all about the specifics of how they’re going to create the witches, what special effects they’re using to create vanishing blood, and even what Greenblatt thinks of their efforts. They’re setting up for a 2008 show in New Jersey (and Folger, I see – that could make for a road trip :)), which is why I said earlier I hope they film it.  Highly unlikely that I’m going to get to see it live.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Theatre On June 29, 1613, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre burns to the ground during a production of Henry VIII when some cannon fire caused the thatched roof of the theatre to catch fire.  Shakespeare was in Stratford at the time. 

http://www.shakesongs.com ShakeSongs.com is part of the master’s thesis of a student at the University of British Columbia entitled “Teaching Shakespeare Through Song.”   It doesn’t look done – the links to Thesis and Forums both lead to “Coming Soon” pages.  But still, it seems like an idea worth pursuing. Right now all I could find for audio links were on the “ShakeHits” page, using some sort of streaming player.  Well that rules me out, I only work in MP3 these days so I can take them with me.