I normally wouldn’t do much with a pictorial article about 100 Ways To Say I Love You just because it kicked off my Shakespeare keyword filters. But I’m on vacation in a hotel room and my family is asleep, so I’m bored.

4?! That’s it!? You found *4* Shakespeare quotes for saying I love you.  Seriously?

I think the writer had it in for Shakespeare. Nicholas Sparks is on the list. And the Hunger Games woman, whatever her name is. Oh, and the Fault in Our Stars dude, who is really just a more educated Nicholas Sparks. You could have knocked all of them off the list and given us 3 more Shakespeare.

Jane Austen also gets 4.

But you know who gets the most? Go ahead, guess. No, not Harry Potter lady, that would be too easy.
Guess who got *7* spots on the list?

Charles Frickin Dickens, that’s who.

Because when you read Oliver Twist and Bleak House and Nicholas Nickleby, what you remember most is thinking, “Wow, I have to remember to use that line on my girlfriend.”

And don’t anybody say “Please, may I have some more?”   🙂

(See, Ian Anderson is the flute-player from Jethro Tull, who’s big song was….ah, never mind.)

What does Ian Anderson have to say about Shakespeare, and why are we asking him in the first place? Apparently in his new album “Homo Erraticus” there’s a line that “Shakespeare rocks.”  So, explain?

…I suppose even though I’m not really a “fan” of the work, I enjoy elements of it that I have seen. Of course, I hugely admire those actors from all walks of acting life who take on Shakespeare because it’s a tough nut to crack. Rarely do artists and actors get great reviews. It is an area in which harsh criticism abounds, when you decide to do Shakespeare, especially if you’re a Yank, because with rare exceptions – it ends in tears. Kevin Spacey is probably one of those guys who can kind of get away with it because he’s sort of been adopted as a cultural asset of our country – where he has spent most of his time and very active in serious theatre.

I’m not sure that answered the question!

Do go and check out the entire interview, it’s quite lengthy. I’ve only snipped a bit of the Shakespeare out.

Today I found “10 Things You Didn’t Know About A Midsummer Night’s Dream“.  Let’s play!

Link to Beatles playing the Rude Mechanicals…..check.

Moons of Uranus named after fairies?    Check.

Samuel Pepys didn’t like it.     I know.

Dame Judi Dench played Titania in the 1960’s and then again in 2010?    Yup.

I can’t find a good link to their other 6 facts, so I guess I have to admit defeat on this one? I could claim that I knew of few of them and never wrote stories about them, but what fun would that be? We’ll call it a draw.

Much Ado About Love, a Romantic Comedy in Shakespeare’s Verse

The playwright, David Nanto, sent me this story about the premiere of his new play, a 1960’s romantic comedy written entirely in Shakespeare’s original verse. I appreciate that he kept it in Italy, why mess with the classics?

Despite the title, the plot seems lifted from Love’s Labours Lost :

Three friends arrive at a small hotel in Italy where they swear an oath to avoid women and focus on their studies. Soon two beautiful cousins arrive and when the owner of the hotel suggests that they all do a reading of a play to pass the long evenings, it isn’t long before the three men realize that they have fallen for the three women. But misunderstandings, shyness, and grief are almost insurmountable as they try to woo the girls of their dreams.

I appreciate the effort that goes into projects like this, though I wonder how much of it is a quality new product and how much is just that “novelty Shakespeare” bucket.  Remember Terminator the Second where they rewrote the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie using all Shakespeare verse? Or those interminable (ha, see what I did there?) Star Wars Shakespeare books?

I think it’s a very difficult line to dance around. I don’t want to spend the entire play not only saying to myself “Yup, recognize that, that’s from Much About About Nothing” and, worse, “Argh that is totally taken out of context from Hamlet! That’s not what that line is supposed to mean!” I think the T2 and Star Wars things get buzz because of the pop culture connection. But what happens in a case like Mr. Nanto’s where he’s truly created something original? How do you look past the “recognize the quote” game and evaluate/appreciate the play itself?

For their part (I say they because I assume this is not a one-man show) they’re playing to the Shakespeare enthusiasts, even going so far as to offer a “where is this quote from” quiz on their web page. For a real challenge try the video from dress rehearsal (on that same page) that asks you to count the references. I lost track very quickly.

Break a leg, Mr. Nanto!