I don’t follow any of the late night talk shows. I did notice, courtesy FeliciaDay on Twitter, that Jude Law, who is currently doing Hamlet on Broadway, was on Jimmy Fallon. Normally that wouldn’t ping my radar at all, since rolling credits on people is common in such references. I can’t tell you how many stories about Gwynneth Paltrow I’ve read just because she was in Shakespeare in Love. Or Joseph Fiennes, now starring in the new series Flash Forward, for the same reason. But the story cropped up a couple of times, and I got some more information. Not only does Law engage in a Nerf duel with Jimmy Fallon, but he “reads dramatically” from Lady Gaga’s hit(?), Poker Face. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/09/jude_law_takes_a_break_from_sh.html It’s a short clip, but if you’re interested in such things you might find it fun. They don’t actually talk about anything in the 3 minutes of this clip, so I’m left wondering if this was like the closing portion of a longer segment or something.
//romeo&juliet/
I don’t typically post every review or press release about every new interpretation I see, just the ones that catch my eye. Like this one, which sums up much of what we talk about here:
You need to do it old school enough to serve the language and story, but not so old school that it flashes back to mandatory high school reading lists. It’s about splitting time between classic and cool, between poise and unpredictability.
That gets my attention right off the bat, infinitely more than people who talk about having to bring the language up to date. Lose that, you lose the Shakespeare. Keep that, and everything else I think is up to your own interpretation. Then again…
Some characters have been cut, or merged with others; Juliet is now raised by a single mother, for example.
Hmmm. That’s quite the statement to make with your production. The helplessness of Juliet’s situation is pretty crucial to her “I have no choice but to kill myself” logic. How exactly do you get across “Marry the guy I tell you to marry or GTFO” from a single mom??? http://www.24sevencities.com/features/arts/theater/how-juliet-met-romeo.html
Happy Anniversary To My Wife, Kerry!
Today (September 30) is my ninth wedding anniversary. My ever patient wife Kerry, bless her heart, knew I was a Shakespeare geek when she married me. I even said, during my proposal, that there’ll be time enough for Shakespeare. Since then I’ve generally showered her with Shakespeare every time the opportunity presents itself . I whispered Sonnet 17 in her ear during our wedding dance. I made her a Shakespearean infinity bracelet. I write stuff on Valentine’s Day cards. And much to her credit, bless her heart, she’s driven 100 miles to sit through King Lear with me, buys me Shakespeare toys, and kept me from making a translated Bottom of myself when one of our friends said that Taming of the Shrew is better than Hamlet. Every now and then she surprises me, too. And let’s not forget that I’ve turned our beautiful children into raging geeklets as well. She takes it all in stride. So for our anniversary this year I thought I’d introduce her to the site. Or, rather, the site to her. She knows I’ve got a blog. I tell everybody that will listen. She sees the steady stream of books, DVDs and the occasional t-shirt with a rubber chicken on it show up at the door. But she goes to bed hours before I do, and the last thing she’ll often hear from me before drifting off to sleep is “Going to work on the blog.” It only seems right to give her a peek at what that part of my life means. So. Kerry, this is everybody. Happy Anniversary, Sweetie. O that thou didst know how many fathom deep I am in love! O know, sweet love, I always write of you, And you and love are still my argument; So all my best is dressing old words new, Spending again what is already spent: For as the sun is daily new and old, So is my love still telling what is told. We are in the very wrath of love, clubs shall not part us. Haply I think on thee! For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings that I would scorn to change my state with kings. Everybody, this is Kerry. Say hi, Geeks. If you’ve got any good quotes to drop on us, let us hear it.
Shakespeare Truthers
I love when my local paper talks about Shakespeare! In this case it’s a spin on the authorship question, but I’m pretty sure that if somebody calls you a “truther” (lumping you in with the idiots who still argue that Obama can’t be president because he’s supposedly not born in this country), they don’t have a high level of respect for your argument. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2009/09/25/the_shakespeare_truthers/ This article is a bit different in that it’s mostly about Marlowe. Although we all know that he’s a contender (blah blah, faked his death because of secret agent stuff….) I don’t hear him spoken of in that way very often. Usually it’s all Oxford Oxford Oxford. UPDATE: I mixed up my idiots, they tell me in the comments. The ones that think Obama’s birth certificate is fake are “birthers”. “Truthers” are the ones who think 9/11 was deliberately set up … by Bush. Ok then.
Wordplay!
Those folks looking for some good cryptographic puzzles, with maybe a hint of conspiracy thrown in, are encouraged to check out Jim’s new blog Wordplay Shakespeare where he’s already “decoded” secrets including the identity of Mr. W.H. as well as Hamlet’s true age. Disclaimer: I did spot Jim’s blog in my referrer logs, and he sent me a nice note introducing himself. Particularly since English is not his first language, he’s asking for tips to make his blog better. So be nice. 🙂 I have to admit that I don’t fully “get it”. I don’t see the patterns that he’s seeing, and I’m not sure I always understand the rules he’s applying. But then, I’ve never had much of an eye for that sort of thing. Maybe there are some folks out in my audience who’d like to get some conversation going over there where we can help Jim make his case?