Here’s a question that’s maybe better for the philosophy blogs, but I heard this phrase – “in praise of melancholy” – the other day, and it made me think of King Lear. Now, nobody will say King Lear is a happy play.  Words thrown around tend to be more like “gutwrenching” and “agonizing”.  It is also heralded widely as one of greatest pieces of literature in the English language. Nobody sees King Lear and comes out of it saying “Well, that was fun.”  But here’s my question – does it make you happy?  Do you, at some deep level, feel better about…things?  I’m not talking about the entertainment of seeing a good production.  I’m talking about watching the story of King Lear play out on the stage as if you were watching the lives of real people. I’m trying to think of the best way to explain it.  I think it’s similar to when people say they enjoy a good cry, or enjoy scaring themselves near to death.  There is value in expanding the range of how you experience life – both the highs and the lows.  Another analogy that comes to mind is going to the gym and waking up the next morning in pain.  The pain is really only at one level, and though it certainly hurts, your brain is able to go a level beyond and say, “Yes, but that’s good for me, I’m happy that I got the workout because it will ultimately improve my quality of life.” Know what I’m talking about?  Who can say it better than I’m doing here?

http://pixton.com/comics/tagged-with/shakespeare After learning about a high school group that won an award for their work with creating a comic The Tempest I decided to check out Pixton, the comic creator.  I’m quite pleased with all the Shakespeare I found. True, it’s not like most of these will be winning awards anytime soon.  But that’s not really the point.  If there are classrooms out there where the project is to create a comic book out of a Shakespeare play, and that helps the kids actually follow along with character and plot, I’m all for it.  I guess I’d just hope that if all you’re aiming for is character and plot that elementary school kids could do this.  If you’re talking about high school kids then I’d like a little bit more understanding than just “Brutus kills Caesar because that’s what it says he does.”

http://www.wirenh.com/Stage/Stage_-_general/Shakespeare_enters_the_21st_century_200906103633.html This one caught my eye for a number of reasons: * It’s relatively local (Maine) so I have a shot at getting to see one of their productions. * One of Shakespeare’s few historically factual plays, “Caesar” is based on the Roman leader’s assassination by his Senate.   (Is that true?  I suppose ‘factual’ is what makes the point, there.) * “This play may be the single most brilliantly executed and relevant performance I’ve seen in the last six years.”   The reviewer seems a little too pre-occupied with the political climate for me.  Both Brutus and Portia are played by women, which is fine, but the fact that nobody added any lesbian references, showing that it is “just a marriage”, is somehow a “poke at the topical issue” of gay marriage?  No, no more so than making Caesar also a woman is somehow necessarily a Hillary Clinton reference.

http://artofmanliness.com/2009/06/09/30-days-to-a-better-man-day-10-memorize-if/ Funny, I just scanned this article and said, ‘Ok, I get the idea.’ Then, something I’ve never done before, I searched my non-Shakespeare feeds for Shakespeare references, and there it was again.  So, I read closer.

The West’s most famous wordsmith, William Shakespeare, gained his education by memorizing the epic poetry of the classical world. Through this practice, the Bard developed an ear for the sophisticated rhythms and patterns of language, helping him churn out some of civilization’s most cherished pieces of literature. Moreover, by memorizing the myths and stories of the ancient world, Shakespeare had a fountain of creative resources to draw upon as he wrote his plays. Almost the entirety of Abraham Lincoln’s education was self-directed. Lacking formal schooling, he consumed books with an insatiable desire, reading snatches of them whenever he could. He also committed to memory numerous passages from his favorite books. It enabled him to learn the musicality present in great writing. It’s no coincidence that the mind that produced the Gettysburg Address had at its immediate disposable snippets from the world’s finest authors.

Bonus for the implied Lincoln/Shakespeare connection :).

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/theater/s_628811.html Linked because I dig the name of their company (“Unseam’d Shakespeare” – dancing on a dangerous line naming your theatre group with a line from the Scottish play!) as well as the name of the play, Macbeth 3. Not even 2? Where was 2? It’s a typical theatre review, but I did find this piece ironic enough that it reads like an Onion article:

To emphasize the play’s universal and eternal themes, director and fight coordinator Michael Hood chooses a timeless setting not tied to any geographical or ethnic location.

Now, see, there’s an original idea. :)  [Note to the author of the article, you just wasted 26 words – it would have been more original, ala the Onion, to actually set Macbeth in the time and space Shakespeare intended.  Unless you knew that and were deliberately padding to reach your word count in which case brilliant!]