I had fun celebrating Shakespeare holidays this year.  Somehow Shakespeare’s birthday (April 23) got turned into “Shakespeare Day” in general, complete with Talk Like Shakespeare in Chicago.  And yesterday, the 400th anniversary of the publication of the sonnets, I declared Sonnet Day, and had a number of people forward it along saying “I didn’t realize today was Sonnet Day!” I’ll have to remember next year to crank out some greeting cards.   What other good Shakespeare holidays can we come up with? I suppose March 15 (The Ides of March) is an obvious one, but a) people associate that more with Julius Caesar than with Shakespeare and b) it doesn’t exactly represent a happy day, now does it? Crispin’s Day?  That’s a good one, although I suppose technically it’s already a holiday. Is it known what day Shakespeare got married?  We could celebrate his anniversary.  I see November 27, 1582 as the date of the marriage license. Also noticing that their first child Susanna was born on May 26, that’s coming up next week.  Hard to make a case for her getting her own holiday, though :).   What else?

http://www.shakespeareteacher.com/blog/archives/1438 I have nothing but respect (and envy!) for Shakespeare Teacher’s ability to pull out such creative wonders as this summation of “The Best of the Bard”:

A witches’ brew. A fiery shrew. A knavish sprite. A portly knight. A maid’s disguise. A Jew’s suprise. A bastard’s plan. Each age of man. A paper crown. A motley clown. A nightmare haunt. This John of Gaunt. A guarded door. A jealous Moor. A castaway. St. Crispin’s Day.

A eulogy. A balcony.

The death of kings.

And other things…

I’m a bit stuck on “nightmare haunt”, though…

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-sonnets.htm We may have gone a little wild last month in celebration of Shakespeare’s 445th birthday, but how about a little love for today, the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Sonnets? The Sonnets of the Bard appeared, without his permission, in 1609 and advertised as "never before imprinted". The publisher, although reputable, clearly wanted to make use of the celebrity of Shakespeare who by 1609 was a famous member of the Globe Theatre and could count royalty amongst his patrons. The 1609 quarto, entitled Shake speares Sonnets, was published by Thomas Thorpe, printed by George Eld, and sold by William Aspley and William Wright. On May 20, 1609, Thomas Thorpe was granted a license to publish "a Booke called Shakespeare’s sonnettes" as this entry in the Stationer’s Register attests: "Thomas Thorpe Entred for his copie vnder thandes of master Wilson and master Lownes Warden a Booke called Shakespeares sonnettes". The publisher clearly went through the correct procedures prior to publication, so despite Shakespeare’s reticence in publishing any of his works, there were apparently no irregularities by the publisher. Sonnets 138 and 144, despite the "never before imprinted" claim, had been included, albeit in a slightly different format, in The Passionate Pilgrime (1599) a poetry collection containing twenty poems by various poets. The title page to the second edition contains the inscription "By W. Shakespeare" but only five of the poems appear to be his. Once again these appear to have been published without the consent of Shake-speare. Show the sonnets some love, people.  Recite a sonnet today.

Good for us, Shakespeare never goes out of style.  As summer rapidly approaches, what special event in the Shakespeare world has got you excited?  Your local Shakespeare in the Park?  A new movie coming out, a DVD release? I’ve always loved our local Shakespeare on Boston Common, put on by Commonwealth Shakespeare.  This year is especially important as Citibank dumped them (good, they never appreciated what they had!) and now the founders are going it on their own.  So I’m looking forward to getting to the show – Comedy of Errors – and showing my support. I saw a story today (that made me think of this post) that they’re doing a Coriolanus movie, but I have to say I’m not that interested.  However, Julie Taymor’s Tempest will definitely put my butt in the seat. Last year we saw a great Tempest for the kids down on Cape Cod, and I’m hoping to find another “for kids” show this season to make a family event of.  Maybe Dream, but surprisingly my oldest (not yet 7) has spotted Winter’s Tale in her book and wants to know more about that one. What else?

So last night I got invited out to New York City to see Hudson Valley Shakespeare rehearsals.  I greatly appreciate the invitation and the recognition, but I do not lead the kind of life that lends itself to spontaneous weekend trips to a different state. Fair enough – somebody asked me if I’d been out to Western Massachusetts to see Shakespeare and Company.  And, well…no. I have, however, driven (with just wife, not kids) over 2 hours up into Vermont I think it was to see my first live King Lear performance.  And last summer we made a family trip – one night only! – to see a special children’s version of The Tempest on Cape Cod(*).  Other than that I think the farthest we went was our trip to see the Rebels in Salem (Salem, was it?) which is surprisingly close to an hour drive, I had no idea it was that long. Personally, I’d happily become the sort of guy who takes a quick trip out to the Berkshires or to New York City to catch a show, if I were a single man.  But family obligations do count for something, and for any Shakespeare I do have to ask myself whether the whole family can make it, or if not the kids then at least the wife, otherwise that trip isn’t even business, it’s Daddy going off on vacation by himself, and that’s not really cool.   So, since I haven’t written much this week, I thought that might make an interesting topic for discussion.  How far are you willing to travel for your Shakespeare?  What variables factor into the decision?  Would you plan a vacation around a show?  Would you plan a vacation *specifically for* a show?  Would you get on a train, or a plane? Would you could you with a goat?  Or do you not?  Do you content yourself with whatever show rolls through town?   (*) By the way that summer trip last year was so well received by everybody that my wife has even said she’d be open to doing another one this summer.  Alas, that troupe is not performing this season.  So if anybody knows a good kid-friendly production happening this summer in the New England area, I’m all ears!