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.
Romeo And Juliet … As A Management Exercise?
http://www.management-issues.com/2007/6/26/opinion/romeo-and-juliet.asp Here’s an interesting spin. With the challenge of taking a Shakespeare play and exploring what it says about “business life today”, the author and his team of eight read the play (with obligatory complaining about the language), see the play, divide up the characters and then brainstorm about lessons they can learn about the drinking industry. I’ll give you a hint, it has lots to do with communication. Interesting reading.
Lady Macbeth's Suicide Note
Master of Verona has an intriguing article that asks whether part of the famous “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…” scene is actually Lady Macbeth’s suicide note. Pretty neat idea. I love, as he says, the idea of “flouting the audience’s expectations…even more, when I can do so by returning to the text.” So he doesn’t just throw out a “Hey, what if we did it this way?” he actually backs it up with textual evidence for why he thinks it’s a valid idea.
Got thoughts on Lady Macbeth and need a place to put them? Check out our series, My Own Personal Shakespeare: Macbeth Edition, available now on Amazon! Explore Macbeth at your own pace and on your own terms, and document your personal experience with the Scottish Play.
Borrowers And Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation
http://lachesis.english.uga.edu/cocoon/borrowers/current_index I found this link via Bardolatry far more interesting once I realized that I’m in it. Be sure to check out the link to Erin Presley’s “Ol’ Billy Shakes: Shakespeare In The Blogosphere” article for numerous references to myself and all our friends from the blogosphere, including Bardolatry, Shakesper Random, and others. I would like to know, though, what she means by “although more interested in discussion than practical feedback”. That doesn’t sound fair. Not sure what practical feedback I wouldn’t be interested in.
The TV Guide Shakespeare
Found via Shaking the Shakespeare Blues is this TV Viewer’s Guide To Shakespeare, where the plays are all wrapped up in one or two sentence fragments each. Some of the better ones:
HAMLET. Displeased by mother’s second marriage, prince becomes addicted to soliloquies. Origin of a Broadway malady. KING LEAR. Father gives heritage to children before his death and lives to regret it. What else? ANTONY and CLEOPATRA. Cleo meets snake and gets stung. She asped for it. THE WINTER’S TALE. Estranged wife returns disguised as statue. Reconciliation the hard way. JULIUS CAESAR. Marc Antony rises to power on borrowed ears. Eerie.
Did I mention how much I enjoy a good pun? 🙂