http://www.romeopublishing.com/ Ok, the Scientologist comment is my own. But in this “sequel” to Shakespeare’s most popular play, Romeo dies for Juliet…and then awakens “on a volcano in Hawaii.” Volcanos in Hawaii play a role in the Scientology creation story, you see. Anyway, the story we’re talking about is a “time-travel romance” where Romeo crosses paths with a reincarnated Juliet on the chatboards. The search is then on as Romeo tries to reunite with his lost love. Sounds…different. If I found it as an ebook I may grab it, that’s the only real way I read anything these days (not counting audiobooks). Apparently there’s some “kinky cybersex” in there as well which might turn some folks off, but I’ve been around the net long enough to shrug that off. The press release, by the way, makes one comment I don’t agree with. The author says that he “wanted to place significant social barriers between them, as it was in Verona.” The only thing keeping them apart was the feud between their families, which is not what I would call a “social barrier”. Wasn’t that the whole point of “Two houses, both alike in dignity”? Society in general, the townspeople who kept having their nights disturbed, thought the whole thing a big annoyance.
Category: Shakespeare Plays
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as one of the most influential playwrights in history, and his plays have been performed and studied for centuries. From the timeless tragedy of Romeo and Juliet to the hilarious antics of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s plays continue to captivate audiences around the world. Whether you’re a fan of tragedy, comedy, or romance, there’s a Shakespeare play for everyone. So why not revisit these timeless classics and discover the magic of Shakespeare for yourself?
Browse the entire text of Shakespeare’s plays right here on Shakespeare Geek.
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.
King Lear : Lebanon, NH
So today, Kerry and I drove 100 miles (each way!) to go see a performance of King Lear.
I’d never seen an actual production of the play – I’ve certainly read it and read about it, and in college, I had a movie version that I honestly can’t remember watching through to completion. But to repeat a phrase I found myself saying to friends and coworkers for the past month, “But it’s King Lear for God’s sake!” How could I miss that?
Having never seen a production before, I have no frame of reference to really explain what I saw. The King was portrayed as very….frail? Downright skeletal, really. A very gaunt old man. Trembled quite badly. I’m not sure that’s what I expected. I thought that there would be flashes of a true king (particularly when he was angry), but really, he was pretty much a very old and weak man from the very first scene. When he did get angry, it was more or less “indignant”, if that makes sense.
Let me put it as a question. The famous quote, “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!”…how is it typically portrayed? I always thought such a line would be strong, forceful, and defiant. What I got was….well, bargaining. “Go ahead and blow, wind. Nice wind.” That sort of thing. I was much more impressed with the acting of Gloucester, Burgundy, Kent, and Edgar. Those four, in particular, were not afraid to put a little energy (and volume!) into their performance. You knew when they were angry or sad. The actor doing Edgar, I thought, did a particularly fine job of conveying emotion via facial expressions.
At over 3 hours, it was longer than I expected, but maybe that’s my fault. I think the audience was a little desperate for a laugh – during the very final scene when Edgar announces that Edmund is dead and Burgundy says, “That is a mere trifle to us now” (or something similar to that), that was actually one of the bigger laughs of the night. During the final scene of a great Shakespearean tragedy. Hmmmm. I was trying to listen closely to Lear’s last words. Nobody was making much of an effort to project to the back row, so when he whispered, you practically had to read his lips. I was watching for references to a feather but heard none. I did hear “Look on her, look, her lips, look there!” and I could swear one of the lines was “Her lips move”, but that’s not in my copy of the script so I’m not sure if I heard it wrong.
Somebody tell me – does Lear die thinking that Cordelia is still alive, or merely wishing that she were? Or is that dependent on how the last line is played? I know that Rosenbaum had much to say on the different versions, but I don’t have the time right now to dig through that audio interview to find the actual comments (and my book is not at hand). All in all I’m glad I saw the play, because now I have a baseline from which to look at other Lears.
Can You Be 42 and Play Romeo?
http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/performing_arts/story/151113.html I like this article for not just commenting on the respective ages of Romeo (around 17) and Juliet (13) and how you have to cast those roles relative to the actors’ ages, but for going into a pretty cool history about how other famous actors have played the roles. Basil Rathbone? 42 when he played Romeo. Orson Welles was a 19yr old Tybalt, which the article comments “must have looked a little out of place.” Norma Shearer was a 34yr old Juliet, alongside John Barrymore’s 54yr old Mercutio. But who’s the goofball quoted near the end who says that some people might call Romeo and Juliet one of the “lesser” plays? It’s no King Lear, but it’s no Timon of Athens, either, people.