I’ve noticed that one of the more popular Shakespeare queries that I see is for Shakespeare games. In particular, Romeo and Juliet games. This morning I found one. Shakespeare4Kidz has a games section that combines a flash “shoot out” with a standard quiz about the play — answer a question right to get the chance to kick a ball past the goalie. For some bizarre reason you can customize the goalie, and choices include Ghandhi, Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Queen Victoria, and Karl Marx.

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Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech is an interesting discussion point for Romeo and Juliet. Technically, as last as far as the plot goes, you can skip it altogether. It goes more toward character development. When I was in school we had lengthy discussions about what the speech tells us about Mercutio. I know one high school teacher of Romeo and Juliet who simply skips it.

I noticed this blog entry about Queen Mab, which includes link to an audio of the spoken word, the speech transcript itself, and some commentary. It’s short, but it’s nice to see a whole post about just Queen Mab.

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Y.P.R.: The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Told Entirely in Emoticons

I think that basically sums it up. 🙂

“Romeo and Juliet”: The Quiz:

About.com’s got a new quiz up. I got 8 out of 10. I always falter when they start asking questions beyond the context of the play itself, like who wrote the ballet entitled Romeo and Juliet. (Yes that’s a question but no I’m not giving you the answer :))

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In my morning’s browsing I found this excellent (and positive!) review of Luhrmann’s famous Romeo and Juliet. Perhaps I should say “infamous” as there are plenty of purists out there that would take the Zeffirelli version over this one anyday. This reviewer, however, reminds us just how good a movie this is (as opposed to how exact an interpretation) by pointing out the homage to classic spaghetti Westerns, John Woo, and Shakespeare’s other works scattered throughout the movie (“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Hot Dogs”?)

I’ve always been a believer that whatever it takes to make Shakespeare accessible to the masses — without sacrificing the original! — is worth encouraging. If Leonardo DiCaprio screaming his lines at John Leguizamo is what it takes, then so be it. At least they’re not rapping.

This review makes me want to watch it again. What more can you ask from a review?

Tags: Shakespeare