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.

It’s Going To Be A Good Year

~ duane ~ Leave a comment

Longtime readers of the blog will know that we’ve been waiting literally for years for my kids to start learning Shakespeare in school. Middle school was a big bust, with one teacher in the eighth grade who dragged his feet during Romeo and Juliet to the point where my oldest never even finished it, and when her younger sister later had the same teacher, he didn’t even try, he just showed the movie.

My oldest is in high school now and taking a class called Monsters in British Literature, where they’ll be reading The Tempest.  My favorite. The one I used to tell them as a bedtime story.  Plus, bonus? The same teacher does the second semester Shakespeare in Modern Film class, also known as the one where I get Bardfilm to do my kid’s homework.

Well tonight was open house where we got to meet the teachers.  Look what greeted me in Monsters and British Lit?

Oh, yeah.  We’re gonna have a good time with this class.

The class will cover Beowulf and Frankenstein as well as Caliban. The teacher made it a point to mention that she’d recently seen The Tempest at the Globe, and how she just loves being “the Shakespeare teacher.”

I introduced myself briefly – “My daughter’s been raised on Shakespeare. I read The Tempest to them as a bed time story. I think we’re gonna love this class.” I knew I could have talked her ear off.  I had pictures of my kids in the Folger vault loaded up and ready to go on my phone. I showed great discipline, I want everybody to know!

I hope to have very many exciting stories in the upcoming year.  It’s been a long time coming! A fine fine day indeed.

 

 

Shakespeare Crossword Clue, Macbeth, 4 Letters

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Crossword Puzzle
If you’re going to refer to Shakespeare in the clue, it’s only reasonable to expect that the answer will be something Shakespeare-specific. I feel cheated.

Coworker:  “Shakespeare was clue in my crossword this morning.”

I love a good Shakespeare crossword clue. I love it when Shakespeare is the Jeopardy category. It’s a chance to test my knowledge on the fly. I love the ones that I don’t know the answer to, because it means I get to go seek out and learn something new about my favorite subject. In this case, though, I thought I could predict the future.

Me:  “I die.”

Coworker:  “What?”

Me: “Sorry. Was it Romeo’s last words? Because I know that one.”

The New York Times put this clue in a puzzle once and put this blog on the map. I woke up one morning to see that literally tens of thousands of people had hit my site. It was just a coincidence that I had a page up titled “Romeo’s Last Words,” and google had caught it. So when thousands of NY Times crossword solvers suddenly searched “Romeo’s last words”, there I was. It comes back around again every few years, too. I can tell by the spike my traffic.

Coworker:  “No.  It was, ‘the witches in Macbeth‘.”

Oh, well. But like I said, I like when I don’t know the answer, I get to make more guesses. I had a sudden epiphany. I thought I for sure had this one.

Me:  “Wyrd.”

Coworker:  “Nope.”

Drat. I admitted I was stumped.  What else could you say that was specific to Macbeth’s witches in only four letters? Toil? Fire? Burn? Rain?

Coworker:  “They wanted ‘trio’.”

Me:  “Well that’s just … that’s annoying.  There’s nothing Shakespeare about that answer.”

Coworker:  “I know, but sometimes they’re like that.  Don’t feel bad, I had the t and the o and I still didn’t get it.”

Michael Fassbender’s Macbeth obviously threw me off because that one had four witches.  🙂

Free Audiobooks From The Master of Verona

~ duane ~ 9 Comments

We can say we knew him when.  Author David Blixt has been around and commenting on Shakespeare Geek almost since its inception (I found this post from April 2008 to give you an idea).  That’s a review of The Master of Verona, book one of his Star-Cross’d series.

And now he’s giving away 10 copies of the audiobook version to Shakespeare Geek readers!

Cangrande della Scala is everything a man should be. Daring. Ambitious. Charming. Brilliant. Ruthless. To the poet Dante – indeed, to the world – Cangrande is the ideal Renaissance prince.

Until Dante’s son discovers a secret that could be Cangrande’s undoing.

Suddenly thrust into the schemes and betrayals surrounding Verona’s prince, Pietro Alighieri must navigate a rivalry that severs a friendship, divides a city, and sparks a feud that will produce Shakespeare’s famous star–crossed lovers, Romeo & Juliet!
 
Based on the plays of William Shakespeare and the poetry of Dante, THE MASTER OF VERONA is a sweeping novel of Renaissance Italy. Filled with swashbuckling adventure, unrequited love, and brutal treachery, this epic journey recalls the best of Bernard Cornwell, Sharon Kay Penman, and Dorothy Dunnett.

We’re going simple with this one – just comment below if you want one! First come first served.  Make sure you give the site a valid email address so we can email you back!

BONUS!  If audiobooks aren’t your thing, the Kindle edition will be available for FREE on September 26th!

Everybody say it with me now, “Thank you, David!”

 

 

 

Shakespeare Beer Continued : The Tempest

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Yesterday I told you about the joys of the Shakespeare beer known as ShakesBeer and how I came to discover it. I’ve already discussed their New England IPA known as “Act One”.

Today let’s talk about their “Imperial IPA”, The Tempest. It would have been awesome if they’d kept the “Act” thing going but there’s an obvious hard limit there so I can see why they couldn’t do that.

I love the branding on this one.  It’s no secret that The Tempest is my favorite play, and I’m happy to see its image on the shelf.  If I could get my hands on the cans themselves (without the contents) I’d add them to my collection of Shakespeare stuff.  I suppose I could just wash out an empty but I’d feel like I’m back in college building a tower of empties if I did that.

This one is noticeably darker than the Act One, but I suppose maybe not so noticeably because my wife claimed she could not see the difference until I put the two side by side.

A juicy New England Style IPA featuring six different hop varieties and a more robust 7.7% ABV.

I could definitely see and taste a big difference. The flavor is much stronger and richer here, and that 7.7% ABV is nothing to slouch at.  Let’s put it this way, I had the Act One at a leisurely pace on a Sunday afternoon while I watched football. I had The Tempest after dinner on a weekday when I had to go pick up my kid from dance in an hour.  Totally felt it, could not have had two.

I think both of these are going to make nice fall selections. As I’ve gotten older I still enjoy a beer, but I’m not the type to just keep pounding them back. So flavor is a big deal, but so is not getting buzzed – I’m getting too old for that nonsense, the kids need homework help.  For both of these I’m happy to have one, maybe two, depending, and that’s just right for me.

It looks like they have a third option, A Midsummer Night’s Ale, but since it’s listed as a summer brew I’m going to assume that I missed the seasonal window and will have to wait until next year.

Hey ShakesBeer people, are you out there?  I think we’d all like to see “A Winter’s Ale” as your next offering!

 

 

 

Titus Andronicus : The Sequel (No, Seriously!)

~ duane ~ 1 Comment

We’ve often joked about which Shakespeare plays provide the best take-off point for a sequel.  There’s even a movie called Hamlet 2  which had some interesting ideas, when they got to the actual Shakespeare (think time machine … and sexy, rocking Jesus).

But what about Titus Andronicus?  Room for a sequel there?  A whole bunch of Tony Award winners think so.  Nathan Lane and Andrea Martin are set to headline Taylor Mac’s Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus this spring:

The play takes place just after the conclusion of William Shakespeare’s first tragedy, Titus Andronicus. Set during the fall of the Roman Empire, the years of bloody battles are over, the civil war has ended, and the country has been stolen by madmen. There are casualties everywhere and two very lowly servants (played by Lane and Martin) are charged with cleaning up the bodies.

It already makes me think it’s taking a cue from “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.”  Which is suitably ironic, because I can’t wait for the first people to make the connection that Nathan Lane played the voice for Pumbaa in Lion King, which is supposed to be Disney’s animated Hamlet, where they represent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, so in a way, Lane has already played the role!

Oh I will kill you.