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.

Actors’ Shakespeare Project Launches 10th Season with Romeo and Juliet

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Actors’ Shakespeare Project Launches 10th Season

Romeo & Juliet  by William Shakespeare at Dorchester’s Historic  Strand Theatre
October 2 – November 3, 2013 
Actors’ Shakespeare Project (ASP) will open its 10th Anniversary Season with a new production of Shakespeare’s universal and timeless love story Romeo & Juliet October 2 – November 3, 2013 (press performance October 5 at 8pm) at The Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road in Dorchester.  Co-directed by ASP Resident Acting Company member Bobbie Steinbach and ASP Artistic Director Allyn Burrows, Romeo & Juliet will focus on fate of the two young lovers as it rests on the dramatic intersection of intransigence, revenge, and the clash of generations.
Continuing its partnership with the City of Boston and The Strand Theatre, ASP will be using the main orchestra for audience seating and adding 80 seats on the stage to immerse those audience members in the flow, poetry and action of this piece.  According to Burrows, “The audience will also represent those who witness tragic events like these on an ongoing basis . . . the never-ending cycle”. 
The Romeo & Juliet cast features Julie Ann Earls (Juliet), Jason Bowen* (Romeo), Ken Baltin (Capulet), Paige Clark (Benvolio), Miranda Craigwell (Lady Capulet), Paula Langton* (Nurse), Antonio Ocampo-Guzman (Friar Lawrence), Omar Robinson (Tybalt), Ben Rosenblatt (Paris/Prince) and Maurice Emmanuel Parent*(Mercutio/Apothecary). *ASP company member
The creative team includes Bobbie Steinbach (Co-director), Allyn Burrows (Co-director), Janie E. Howland (Scenic Designer), Jen Rock (Lighting Designer) Kathleen Doyle (Costume & Mask Designer), Susan Dibble (Choreographer), Arshan Gailus (Sound Designer), Trevor Olds (Violence Designer), Annie Thompson (Vocal Coach), Cassie M. Seinuk (Stage Manager), and Erin Baglole (Assistant Stage Manager). 
Performances are Wednesday October 2 at 7:30pm, Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 3pm & 8pm (no matinee October 5) and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $15 (student rush) – $50 and available at http://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org.  Student matinees are at 10am on select days. Please visit www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/group-sales for discounted prices and calendar.  Post peformance talkbacks are held following all student and Sunday matinees. 
Direct link to OvationTix https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/926734 or call 866-811-4111. 

“Now, Do The Eye Business.” – Peter Brook Directs King Lear

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How am I the last to know that ORSON WELLES DID A KING LEAR DIRECTED BY PETER BROOK, AND IT’S AVAILABLE ON VIDEO???  Why does nobody tell me these things?

The subject line comes from the behind the scenes look provided by the trailer, courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes.  They act out the obvious scene with the eye business, so Orson Welles himself is not present.

Absolutely fascinating to me; I didn’t know this existed.  Immediately goes onto my must-watch list.

Let’s Talk Cymbeline

~ duane ~ 10 Comments

[So, how was everybody’s summer? Sorry I haven’t been posting as much as I used to, many projects have pulled me in many directions that are not Shakespearean.  I shall try to return to a better pace now that the kids are back in school.]


Who’s excited about the new Cymbeline movie?  It’s getting primarily billed as Ethan Hawke’s project, and I know that when we hear Ethan Hawke we think Hamlet(2000), a movie I still haven’t been able to sit through.   But it appears young Mr. Hawke is quite the up and coming Shakespearean – not only did he tackle Macbeth, he documented his research for PBS’s Shakespeare Uncovered series.  And now Cymbeline.  Maybe he’s just doing it backwards?  Maybe he should have worked his way up to Hamlet? 🙂
Now let’s look at the supporting cast.  Ed Harris!  I love him in just the right supporting role.  Apollo 13 (“We’ve never lost an American in space, we’re sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch! Failure is not an option.”)? The Truman Show (“Cue the sun.”)? The Rock (“You’ve been asked by an old friend.  You’re being ordered by a superior officer. Now you’re being given your last chance by a man with a gun.”)?  He always gets the best line in the movie, and nails it every time.
And how about John Leguizamo?  He’s got some Shakespeare under his belt, having playing Tybalt to Leo DiCaprio’s Romeo.  Whether you liked that movie or not, I think most people will agree that Leguizamo can bring the villain out whenever he needs to.
The funny thing is I know nothing about Cymbeline.  I know there’s a king, but that king is Ed Harris and is a relatively minor role.  So, rather than have me look it up on Wikipedia or Sparknotes, how about somebody tells us the story?  I’ll ask the same questions I skim for whenever I’m about to watch a play for the first time:
  • High level plot overview.  Everybody needs some plot.
  • Famous quotes or moments the play is known for?  I learned the importance of this when I saw As You Like It in the park.  The crowd was all noisy and buzzing, like crowds are, until Jaques boomed, “All the world’s a stage…” and it was like you could hear a pin drop.  As if the entire crowd in unison said, “Oh hey, I recognize that!” and started listening.
  • Important scenes / subject to interpretation that will make for interesting “Why did they do it that way?” discussion afterward.  Every production of every Shakespeare play is different, and that’s why we love them.  Once you’re an expert in any given play you can pick out every last detail – but when you’re seeing it for the first time you’re not going to have much to compare it against.  So we pick some scenes to stick in our memory.  For instance I once saw  a King Lear who actually bargained with the storm in his big scene, if you can believe it. I’ll never forget him cowering from the thunder while he gave his big speech as if he was complimenting nature on how big and powerful she was.
So who knows their Cymbeline?

Do You Recommend Shakespeare Movies?

~ duane ~ 2 Comments

Yesterday my boss told me that he’d watched the ending of Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus with his wife the previous night.  Apparently it was on one of the movie channels, or they were channel surfing or something, but the general gist was that he only saw the ending.

He then asked me whether he should take the time to watch the whole thing.

It’s a trickier question than you might first think.  I am careful in my Shakespeare recommendations.  I do not blindly say “ABSOLUTELY YES ALL MUST SEE ALL PLAYS AT ALL OPPORTUNITIES.”  On the contrary, I’m well aware that to the unitiated, sitting through a Shakespeare play can be a chore.

Here’s what I told him, first about Coriolanus and then about Shakespeare recommendations in general:

“Keep in mind that the ending is different from the source text, and this upset some people greatly.  If you don’t know the text that may not matter, but keep in mind that your expectations are now set for the movie, not for what Shakespeare wrote.  Having said that, I think the ending is the best part.  I love the way Coriolanus stands up to Aufidius at the end and hurls his ‘Boy!’ back in his face in legendary fashion.

“Whether you should watch the whole thing? That’s different.  See, I watch them to see different interpretations of my knowledge of the text.  I mean, I don’t know the text inside and out, but I do know enough to compare one version to another and the focus in on why they are different.  I have my scenes that I look for and pay close attention to.  Without that? For the casual movie goer who has no knowledge of the text?  Then I’m not really sure I recommend sitting through it. I think it will be difficult to follow.”

Is that sacrilege?  Even now writing it I feel bad, like I should go seek out the boss and say “I changed my mind.”

Note a couple things.  I’m not talking about live theatre.  I think the experience of live Shakespeare is a must see and I always recommend going.  But we’re talking about movies here, and I think that sitting on your couch with a remote control sitting through two hours of special effects and soundtrack and camera cuts is a different beast.

Second, I would not say the same about Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet.  I think that both those places are so deeply ingrained in popular culture that even if you’ve never read them, you’ve got a significant head start on what’s going on.  But Coriolanus?  That’s a different story.  If somebody hasn’t explained it to you up front (or, even better, while you’re watching it), I think it’s a harder sell.

Thoughts?  Somebody with no knowledge of play X asks whether he should watch a movie of play X.  What do you say?

The earth has music for those who listen.

~ duane ~ 9 Comments

Also “The earth has music for those who will listen,” “The earth has its music for those who listen,” and so on.

This one is easily mistaken as Shakespeare because the words remind us of “If music be the food of love play on” while the sentiment closely echoes Caliban’s “Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.”


However, this one is George Santayana:

“The earth has its music for those who will listen,
Its bright variations forever abound;
With all the wonders that God has bequeathed us,
There is nothing that thrills like the magic of sound.”

Thanks to “That’s Not Shakespeare,” who looks to be as upset about misattributed Shakespeare as I am 🙂

UPDATED September 8, 2014: I was asked to provide a citation that this is Santayana. And you know what? I can’t. It’s quite possible that this quote has fallen victim to that same logic that gets us so many “Not by Shakespeare” quotes, where you find a couple of blogs saying something so it must be true.  I can’t speak for the entirety of Santayana’s work but I can safely say that it’s definitely not in Shakespeare’s work. If anybody can cite exactly where it occurs, we’d all be very grateful!

UPDATED August 2018:  Several commenters below point us to Reginald Holmes in his collection “Fireside Fancies”.  Have we finally solved it??

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