Shakespeare makes life better.
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?
Here’s a different spin on the Hamlet story – Hamlet (and his female pal Veronica Horatio) as modern-day ghost hunters.
It’s brand new so I’m not sure where it’s going to go, but I wanted to give a boost to some obvious Shakespeare geeks who are trying to do something a bit out of the ordinary. Check it out, and subscribe so you can see how future episodes turn out!
Several years ago, kj (of Bardfilm fame) happened upon a haiku competition. The competition required joining Twitter, and Bardfilm’s first tweet (which won second prize) was a haiku containing the entirety of Hamlet. Since then, kj has periodically added to his collection of Shakespearean haiku—until he created this astonishing set of poems. Let the world take note: The Complete Works of Shakespeare. (Haiku by Bardfilm).
Our thanks for this guest post to kj, the author of Bardfilm. Bardfilm is a blog that comments on films, plays, and other matters related to Shakespeare.
I would kill to see Cake Boss do an episode like this – a cake full of Shakespeare’s most famous characters.
Of course, much like Cake Boss, making something out of cake technically means making it out of chocolate, sugar, rice krispy treats and then sitting the sculptures on top of said cake. But, still!
Here’s your challenge, Shakespeare geeks! The opening picture in the article shows the entire cake. Then, each character is explained. So before you scroll down to read the whole article, see how many characters you recognize.
I just love that somebody’s pursued by a bear. I want to meet whoever made this cake.
UPDATE : It appears that Romeo is being pursued by a bear? Although in fairness it could be a kangaroo. Also, who is the snowman looking royal dude on the lower level supposed to be, Hamlet’s father’s ghost? The rest seem pretty recognizable. Note the arras with the blade sticking out of it.
Looks like somebody’s been reading this blog? Last month I wrote about “Choose Your Own Shakespeare” novelizations, and on November 21 we got To Be Or Not To Be : The Adventure which is exactly that.
I don’t know how I feel when I see a project like this net $150k on Kickstarter. Really? It drives me a little nuts. I’ve spoken to publishers about doing Shakespeare work and basically been told “Until you have 50k readers or a piece in the NY Times, your book isn’t going to sell.” Somehow this project pulls in 4k backers and makes it happen?
Just jealous, I guess. 🙂 I do like and support the fact that he’s publishing through the non-profit service Breadpig, and donating all the proceeds to cancer research. I have to back that. Good man.
I think you all know how I feel about that. I have, on the fly, retold the tale of King Lear to my 5year old son – at his request. I will never forget this moment:
Well, her father the king was not happy with this answer at all. He got so mad that he said she would not have any share of the kingdom, and he banished her.
…at this point a choked little voice asks me, “But did he still love her?” And I am caught so by surprise that I don’t quite know what to do with myself. My little guy has been hanging on every word, and he’s an emphathetic little bugger.
“Oh, he absolutely still loved her,” I told him, “He was just really really mad because he thought she was saying that she didn’t love him. He didn’t understand her answer. Are you sad?”
He nods, unable to get any words out.
I squeeze him a bit tighter and remind him that this story has a happy ending, remember? “We’re going to find out that she loved him most of all.”
The fact that I know that that’s only half true? That she did love him most of all, but that the story doesn’t have a happy ending? I’m lucky I didn’t get choked up like he did trying to pretend like it all works out.
I have always believed that you can expose children to elements of Shakespeare, literally, from birth. Go ahead and name their stuffed animals Romeo and Juliet, or Beatrice and Benedick. Throw around random quotes when you can. Bring up plot points. It will be a long long time before they “get” Shakespeare in an academic sense. It’ll also be a long long time before they understand physics and gravity and parabolic arcs, but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn how to catch a ball.