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.

Hamlet is down!

~ duane ~ 4 Comments

It’s happened again — this time it was all fun and games over in Ireland until Hamlet almost lost an eye. I’m assuming that this is a freak accident that would have happened with any stage weapon, and not one of these crazy cases where the director insists on using real weapons. What I’m most curious about, though, is this:

The A.P. said that Mr. Madden sustained a cut beneath his eye and collapsed on stage, requiring the theater company’s artistic director, Alan Stanford, to go to the stage and explain to stunned audience members that this was not part of the play: the actor had been injured, and the play could not continue.

Not “the actor could not continue” – the play could not. Isn’t it common to have some sort of second for your lead, for situations like this? Or does that only apply if the actor is not able to go on at all?
I suppose a third option is that I’m being heartless, and the cast was unable to go on because they were too distraught at the injury to their Hamlet. Though I remember professional wrestler Owen Hart *dying* on a live pay-per-view event, and the show went on.

Shakespeare GeekDad (A Geeklet Story)

~ duane ~ 4 Comments

Why I love what I do:

When putting my 4yr old to bed he informed me that we would be playing “a guessing game.” Normally this is a superhero guessing game, which consists of him saying things like “I’m thinking of a good guy who wears blue and red with an S on his chest,” and I have to guess Superman. Anyway, tonight he says, “A Shakespeare guessing game.”

“Oh, honey, we can’t play that,” I tell him. “You don’t know enough Shakespeare characters. I can tell you a Shakespeare story, though.” I’m thinking I’ll tell him a quick version of Midsummer or something equally 4yr-old-going-to-bed-safe.

So I tuck him into bed, curl up next to him, and ask what story he wants. He tells me, “A story with Hamlet, and Shakespeare…”

“…wait, you want Shakespeare *in* the story?”

“Yes. And… what else characters did Shakespeare write?”

“Well,” I say, realizing now that I’m going to have to improvise, “There was Oberon King of the Fairies, and Puck his faithful assistant.”

“Ok,” he decides, “A story with Hamlet, Shakespeare, Oberon and Puck.”

Oh, wonderful.

“And in the story, Hamlet has to say ‘To be or not to be.’ Twice.”

Great. So, we begin…

“Once upon a time there lived a prince named Hamlet. Hamlet was very sad, moping around the castle all day, because this new king – King Claudius – had taken over the thrown. Hamlet’s dad used to be king, but King Claudius threw him in the dungeon and made himself king. Hamlet was not very happy about this, but you just don’t walk up to a king and say Hey dude, that’s not cool – because if you do that, then he throws you in the dungeon too.

So, Hamlet is out walking the castle grounds trying to decide what do when he bumps into William Shakespeare. “Who art thou?” Hamlet asks.

“I am Shakespeare,” Shakespeare said. “I wrote this story.”

“Well then if thou didst write mine story,” said Hamlet, “Tell me how to get rid of King Claudius and put my dad back on the throne!”

Pulling a pen and paper from his pocket, Shakespeare began to write.

*Poof*

Out of nowhere appeared Oberon, King of the Fairies, and his faithful servant Puck.

“TO BE OR NOT TO BE!” exclaimed Hamlet. “WHO ART THOU?”

“I am Oberon, King of the Fairies,” said Oberon, King of the Fairies. “And this is my faithful assistant, Puck.”

“Dost thou know how to rid my kingdom of evil King Claudius?”

Oberon thought for a moment, then whispered in Puck’s ear.

*ZOOM* In a blink, Puck was gone. Faster than Flash. Almost as fast as Superman.

And, just like that, *ZOOM* he was back again, holding a purple flower.

“TO BE OR NOT TO BE AGAIN!” cried Hamlet, “Where didst thou go so fast?”

Oberon handed the purple flower to Hamlet. “This flower,” said Oberon, “Is quite magical. Have your King Claudius merely smell it, and he will fall into a deep sleep. Once he is sleeping, you can take him far away from the kingdom and restore your father to the throne.”

Taking the flower, Hamlet went back into the castle. He first bumped into his mother, Gertrude. “Hamlet!” she said, opening her arms to hug him, “You look so much happier today! What a beautiful flower, may I smell it?”

“No!” said Hamlet. “I…ummm….got it for King Claudius.”

“That’s very nice of you,” said Hamlet’s mother. “The king is in his office.”

Sure enough, Hamlet found Claudius in his office huddled over his paperwork. “What?” asked Claudius, when he saw Hamlet. Claudius didn’t trust Hamlet very much.

“Brought you a flower!” said Hamlet. “Smell it.”

“Not right now,” said Claudius, “Just leave it on the desk.”

Leaving it on the desk, Hamlet left. Claudius returned to his paperwork. Soon, though, Claudius raised his arms to stretch and take a little break. Spying the flower, he picked it up to smell it.

*THUNK* He fell asleep so hard and so fast that his head smacked right into the paperwork he’d just been working on.

Once they could hear him snoring, Hamlet snuck into Claudius’ office with his friend Horatio. Together they brought Claudius’ sleeping form outside, tossed him over a horse’s back, and set the horse walking on the road out of Denmark. He was never heard from again.

With King Claudius safely out of the picture, Hamlet went down to the dungeon and unlocked his father, who was restored to the throne. And they all lived happily ever after. The end.

Atheism, Afterlife and … Hamlet.

~ duane ~ 3 Comments

Thanks to reader Christopher S for this fascinating video from the Jewish TV Network where top atheism advocates – including Christopher Hitchens – debate the existence of an afterlife with several top rabbis.
At 1:28 (that’s one hour, twenty-eight minutes – it’s a long video), they break out the Hamlet. Which side, exactly, brings up Hamlet? *Both*. That’s cool. They both try to argue that Hamlet supports their case. And apparently, though I don’t have time to find every reference, Chris tells me that “Several times throughout the evening they bring up Shakespeare’s canon as a foil to the religious canons, arguing about whether we should read both in the same way or whether they need to be approached in different ways.” This is a topic that we’ve covered as well.
What do you think about the atheism question? Does Hamlet fear the undiscovered country because he doesn’t know what comes next … or because he’s wondering if *anything* comes next? I wouldn’t go so far as to extend the discussion to “Is Hamlet atheist? Therefore, was Shakespeare atheist?” I know that’s been argued elsewhere on the net. I think the odds are against it. I’m referring to this particular case. Even if Hamlet is a devoutly religious chap with a firm belief in the afterlife, is this speech a moment of weakness where he wonders “What if I’m wrong?”

One Man Hamlet

~ duane ~ 2 Comments

Yesterday we had a gender-reversed Hamlet, so today how about a one-man show?

In describing his one-man version of Hamlet, Bhaneja said: “For many of us, our most powerful experience with the play Hamlet occurred on our first reading of it — outside of the theatre ­— where we, alone, had to conjure up the setting, characters and drama. With this production, the audience is guided through the actual text, almost in the way an ancient storyteller might do, where the actor/storyteller provides an outline of a character upon which the viewer extrapolates.”

With the firm understanding that this is pretty far-afield from going to see a Shakespeare show, I think it would be quite interesting. When I tell my kids one of the plays, I’m basically the one-man storyteller. And isn’t a teacher doing the same thing, for a larger audience? So why not put the storyteller on the stage and have him speak to as many people as will sit for the show?

Gender-Reversed Hamlet?

~ duane ~ 4 Comments

Helen Mirren just did it for Prospera in Taymor’s Tempest, so why can’t Yvonne Flack do the same with The Suffragette Hamlet, her own “truly new play” that gives her a chance to take on what she considers to be “every classical actor’s dream, and secretly, every actress’s.”

I just never seriously thought I would be able to take on the role until [director Darcie Flansburg] approached me with the idea of a reverse-gender Hamlet.

What boggles my mind is that these students of their art – Ms. Flack’s “entire dissertation is based around non-Western adaptations of the play” – seem not at all interested in mentioning Sarah Bernhardt, the legendary actress who portrayed Hamlet 100 years ago. Does this woman truly believe that a woman can’t play a man’s role?
NOTE – Do NOT miss that Sarah Bernhardt link, where we actually dug up some extraordinarily rare footage of Ms Bernhardt’s fight scene with Laertes, in 1899! How often do you get to see THAT?