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?
I’m not quite sure what I just watched, but I like it. Narrated by Christopher Walken, this little movie tells the story of Romeo and Juliet from Cupid’s point of view. Of course, Cupid is voiced by John Madden, Romeo is Nicholas Cage, and a few other surprise “guest” voices. Neat.
Now, see, this is just a tease. Normally I do not get dressed up for Halloween, but apparently kids’ school is having a family night and going as a family implies that we all get dressed up. The thought most certainly crossed my mind (I just mentioned it on Twitter not 10 minutes ago) about doing something Shakespearey. Wouldn’t you know it, but the Shakespeare Theatre Company is having a costume sale!
Because the theater has covered a lot of Shakespearean ground since 2006—remember Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and Macbeth?—the selection is diverse. Period details such as doublets, cloaks, and armor pull an elaborate character together—or check out some of the unexpected options, such as animal headdresses or 1960s mod fashions. And it’s not just clothes, either: There’ll be jewelry, masks, and props such as sculpted wedding rings and table settings from The Taming of the Shrew.
Alas, it’s down in Washington DC and I’m no way near there. But if you are, go check it out! More details can be found here: http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/shopping/shoparound/13787.html (There’s gotta be a joke in here someplace about going as Bottom and not needing a costume at all…..)
I don’t typically post every review or press release about every new interpretation I see, just the ones that catch my eye. Like this one, which sums up much of what we talk about here:
You need to do it old school enough to serve the language and story, but not so old school that it flashes back to mandatory high school reading lists. It’s about splitting time between classic and cool, between poise and unpredictability.
That gets my attention right off the bat, infinitely more than people who talk about having to bring the language up to date. Lose that, you lose the Shakespeare. Keep that, and everything else I think is up to your own interpretation. Then again…
Some characters have been cut, or merged with others; Juliet is now raised by a single mother, for example.
Hmmm. That’s quite the statement to make with your production. The helplessness of Juliet’s situation is pretty crucial to her “I have no choice but to kill myself” logic. How exactly do you get across “Marry the guy I tell you to marry or GTFO” from a single mom??? http://www.24sevencities.com/features/arts/theater/how-juliet-met-romeo.html
Over the years I’ve seen many Shakespeare lists. Instead of linking to yet another one I thought it would be fun to combine several and come up with my own, the Shakespeare Geek Top 10. This is not my opinion, this is the mathematical analysis (according to my own algorithm :)) from a variety of places, some here and some elsewhere, that people have voted on a general “top 10” for Shakespeare’s plays.
How you define “best” is up to you and I fully expect that people use different scales all the time. That’s why I’m looking at it statistically – if most people pick Dream as the best play, then does it really matter why they think they picked it?
Ready?
#10. The Tempest. Maybe it’s the fascination with “Shakespeare’s last play”, maybe the fairy tale, happy ending nature of the story (I know it’s the latter that gets my vote), but I’m happy to see one of my favorites just make the top 10.
#9. Julius Caesar. I appreciate that this is one of the great tragedies that most of us will read in high school, but I was surprised at the showing it made. I don’t understand. If the Twilight lady announced that she was filming a new version of Julius Caesar I’d bet you can hear the crickets chirp.
#8. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I know there are folks out there who will put Dream up against Hamlet as one of the best, and I have to concur. I’ve ranted at times that I get sick of seeing it, but really, as I called it the other week after seeing a production, it’s “pretty near perfect on the page.”
#7. Richard III. I’m not familiar enough with this one to have cast a vote on it. Tell me why you love it? Just the evilness of the title character, or something more?
#6. Henry V. Do we all love it because of the Crispin’s Day speech and the Muse of Fire, or is there more to it?
#5. Romeo and Juliet. Now we get into some of the more obvious ones, will there be any surprises in the top 5? Does Romeo and Juliet deserve a spot this high or is it just because we’re all so familiar with this high school favorite?
#4. Othello. I’ve seen many people speak of Othello as one of the great underrated tragedies, and I have to agree. When you really take the time to dig into it, it’s far better than the more shallow analysis might suggest.
#3. Macbeth. Glad to see the Scottish play fare so well, it’s one of my top choices.
…and the big question *still* not answered:
#1 King Lear and Hamlet
We have a statistical tie for the #1 spot with Hamlet and King Lear both getting the exact same score! (That just means I need more data, hint hint hint.)
Disclaimer : Only 7 of my top 10 made the final list, so I’m not skewing the results to my own personal choices.
I can’t say there are many surprises. If I pulled it out to a top 15 we’d start to see some of the popular comedies, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night … but at some point I run out of numbers to make a meaningful argument, too.
Disagree? Make your own top 10 and post it in the comments! I’d love to keep my statistics up to date and have a true and accurate top 10 list, as defined by the audience of Shakespeare geeks as a whole and not just one person’s personal opinion. I may have even added you already, if you’ve made a list. Who knows? 🙂
http://www.popsugar.com/4608018 Another good one I missed as Chris Brown, who I know only as the singer who beat up his singer girlfriend Rhianna, compares his relationship to Romeo and Juliet. On second thought, maybe he’s right. Go ahead and kill yourself, Mr. Brown, and then we’ll compare. Even better, when told that this is what he’d be remembered for, he apparently (I have better things to do than watch the video, I’m just reading the summaries) brings up Michael Jackson. I think maybe “O.J.” is what you meant to say there.