“It’s a long way down the line,” but director Ralph Fiennes wouldn’t mind following up his Coriolanus with a shot at Antony and Cleopatra.

I hope that his Coriolanus does well, and that this represents a new trend in Shakespeare movies – away from our yearly versions of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, and starting to show more love toward these other great plays that, really, are as good as lost to a modern audience. 

What plays would you love to see on Fiennes’ list?  I’d love to see him do something with the histories, ala Welles’ Chimes at Midnight. Not that exact story, but that idea — tell a large chunk of the history plays while at the same time telling your own story.

I’ve also heard praise for Timon of Athens, so I’m waiting for somebody to breathe some life into that one as well.

So for the past couple of years I’ve been talking about Shakespeare Halloween costumes, but never pulled the trigger on any of them.  I don’t want to get some generic “Romeo” costume from a store, but I don’t want to do something that nobody other than you folks would recognize, either.  (Amusing trivia — google “Romeo costume”, “Hamlet costume” and “Shakespeare costume” and the *same* costumes will show up again and again.  Argh!)

This year I had Hamlet on my brain.  I figured, “Black pants, black shirt with at least some kind of Renaissancy thing going on.  Fencing sword.  Carry around a skull.  Done.”  Harder to find than it looks.  I didn’t want to look like Steve Jobs talking to a skull.  Too soon.

Then, today in the costume store, it hit me – instead of going as Hamlet, I could go as …. Yorick.

There it stood, one of those “scary court jester” costumes, with the checkerboard pattern (what is the name of that?), the funny hat with bells, and a skull for a face.  Perfectoroonie.

If I can swing it, I’m going to get a stuffed Piglet doll and velcro him to my shoulders.  Get it?  He hath borne me on his back a thousand times? Piglet as Hamlet?  That’s funny, like, a dozen different ways.

I’m torn on whether to give myself a name tag that reads “A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy”, or to actually carry around a copy of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.  I’m thinking the nametag, though, because a) I’d likely put the book down at some point, and b) I’ve never read that book so I wouldn’t want people to think I want to discuss it. 🙂

Bonus Achievement #1: Dress up like this as I go around trick or treating with my children.  Print up the entire speech, sign it ShakespeareGeek.com, and hand it out to anybody that says “Who are you supposed to be?”  Drive up some free publicity, *and* appreciation of Shakespeare.

Bonus Achievement #2:  My wife’s already decided to break out her old “Renaissance maiden” costume from a previous Halloween, which if I’d pulled off Romeo, I was going to call Juliet.  But I’m thinking if I can convince her to carry a basket of weeds and maybe stick some seaweed in her hair we can call her Ophelia.  Nobody but me would appreciate the awesomeness of dead Ophelia and dead Yorick as a couple, but I’ll see what I can arrange.

I will take and post pictures of the final result!

EDIT : If I can’t figure out a way to make Piglet stay on my shoulders, I shall print out a big 8×10 of David Tennant (or Kenneth Branagh or Mel Gibson or Laurence Olivier…) and tape him to my back.  Same idea. 🙂

Late for work? Forgot to pass in your assignment?  Blew off plans you had with friends?  Now and as always, Shakespeare’s got you covered…

• Flying back to Elsinore for my dad’s funeral, and my mom’s wedding. Don’t ask. Back in a few days.
• Going to live in the forest dressed as a boy for a little while. Back when evil Duke Frederick has a ridiculously unlikely change of heart.
• Got married last night! Didn’t tell my parents. Will explain everything when Romeo gets here.
• My Dogberry ate my homework.
• Had to disguise myself as a boy, it’s compl…what do you mean Rosalind already used that excuse?
• I am so exhausted, I have gotten like zero sleep since my husband and I killed the king the other day.
• Got in huge fight with my dad. Moving to France.  Getting married! Everything’s gonna work out ok. 
• Shipwrecked on the way back from my cousin’s wedding. Enslaved by evil wizard. Totally met someone, though, so it’s all good.
• Had to flee assassins that got my dad. Will return to Scotland in a few generations to reclaim the crown.
• Need to go give a speech at Caesar’s funeral. Blah blah, good man, will be missed… these things always go the same way.
• Off to England! It’s whole big accidentally-killed-my-girlfriends-father-thought-he-was-the-king thing. Long story.
• Listen, so, I meet this girl at a party, right? Long story short, I kill her cousin, now I’m banished.
• Weird rumor going around that I’m out to kill my father. Only one thing to do, go live in a hovel and pretend to be insane.
• Spent the night in jail because the lady I work for didn’t like the color of my socks. I know, right?
• Bit of a disagreement with my husband. My friend’s got this plan where I go into hiding for 16 years, convince him I’m a statue, and then yell “Boo!”. I think it sounds hysterical.

Apparently my 9yr old had some sort of free time at art class the other day and was flipping through a stencil book.  She found (and recognized!) stencils for a scroll: (click for the larger image)

So she remembered the names of 8 Shakespeare plays off the top of her head?  Not too bad, Geeklet.  Of course, she then informed me that she “didn’t do every single one, like Henry the First, Henry the Second…” Bonus points for working in “Globe Theatre” as well!

She also found a curtained theatre stage (which, truthfully, I’m not sure I would have recognized if I’d seen it in a book).  This is what she provided: (again, click for larger)

That is Hamlet, performing the famous “To be or not to be” soliloquoy….while holding Yorick’s skull.  Apparently as part of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet.

I love it.

I’m normally on top of the new Shakespeare movies coming out, but this article about “rebooted Shakespeare” hints at a few I didn’t know about:

• Anonymous. Enough said.
• Coriolanus.  Yup.
• Al Pacino’s King Lear?  Heard about it, didn’t know it was still going forward.
• How about another Richard III (courtesy of Mr. Pacino
  ), entitled Pell Mell and set in the 1960’s?
• Maybe Romeo and Juliet retold (what, again?) this time about a Jewish family versus an Italian family.  Wait…do Jews and Italians have an ancient grudge I didn’t know about?
• Then there’s Rosaline, which we’ve mentioned.
• Or Hamlet told from Ophelia’s point of view?  Insert joke here about that movie only being half as long as Hamlet, and getting really confusing at the end ;).

(Anybody needs me I’ll be off teaching Bardfilm‘s classes, because I’m apparently already doing half his job anyway so I might as well do the other half!  🙂  I kid, KJ.