http://community.livejournal.com/bard_in_boston/78160.html

Somerville’s Theatre@First is looking for directors for our seventh annual one-acts festival. This year our theme is "shaken up Shakespeare" so we’re in the market for scenes from the canon, reinterpreted with a modern (or not-so-modern) twist!

[ Story continues, at the link… ] Personally I’ve never had the skills to be a director.  I know what I’d like, in my brain, but I could never articulate it in a meaningful way.  I’d love to see somebody one day tackle my “Juliet is blind” idea.

I’m really sorry that I missed this.  It’s been a long time since I was in college, but this sounds like a blast. http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2010/03/06/for_shakespeare_fans_at_wellesley_the_plays_the_thing/ Imagine a dorm full of kids performing Shakespeare.  Several plays at once, kids dropping in and out as other needs require (i.e. sleep, food, class…)  24 hours of straight Shakespeare. The whole thing apparently played out on Twitter.  Don’t ask me where I was, I must have been seriously asleep at the switch.

“Shakespeare’s words never stop; that’s the rule,’’ said Ashley Gramolini, a senior theater major and the Shakespeare Society president.

That just gives me warm fuzzy feelings.  I like a world where Shakespeare’s words never stop, if even for just 24 hours.

Now, see, here’s a better way to do it.  I posted that lesson plan about “Plan Romeo and Juliet’s Wedding” and we all tore it apart for just plain wrongness on many levels.  http://community.livejournal.com/quillofferings/131603.html Instead consider these 5 quick scenes in which the author has taken an existing scene from the play (welllll…..4 out of 5), and then with a twist, changed everything. I think I like #2 because you’ve still got a story with that one.  With #1 there’s no story.  #3 and #4, which are basically the same, you get a happy-if-unsatisfying ending. The author and her commenters mostly like #5 the best, but I like that one the least.  If you throw in “here’s what wisdom and maturity would have taught them” then you’re back into the whole area where you’ve so fundamentally changed the point that the story need not ever have been written.  It’s almost sanctimonious in its “Well obviously this is the way it would have gone if the characters were smart” argument. What this continues to prove, however, is that none of us is Shakespeare.  It’s fine the way it is, and it’s silly of us to try rewriting it.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7043164.ece The continuing story of Raymond Scott actually picked up last week, when he was in court again denying that he did anything other than “find” one of the most rare books on the planet. The only reason this story is interesting is that the guy is a certified whacko:

Mr Scott appeared at Newcastle Crown Court wearing green combat army fatigues held up by a Gucci belt, and a pair of black Dior sunglasses, presumably a tribute to Che Guevara, a hero of Cuba.

Reminds me of when Michael Jackson showed up at court in his pajamas.

I love the idea of Seussifying Shakespeare.  I few years ago I took the kids to a production of The Tempest on Cape Cod that was done up that way, with a narrator who kept jumping in and telling what happened in a very Seussy sort of rhythm. http://www.ocala.com/article/20100304/ENTERTAINMENT/100309829

But we do find oodles of homage to the great children’s writer. For example, there are references, if you listen hard enough, to "Green Eggs and Ham," "The Cat in the Hat," "The Sneetches" and the "Tale of the Zax." Maybe even more, hidden in stacks.

Yet, from Seuss they’ve not borrowed, say Narrator Two and N. One. But nevertheless, the whole play is great fun. (stop! stop! stop it!)

Jodi Touchton and Lauren Ellers are the narrating pair, with plenty of spunk sporting blue and pink hair.

"The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet" Where: Outdoor patio, Ocala Civic Theatre, 4337 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala. Note: bring chairs or blanket to sit on
When: 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday and March 13; 3 p.m. Sunday and March 14
Cost: $6
Information: 236-2274 orwww.ocalacivictheatre.com