Behhhhhhhh
Does anyone pay full attention to dialogue when they are hearing sheep bleats in the background? No. Do I care? No. Bring on the bleats.
30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 21: The Bear
Show me the bear.
I've seen three live productions of The Winter's Tale, two of which had a bear and a very low-budget one of which had Antigonus become the bear (think werewolf, but with bear). I've checked six filmed productions, only one of which had a bear. The others all cheated their way out of having an actual bear on stage. I will not stand for this butchering of Shakespeare's text.
How to Draw Antigonus (a.k.a. The Bear Guy)
I was hoping May was going to be the month where I finally caught up one some long-neglected commissions and got my working life under control again. Unfortunately, I ended up burning out and not getting very much of anything done. My brain basically feels like it was just mauled by a bear.
Oh, and speaking of “mauled by a bear”…
This video comes courtesy of my exquisitely generous supporters on Patreon.
GTB Play Page Updates: 2Gents, 2Kinsmen, Winter's Tale
It’s the final set of play page updates! Oh my gosh, I hate organizing my archives. I hate it so much. But it’s done! And it’s already out of date! I hate this.
Anyways, here’s the last of the little buggers.
BRB gotta go update my archives again.
Shakespearean Selfies, part 4 (Remastered)
MOAR REMASTERED SELFIESSSSSSS
Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt
And let’s take the Wayback Machine back to the original:
Wasn’t going to be able to improve on the bear, so basically just copied it.
Shakespeare on Masks
Some useful quotes for our current time.
Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt
Foul words is but foul wind, and foul wind is but foul breath, and foul breath is noisome; therefore I will INSIST THAT YOU PULL YOUR MASK UP OVER YOUR NOSE, COME ON, MY GLASSES ARE FOGGING UP TOO BUT SERIOUSLY ONLY SELFISH SOCIOPATHIC NARCISSISTS THINK THAT’S TOO HIGH A PRICE TO PAY FOR LITERALLY SAVING LIVES AND CURBING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC JUST dammit… I’m so tired… just wear your masks properly.
Shakespearean Halloween Party I-IV (Remastered)
As Halloween is fast approaching (when did the run-up to Halloween become as involved as the run-up to Christmas?) I thought it would be a good time to revisit some of my earlier Halloween comics and re-draw the earliest ones digitally. Enjoy!
Original Shakespearean Halloween Party I here. Honestly, after all these years, Desdemona’s handkerchief and the bees are still my favorite Shakespearean Halloween costume ideas.
Original Shakespearean Halloween Party II here. Seriously, butter knife + string + stick is all the effort I want to put into a costume.
He’s dressed as a lion tamer and is holding a shrew. I’ve had to explain this to everybody, the sure sign that a joke didn’t work. Oh well.
Pls note bear is mauling his shoulder. Textual accuracy is important.
The Crew of the U.S.S. Shakespeare
I’m a huge Star Trek nerd, and, as I am in the midst of a long-running TNG/DS9/VOY rewatch project, it seemed only natural to figure out which Shakespearean characters would make the ideal Federation starship crew. Here are my (totally non-definitive) picks:
CAPTAIN HENRY V: This one is kind of a no-brainer. The captain has to be decisive, able to command with a mixture of compassion and discipline, inspire loyalty in his crew, and accept ultimate responsibility for the ship. Henry V ticks all those boxes.
FIRST OFFICER ROSALIND: Rosalind’s ability to manage numerous moving parts and get people to do exactly what she wants them to make her an excellent choice for first officer. A natural leader, she stands ready to take over should the captain be incapacitated, and also will not hesitate to call the captain out if she thinks he is making a mistake.
COUNSELOR PAULINA: Paulina is not your touchy-feely empathic counselor. She is a no-nonsense problem solver. If you are having a problem, she will fix it. It might not be a pleasant experience for anyone involved, but you will come out the other side a better person. Probably.
OPERATIONS OFFICER ARIEL: Nobody is quite sure exactly what it is the operations officer does, but the bottom line is that he’s responsible for keeping the ship running smoothly. The airy spirit Ariel is more than capable of monitoring all of the starship’s complex systems and addressing any problems before they get too troublesome.
CHIEF ENGINEER PORTIA: The chief engineer of a starship has to be a consummate problem solver, able to quickly adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and come up with innovative and effective solutions. All this leads to Portia—the one from The Merchant of Venice—who is constantly overcoming obstacles in unexpected ways. If there’s a loophole in the laws of physics, she will find it.
TACTICAL OFFICER & SECURITY CHIEF CORIOLANUS: Battles must be won! Order must be maintained! Coriolanus’s single-minded adherence to those two maxims make him the ideal tactical officer and security chief. Fortunately for him, his excellence in those fields balances out his total lack of interpersonal skills and objectively objectionable personality.
MEDICAL OFFICER HELENA: She’s still relatively junior, but Helena—the one from All’s Well That Ends Well— shows great promise as a doctor. Able to blend established practices with new technological and pharmacological innovations, she is on the cutting edge of medical research, and does her best to keep her crew healthy.
HELMSMAN PERICLES: Pericles is more at home sailing between the stars than he is on the ground. OK, one time he piloted a starship into a gravimetric distortion and ended up having to abandon ship, but that was a while ago, and he’s got the hang of it now. Honestly.
SCIENCE OFFICER FRIAR LAURENCE: Friar Laurence is an avid xenobotanist. Nothing makes him happier than collecting plant samples from alien planets and then conducting weird experiments in his lab. He was demoted to ensign after the infamous Sleeping Death Replicator Virus incident, but he’s promised not to make that mistake again.
Thanks to my Shakespeare consultant Kate Pitt and my Star Trek consultant (and Star Trek re-watching buddy) James for letting me bounce these extremely nerdy ideas off of them.