A stick-figure Shakespeare comic by Mya Lixian Gosling
IT'S OVER. 25 gamedays and 64 matches later, and we have a winner!
Yes, in the end it was a comfortable victory for Timon, who overcame his play's narrative of abject failure and mismanagement to put in a calm, composed, and professional performance throughout the tournament. Here's a recap of the Triumph of Timon:
And so here's something I never thought I would say.... CONGRATULATIONS TIMON!
(We return to you your regular, non-sports-related Shakespeare comics on Thursday....)
And now we know who will be playing each other in the Shakespeare World Cup final on Sunday! IT'S GONNA BE....
By and large I've been OK with the dramatically-arbitrary, numerically-determined character assignments for each team, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to narratively justify Timon's cruise through this tournament. He's energetic, well-disciplined, and controlled, and will probably (PROBABLY) defeat the powerful sorcerer-duke Prospero. I'm kind of dreading having to figure out how to make that work... Even Act 1 rich-and-happy Timon can't rationally be expected to defeat an actual magician with elemental spirits at his command.
The quarter-finals are done and dusted, and here's how it all shook out:
Check back on Thursday to see who made it through the semi-finals and will be playing in the final? Will it be Timon's misanthropy against Lear's insanity? Iago's manipulation against Prospero's illusion? THE END IS NIGH.
There was only one day of action since we last checked in, but what action!
As you might know, Lear has a history of losing his mind when it comes to penalty shootouts, but he remained uncharacteristically lucid for this one.
Tune in next week for a rundown of the quarter-finals!
The end is in sight! First, let's wrap up the last set of group games:
For those of you keeping track, this means your Shakespeare World Cup bracket should now look something like this:
Yes, we're into the knockout stages! Take no prisoners!
Tune in on Thursday to see how the last two round-of-16 games turned out!
The Group Stages of the Shakespeare World Cup are officially wrapping up as we learn who will be progressing to the knockout stages and who are going home in defeat. Here's the first six group results:
This has been an exceptionally dramatic tournament so far, with the major shock being the much-fancied Hamlet's surprise elimination after several dreadful performances in the group stages. Plagued with indecision and uncertainty, Hamlet's Shakespeare World Cup campaign ended with a whimper.
What new surprises will the Shakespeare World Cup throw up? Check back on Tuesday as we make our way through the round-of-16 knockout stages!
There's been a whole lot of Shakespeare World Cup action over the last five days! Get caught up now:
Starting with Day 12, we're into the last round of group games, in which we find out for certain who wins each group, who is the runner-up in each group, and who are eliminated. Groups A and B have already been resolved... but if you want to know the results, check back on Thursday! (Or check out my Twitter commentary...)
The Shakespeare World Cup group stages keep on rolling along! Let's see what's happened in the latest round of matches:
So, by this stage every character has played at least once, and the characters in Groups A and B have played twice. In Group A, Polonius (Russia) and Leontes (Uruguay) will both be going through to the knockout stages, although they will have to play each other next week to determine who wins the group. Pandarus and Bassanio will be going home. Group B has been more competitive, with Henry V, Othello, and Helen all claiming one win apiece, and only Morocco certain to go home at this stage.
Tune in on Tuesday for a WHOLE LOT MORE RESULTS!
