Review of "Pericles" at the Stratford Festival

OK, I'm trying something a bit different today... a review! I love going to the theatre, but I've never written actual reviews of the productions I've seen. Mostly this is because I am a terrible reviewer. I'm fairly easy to please and without any of the critical discretion of more seasoned reviewers. I'm also very soft-hearted, so if I didn't enjoy a production I am more likely to pretend I never saw it in the first place rather than say anything negative about it. But let's give it a try! The guinea pig I have selected is the first show that I saw at the Stratford Festival this season.... Pericles!

Now, the gentleman I was sitting next to might just be overly full of joie de vivre, but to have someone who, at the beginning of the show asked me "is the language in this play the sort of Shakespeare language you have to translate constantly in your head?", turn around at the end and say "That was terrific, everyone should see this!" is quite a positive testimonial. Especially because this was Pericles. And, let's face it, Pericles is nowhere near one of Shakespeare's more accessible plays. 

The only other time I've seen Pericles was again at the Stratford Festival, about twelve years ago. That was a decent production too, but this one was definitely cleaner, much easier to follow, and more stylistically cohesive. As I always say, I'm fairly frivolous and can get quite impatient with directorial Concepts (with a capital C) but in this case the Victorian concept definitely served the play, as opposed to being imposed upon it. I particularly enjoyed the double-casting (which I enjoy anyways, but which actively enriched the production in this case.)

I really don't need to say that the acting and the language-speaking were superb, because that's almost always the case at Stratford. Special mention to Deborah Hay, whose gigantic brimming limpid eyes in the already emotionally-fraught reunion scene managed to sneak through the chinks in my fairly robust emotional armor. 

Pericles isn't performed all that often, so, if you can, take an opportunity to see this production. (If you're on the other side of the continent, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is also mounting a production this season, and so you should totally see that one and then tell me how it is.)

Kids Read Comics Convention

I've been plastering this all over social media, but forgot to re-mention it here! This week, June 20-21, is the Kids Read Comics Convention in Michigan! Specifically, it's at the Ann Arbor District Library. I will be there both Saturday and Sunday, from 12pm to 6:00pm, selling a variety of Good Tickle Brain merchandise, including t-shirts! Here's a sneak peek and some of the stuff I'll be presenting:

If you're in the Southeastern Michigan area, stop by and say hello! I'm a very nice person and would love to chat with you, so don't be shy. If you're NOT in the Southeastern Michigan area, don't worry! In a couple weeks (hopefully, tech gods and my own limited intellect permitting) I will be launching my online store and you'll be able to order shirts and other merchandise there.

Hope to see some of you there!

Timon Who?

I was looking through my archives and I noticed that one play in particular never seems to feature in my comics.

If pressed, I'd probably say that my least favorite Shakespeare play is Timon of Athens. It's not a really fair judgement, as I've only seen it once, a number of years ago, and haven't revisited it since. At the time I remember thinking it was a miserable play. Of course... that's kind of the point. It's like complaining about Romeo and Juliet being "a bit of a downer". 

Nowadays it seems like Timon is the hipster of the Shakespearean canon. "I liked Timon of Athens before it was cool", I can almost hear people say. "Duuuuude, Timon is, like, a brilliant critique of our corrupt, emotionally-bankrupt and overly-materialistic society, man. It's deep." That may very well be the case. It's also not much fun.

I probably need to give Timon another chance. Have an opinion on Timon? Leave a note for me in the comments!

The Ohio Light Opera 2015 Season... in 3 Panels!

This blog/comic might be predominately devoted to Shakespeare, but, as a general theatre lover, I would be remiss if I didn't address one of the highlights of my year: my annual family trip to the Ohio Light Opera, whose season kicks off this Saturday. 

As I've mentioned before, operetta was a formative part of my theatrical upbringing. Sadly, operetta and early, pre-Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals have largely faded from American stages. Fortunately, places like OLO make it their mission to keep these otherwise obscure and unjustly ignored plays alive. 

Here is their current season, condensed into three panel plays. And by the way... if you think Shakespeare's comedies have stupid plots, you have never seen a comic operetta. I have been going to OLO for almost 30 years now, and it is always ridiculously, stupidly fun. (Here are my round-ups of last year's productions.)

An early American musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, who is one of my favorites. I read the plot for this and it is SO INCREDIBLY STUPID. This isn't a bad thing. In my experience, the stupider the raw material, the more hysterical the OLO performance of it is. 

Not my favorite Lerner and Loewe musical, although it's popular with many people. It's got some nice songs in it, though, and the preponderance of gratuitously fake Scottish accents is always amusing. 

Music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ogden Nash? I'm intrigued.... This will be my first Kurt Weill musical. Also, the plot? It's ridiculously stupid. CAN'T WAIT.

By composer Franz Lehar. I love me some Lehar (most famous for The Merry Widow). This is classic overwrought operetta fare - a true romance selflessly sacrificed by a young maid who only wants the best for her man, etc. etc. Great music, though. 

Music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin! That's always a good thing. Like many early American musicals, the plot for this is.... wait for it.... totally stupid. This is a recurring theme with comic operetta and early musicals, but, as I said, it's not a bad thing. The stupider the better, I say.

Gilbert and Sullivan! My first theatrical love! I might have large passages of Shakespeare memorized, but I can almost literally sing through any entire G&S operetta (with the exception of the Act I choruses, which always involve lots of people singing different words very loudly all at the same time, and thus are harder to pick up by ear.) Yeomen is the only G&S operetta that ends on a bit of a downer, but the music is gorgeous. 

I love all the G&S operettas, but I'm particularly fond of Ruddigore, possibly because it has freaking picture gallery ghosts who come down from their frames and very politely torture people. It's great. 

Anyways, that's my round-up of the Ohio Light Opera! I will be going there for the last week of their season in August, where I can catch all the shows at once. If you're in the Midwest area and enjoy truly mindless entertainment with truly great music, I highly recommended checking them out. A lot of these shows you literally will never see anywhere else. 

Rejected Shakespearean T-Shirts

My mind has been in t-shirt mode all week. The wheels are turning and hopefully we'll see some Good Tickle Brain t-shirts available for general purchase in the next month! In the meantime, here are some "just for fun" t-shirt designs that didn't make the cut.... this time. 

I'm sure I'm not the first person to have thought of Che-kespeare... but I'm still ridiculously pleased with myself about that one. That one might make it on to a t-shirt after all...

Good Tickle Brain T-Shirts!

I've been promising all my readers out there Good Tickle Brain merchandise for well over a year now, and am finally getting down to business - or, more accurately, getting down to figuring out what is involved in getting down to business.  First up is that cornerstone of any self-respecting institution... a t-shirt! 

Over the weekend I sent out a survey canvassing popular opinion on such things as t-shirt design, color, sizing, etc., so I could start figuring out logistics. Hundreds of you have responded so far, which is just fantastic! I'm still reading through the various comments you gave me (and I am reading them all, trust me), but at the moment it looks like this design, featuring snapshots from each of Shakespeare's plays, is winning out:

In case you're puzzled by which play is which, I offer you the following hint: they're arranged in alphabetical order, and the multi-part Henry IV and Henry VI have been condensed to one image each. 

A lot of you mentioned in comments that you would like to see a black version. (This was not surprising, as we all know theatre-folk live predominantly in black.) I didn't originally offer an option for black on my survey, as the black outlines and arms of my stick figures would disappear completely against a black background, but, after some tinkering with modest white outlines, I think I've come up with a solution that will look something like this:

This is not final yet, but is what I am currently leaning towards, with ladies' and possibly kids' versions as well. There will probably be one or two other color options as well.  I'd still love to hear from people, though. If you haven't already done so, please take my shirt survey. Also, feel free to leave a comment on this post, or get in touch with me on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. I realize that, no matter what the final design is, some of you will be probably disappointed. I just want to make sure that the number of the disappointed is as small as possible! 

If this shirt is even moderately successful, there will definitely be other shirts, so all of you clamoring for three-panel play shirts or other designs (such as Smiley Shakespeare) can live in hope. Lots of you also mentioned wishes for additional items such as mugs and pins. Those will be coming too! If you have other ideas for products, please do leave a comment. All your input gets filed away for future reference.

I want to do this merchandise thing properly, so if it's slow getting off the ground, rest assured it's because I'm reading and learning and figuring out how to make the best merchandise available through the best online store possible. Because (cue cheesy line) my readers deserve the best. (Cue groans.)

Also, if you haven't yet, please do subscribe to the Good Tickle Brain e-mail newsletter, which brings my comics directly to your inbox once a week, and also features bonus reviews, recommendations, and social media round-ups not found on my blog!

The Fretful Porpentine

I just can't get away from Hamlet without calling your attention to a line that is a particular favorite of mine (and of P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster).

"Fretful porpentine" just flows off of the tongue.

(P.S. - It's a porcupine.)