30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 16: Pyramus & Thisbe

Just thinking about today’s 30 Days of Shakespeare pick makes me giggle.

I think the only times I’ve been less than enchanted by any production of Pyramus & Thisbe is when they’ve tried to turn it into something besides a disastrous amateur dramatic performance. This is not the time to be using art to explore issues of class disparity in Tudor England. This is the time to laugh immoderately because Snug missed his cue, or Flute’s wig fell off, or Peter Quince had a nervous breakdown. Take your social commentary somewhere else, please, and just let me enjoy this ridiculous, stupid moment.

April 23: Author Talk at Booksweet

If you’re in the Ann Arbor area, stop by Booksweet bookshop at 1pm on April 23 to hear me do a Q&A on Shakespeare adaptations and other fun Shakespeare-related things! Because it’s Shakespeare’s birthday! Details here.

30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 15: Brian Blessed's Exeter

I love many things about Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of Henry V, so much so that I could have devoted an entire week to picking out moments from it that bring me joy. Instead, I decided to highlight one of the goofier things about it that delights me to no end.

Brian Blessed is the man they invented the phrase “an imposing physical presence” for. His embassy to the French court is a thing of wonder, with his armor-clad bulk busting into the soft and silken French court like a wrecking ball, and his measured voice threatening without ever raising in volume. He continues to be a solid, mostly silent presence, right up until the battle begins, when he becomes a one-man wrecking ball. I love this specific shot of him. It looks like he’s having the time of his life.

April 23: Author Talk at Booksweet

If you’re in the Ann Arbor area, stop by Booksweet bookshop at 1pm on April 23 to hear me do a Q&A on Shakespeare adaptations and other fun Shakespeare-related things! Because it’s Shakespeare’s birthday! Details here.

30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 14: Richard II, Drama Queen

OK! Slight hiccup in my schedule, but let’s get back on track, starting with one of my favorite drama queens.

I love all of Richard’s self-indulgently melodramatic speeches. “For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.” “What must the king do now? Must he submit?” “Ay, no, no, ay, for I must nothing be.” They’re all pure theatrical gold, and that’s just scratching the surface. I could listen to Richard try to be the center of attention all day; he may be a megalomaniacal narcissist, but his language is absolutely golden.

30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 11: The Reinterpretation of the Shrew

I’m dipping my toe into some controversy with today’s 30 Days of Shakespeare pick, but hear me out!

There are plenty of people who think The Taming of the Shrew is among those plays that just should not be performed anymore, and I completely see their point. It is SO toxic. But how productions deal with that toxicity always intrigues me.

I have to admit that I often feel bored when I walk into a theatre for yet another Romeo and Juliet or yet another Julius Caesar. Yes, they are great plays, but there is only so much to can do to them to differentiate them from what has gone before. Whereas every time I see a Shrew I am excited to see how they are going to deal with this landmine of a play. Are they going to do the "love at first sight" sting? Are they going to make the sun/moon scene a joke or abusive? Is Kate going to be in on the bet at the end or will her spirit genuinely have been broken? How is she going to make "I am ashamed that women are so simple" work? There are so many different directions it can go in and that potential to see something different this time excites me.

You’re never going to be able to “fix” The Taming of the Shrew, but you can explore a lot of interesting stuff while playing around with its brokenness.