30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 30: Theater

We’ve made it to the finish line! 30 days of April, 30 things about Shakespeare that bring me joy, 30 comics.

I miss theater so much. I haven't seen a live performance of a Shakespeare play since 2019 and it hurts. I think a big part of why I've been struggling to create lately is that my Shakespeare well ran dry and I haven't had any chance to refill it. Hopefully I will be able to remedy that this summer.

Thanks for sticking with me through my sometimes rather uneven 30 Days of Shakespeare. It's been a struggle at times to keep up, but also very satisfying to revisit some of the many reasons I love Shakespeare and why I started this comic in the first place. I’m taking next week off to rest and regroup, but will be back soon!

30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 29: The Salic Law Speech

I’ve literally been waiting ALL MONTH to get to today’s 30 Days of Shakespeare highlight.

I've been attracted to this speech ever since seeing Felix Aylmer's adorably bumbling performance of it in Olivier's film adaptation Henry V. It's a totally comedic scene with him dropping papers and losing his place, while Robert Helpmann's Bishop of Ely gets increasingly frustrated and eventually just gives up.

For some reason, not all productions of Henry V play it this way, which has been a source of continual disappointment to me. But that doesn't change my love of the stupid speech itself. I went so far as to memorize it, so I could trot it out in case anyone asked me what my favorite lines from Shakespeare were. Nobody has, but that hasn't stopped me from reciting it anyways.

30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 28: Richard III

This 30 Days of Shakespeare entry is the worst, and that makes him the best.

Don’t @ me, Ricardians. While I am quite prepared to believe that Richard was involved in the disappearance of his nephews, I also fully acknowledge that Shakespeare’s monstrous protagonist was constructed to align with Tudor propaganda and is not an accurate portrayal of the historical Richard.

But… you have to admit… he’s way more fun this way.

30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 24: Reunions

I very rarely cry during plays, but this is the type of scene that has the highest chance of making me sniffle.

Pericles is a very weird play. Whether it "works" or not seems to be highly dependent on the production and whatever concept is being deployed to try and make sense of its rambling and bizarre plot. But that reunion scene is perfection, no matter what you do to it.