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.

GTB Play Page Updates: Richard II

Well, we’ve reached the the first play I ever gave the full scene-by-scene treatment: Richard II. As with Coriolanus, I did this rather-less-than-mainstream play early on in my Good Tickle Brain career purely to take advantage of the internet buzz around David Tennant’s stint as Richard II at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the subsequent National Theatre Live screening of that performance.

Anyways, check it and my vague smattering of other Richard II comics here!

Quaran-quotes

Another day of global pandemic filler, with some useful quotes for you to practice while self-isolating! (Note: I didn’t notice they were ALL from history plays until I finished drawing the comic. I guess you can tell what my favorite genre is…)

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Don’t be an idiot like Falstaff. Stay away from Eastcheap and the Boar’s Head. Stay home. And while you’re staying home….

BARD TALK: MARCH 28, 10:00AM PST

This Saturday I'm giving a virtual Bard Talk on Zoom courtesy of the Shakespeare Center of LA! (Unlike many events, this one was always supposed to be a virtual webinar, so nothing has changed!) You should all register and come see me talk awkwardly at my webcam and do some live drawing. Don't pretend you have something more important to do... Register for the talk here.

Elections

As most of you probably know, the U.S. held its midterm elections yesterday. I generally aim to keep post-Stuart politics off of this blog, but I thought it might be fun to interview some of our favorite characters and find out what issues were important to them in this election. 

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It turns out none of them are U.S. citizens, and thus are ineligible to vote, so this entire comic was an exercise in futility. Oh well. 

Three-Panel Plays, part 14

A double-dose of history in today's Three-Panel Plays!

Richard II got the full Tickle Brain treatment last year. You can see all my Richard II material, including a scene-by-scene stick-figure version of the entire play, here.

Remember: Richard III is not the sequel to Richard II. In between the two are seven different Henry plays. So the final score is Henry 7, Richard 2. Henry wins on aggregate!

Join us again on Monday, when we will be taking a look at two very different romances, with Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew!

See all Three-Panel Plays here!

Richard II: One Page Summary

Maybe you don't have time to read my epic 27-page stick figure rendering of Richard II. That's fine. I understand. However, you have absolutely no excuse not to read my one-page summary of Richard II. 

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And that wraps up my Richard II coverage! Next week I will be returning to my usual Monday-Wednesday-Friday update schedule, as completing three pages a day nearly drove me up the metaphorical wall. To all those who started following this blog during Richard II, I must warn you that I will occasionally cover non-Shakespearean topics. If that makes you really agitated, I suggest you subscribe to my Shakespeare-Only RSS feed, which will conveniently filter out all non-Bardic material.