Take a moment to appreciate his lasting influence and also to take part in Talk Like Shakespeare Day today! Have you thought about just how many words and phrases we owe to the Swan of Avon?
Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Saturday, March 15, 2014
An Interview with David Mamet
Fascinating. It also yields our Quote of the Day:
"... man is a striving animal. That’s what separates us from the poodles. So, our unquenchable urge to investigate, reform, and reshape everything around us, not only makes the world, but destroys the world. The question is how do we deal with human nature, and that is the ultimate question of drama."
Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Happy 449th Birthday, Will Shakespeare!
Join the fun with the third annual Happy Birthday, Shakespeare online project sponsored by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and remember that it's also Talk Like Shakespeare Day! You can join your fellow fans on Twitter all day long with the #happybirthdayshakespeare hashtag too.
Happy birthday indeed to the sweet swan of Avon, who has given me so much pleasure from the first moment I met him in a children's storybook to right now, when every re-reading of every play yields something fresh and new and wonderful. The haters can hate all they want; Shakespeare is immortal.
For the quote of the day, I'll give you Ben Jonson's poem "To the Memory of My Beloved Master William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us" and its peerless assessment that Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time.
Happy birthday indeed to the sweet swan of Avon, who has given me so much pleasure from the first moment I met him in a children's storybook to right now, when every re-reading of every play yields something fresh and new and wonderful. The haters can hate all they want; Shakespeare is immortal.
For the quote of the day, I'll give you Ben Jonson's poem "To the Memory of My Beloved Master William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us" and its peerless assessment that Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
50 Years of Shakespeare in the Park
Half a century of glorious (and free) Shakespeare in the summer and the open air. Here's a nice comment by one of the artistic directors:
"It was the idea that culture in a democracy should be the property of all the people," [Oskar] Eustis says, "regardless of their educational attainment, regardless of their financial status or class status — that everybody had the right to own the best that our culture had to offer. And it's a beautiful vision that still lives."*kisses for the Swan of Avon*
Friday, July 22, 2011
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Celebrate the Bard's Birthday!
Happy 447th birthday to Shakespeare! Let's celebrate by also making this "Talk Like Shakespeare Day"! More here!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Nerd Journal: Paper Given to Nerd Lord Today!
24 pages double-spaced, baby. Comparatively speaking, it's not that big or bad a nerd paper, but the Nerd Lord I gave it to is no ordinary Nerd Lord. He's The Big Kahuna, the Object of My Nerd Idolatry, the reason I went to my particular Nerdworld. Now to wait with bated breath until said mighty Nerd Lord gets back to me! Now, gentle reader, keep your fingers crossed that his response isn't this.
I can't rest much, though. I have more massive research obligations to do before fall classes start, but I'm fast running out of summer!
Still, I'm going to slack off for a little while because hey, I did just turn in 24 pages, all carefully footnoted and everything. Tomorrow I'm going to pick blueberries with a friend at a farm not too far away, and I just baked a big evil chocolate cake for myself! Oh, the whole apartment smells like fresh warm chocolate cake, and it is HEAVEN.
For now, though, I'll amuse you with something that fellow literature fan La Parisienne and I have been amusing ourselves with. Personally, I don't like Tennessee Williams, but I might have found the only thing that will make me look twice at a certain famous play of his. Oh, identify the play -- but it's basically a gimme.
I can't rest much, though. I have more massive research obligations to do before fall classes start, but I'm fast running out of summer!
Still, I'm going to slack off for a little while because hey, I did just turn in 24 pages, all carefully footnoted and everything. Tomorrow I'm going to pick blueberries with a friend at a farm not too far away, and I just baked a big evil chocolate cake for myself! Oh, the whole apartment smells like fresh warm chocolate cake, and it is HEAVEN.
For now, though, I'll amuse you with something that fellow literature fan La Parisienne and I have been amusing ourselves with. Personally, I don't like Tennessee Williams, but I might have found the only thing that will make me look twice at a certain famous play of his. Oh, identify the play -- but it's basically a gimme.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
A Little Shakespeare On Mother's Day For La Parisienne
All right, maybe I simply have a perverse and wicked sense of humor. On this Mother's Day, I give you the famous "queen's closet" scene from "Hamlet."
Mother's Day in Elsinore must have been murder!
The volcanic confrontation between Hamlet and his mother occurs in Act 3, Scene 4 (text here), and the performance is by the Royal Shakespeare Company, with David Tennant as Hamlet and Penny Downie as Queen Gertrude.
Take a look at the opening salvo:
Part One:
Part Two:
Mother's Day in Elsinore must have been murder!
The volcanic confrontation between Hamlet and his mother occurs in Act 3, Scene 4 (text here), and the performance is by the Royal Shakespeare Company, with David Tennant as Hamlet and Penny Downie as Queen Gertrude.
Take a look at the opening salvo:
Queen Gertrude: Why, how now, Hamlet!What follows is either scenery-chewing melodrama (if performed badly) or (if done well) sublimely modulated personal trauma of a once-loving relationship now destroyed, and I wouldn't give you a bad performance. Pay attention to how Tennant can turn on a dime where wildly conflicting emotions are involved and swing back and forth from an almost demonic energy to near-total prostration; it's an impressive performance indeed. Downie's Gertrude is fantastic too.
Hamlet: What's the matter now?
Queen Gertrude: Have you forgot me?
Hamlet: No, by the rood, not so:
You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife;
And -- would it were not so! -- you are my mother.
Part One:
Part Two:
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Nerd Fun, Shakespeare Edition: Film Versions of Hamlet's "To Be Or Not To Be" Speech
I am still obsessing about the Patrick Stewart/David Tennant version of "Hamlet" that aired a few nights ago on PBS (you can see the whole glorious thing online now at PBS), and I was also mentally comparing this film version to all the other film versions of "Hamlet" that I've seen.
It's been very interesting, so I thought I'd share my nerdy pleasures with you, O gentle reader. I can't link to all the films in their entirety, so I've given you just the "to be or not to be" speech.
What do you make of these different actors as they tackle this famous soliloquy?
David Tennant (2009/2010)
Sir Laurence Oliver (1948)
Richard Burton (1964)
Mel Gibson (1990)
Kenneth Branagh (1996)
Ethan Hawke (2000)
I would be remiss, though, if I did not give you the entire text of the speech itself:
To be, or not to be : that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.
(I dedicate this post to those lovelies La Parisienne and California Dreamer -- fellow fans of Shakespeare and David Tennant alike!)
Oh, I can't help myself. Here's more nerdy fun with (Sir!) Patrick Stewart:
UPDATE 1: I nearly forgot to remind you of this! Or this.
UPDATE 2: La Parisienne, this one's for you.
It's been very interesting, so I thought I'd share my nerdy pleasures with you, O gentle reader. I can't link to all the films in their entirety, so I've given you just the "to be or not to be" speech.
What do you make of these different actors as they tackle this famous soliloquy?
David Tennant (2009/2010)
Sir Laurence Oliver (1948)
Richard Burton (1964)
Mel Gibson (1990)
Kenneth Branagh (1996)
Ethan Hawke (2000)
I would be remiss, though, if I did not give you the entire text of the speech itself:
To be, or not to be : that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.
(I dedicate this post to those lovelies La Parisienne and California Dreamer -- fellow fans of Shakespeare and David Tennant alike!)
Oh, I can't help myself. Here's more nerdy fun with (Sir!) Patrick Stewart:
UPDATE 1: I nearly forgot to remind you of this! Or this.
UPDATE 2: La Parisienne, this one's for you.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Disgustingly Cute Monday Therapy: Shakespeare Lesson with Brian Cox
It's THE Brian Cox! As a character actor, he's nearly always quietly brilliant. Now take a look at this. You're never too young or old for a bit of "Hamlet." It's the most adorable thing you'll see all day.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Life Imitates Aristophanes: Real-Life "Lysistrata" in Kenya
The current news story. The ancient Greek comedy. Aristophanes would be proud.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Quirky Asia Files: Robot Actors in Japan
Of course it's Japan! Robots are acting on stage.
Can the day be far off when robots are grubbing for Oscars?
Still, the phenomenon of robots acting could explain Keanu Reeves's expressionless acting. He's a robot. Or something.
Can the day be far off when robots are grubbing for Oscars?
Still, the phenomenon of robots acting could explain Keanu Reeves's expressionless acting. He's a robot. Or something.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
October 25: Saint Crispin's Day
Here's a bit of background history, but this post is really an excuse for me to post one of Shakespeare's most stirring speeches. Go read Henry V! But, if you are in a hurry, I give you the following:
Here is the speech itself in its full verbal glory. Go read it aloud! With feeling!
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
From the 1989 Kenneth Branagh film version of Henry V (notice the very young Christian Bale).
Here is the speech itself in its full verbal glory. Go read it aloud! With feeling!
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
Friday, August 08, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Nerd + Geek Joy: Captain Picard is Macbeth
Fresh new from the Sibling:
"Star Trek" + Shakespeare!
Two of my favorite things! TOGETHER! Patrick Stewart live on stage as Macbeth! Here's the playbill cover.
Awesome.
The Sibling has suggested something utterly insane: trying to go see this when classes end in a few weeks. Yes, we are geeks! Yes, we are nerds! Yes, we love both "Star Trek" and Shakespeare, and we are in a state of nerdy excitement.
*MM runs off to ransack her piggy bank.*
PS: Here is "Macbeth" for you, too.
"Star Trek" + Shakespeare!
Two of my favorite things! TOGETHER! Patrick Stewart live on stage as Macbeth! Here's the playbill cover.
Awesome.
The Sibling has suggested something utterly insane: trying to go see this when classes end in a few weeks. Yes, we are geeks! Yes, we are nerds! Yes, we love both "Star Trek" and Shakespeare, and we are in a state of nerdy excitement.
*MM runs off to ransack her piggy bank.*
PS: Here is "Macbeth" for you, too.
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