T-Shirts Are Shipping

Thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s Shakespeare is Universal fundraiser. Although we did not hit our original goal, the good folks at Teespring were generous enough to lower our goal number so that everybody could still get a shirt.

Those shirts are now shipping, I got mine this past weekend.  If you ordered one and have not yet received it, you may want to check with Teespring support. They are very, very good at responding to customer concerns. I am only the middle man, they will not let me have anything to do with account information or purchases.

Thanks again for  your support! As promised, a portion of the proceeds will be going to the American Cancer Society.

Review : That Shakespeare Kid

I’ve been trying to get out of the time wasting habit of checking my newsfeeds everytime I’m bored and have my phone handy, and have started working my way through my kids’ Kindle books. I suppose I could read more interesting things, but really, instead of pulling them over to read what I like, what’s the harm in reading what they like?

Recently I read That Shakespeare Kid, by Mike LoMonico. I first spotted Mike’s project about a year ago when he ran a Kickstarter to get the book published. My oldest daughter was actually one of the pre-readers, which is where we got our copy.

It’s hard to “review” a book like this because it is for kids, written in a kid’s voice, and sounds just like you’d think a 13yr old girl trying to tell you a very long story would sound. But, like I said a year ago, I’m in it for the Shakespeare.

The gimmick is that Peter gets hit on the head with a Riverside Shakespeare and wakes up able to speak only in Shakespeare quotes. He can write and text things fine, and he can understand everybody around him, but when it comes to vocalizing anything, it always comes out in surprisingly relevant Shakespeare quotes. The gimmick is silly, of course, but who cares. It’s fun. I was a little more annoyed with the giant plothole where Peter has to bring his friend Emma with him everywhere because “he communicates by texting her.”  So, then, he couldn’t just text other people equally well?

But I digress. The question I originally asked my daughter was, “Does he just use all the same old Shakespeare cliches that you already knew?” The pleasantly surprising answer is no, he doesn’t. Well, he does, but not exclusively so. There’s a wide range of quotes, some large, some small, most you’ll recognize, some you may not. I was very pleased to discover at the end of the book that Mr. Lomonico deliberately chose quotes from all of Shakespeare’s works, and even lists which play each quote came from.

If you’re a Shakespeare fan and you’d like to slip some Shakespeare in on your kids who are around that age, it’s a good book. The plot is all the usual stuff – boy and girl “friends” find themselves cast in Romeo and Juliet, have stress over the kissing, blah blah blah. But that’s what kids that age expect. I didn’t need all the pseudo-texting jargon that he worked in during the whole “Peter can communicate by texting” plotline, but I suppose it would sound more natural to its intended audience.

Do You Pay Attention To Hippolyta?

Another day, another Shakespeare discussion between Bardfilm and I. I’d found a Shakespeare lesson that asked, “How is Hippolyta’s reasoning concerning how quickly the next four days will pass different from that of Theseus?” and I was about to rip that lesson plan a new one about asking such stupid questions that focus the student’s attention on the minor details that do nothing but prove they read it, rather than appreciating the play as a whole.

“No, that’s a good question,” Bardfilm argued, “It involves interpretation of Hippolyta’s character and how to understand her relationship with Theseus—and whether it changes over the course of the play.” (I’m sure he won’t mind me quoting him here).

He goes on to discuss how a powerful statement can be made here. You’re starting with a prisoner of war being forced to marry someone unwillingly (he’s seen a production that involved bringing in Hippolyta in a cage!). Then you double Titania/Hippolyta, go on about the play, then return to a “softened” Hippolyta.

Now, I understand the “Every word Shakespeare wrote was important and he put it there for a reason, so find depth in it” school.  So I totally understand that you can find a powerful interpretation of Hippolyta’s transformation in what few lines she has. What I’m wondering is whether the audience, in general, cares? If I started polling audiences coming out of Midsummer, asking what parts they liked most, how many would pick anything about Theseus/Hippolyta at all? If I started asking “What did you think about Oberon? Bottom?  Hippolyta?” how many would say, “Wait, which one was Hippolyta?”

I’m just being realistic. She’s at the beginning of the play for a couple of lines, then at the end where most of her lines, like everybody else’s, involve heckling the mechanicals. Is it a stretch to go making powerful statements in what little material she has? Is it asking too much for the typical audience to get it at that level?

Shakespeare makes lives better. Find out how.

Kevin Spacey Talking Shakespeare on Jimmy Fallon

If you only get your clips from social media you might think that Kevin Spacey’s big moment on Jimmy Fallon last week was singing some barbershop quartet.  No thank you, we already have Dick van Dyke.

Instead, here’s a direct link to his segment about NOW : The Film, his behind-the-scenes documentary of their traveling Richard III:

“When we went to Spain, for some reason the subtitles weren’t above us, they were in the boxes beside us, you know, where people usually sit.  But we could see them. And it was a great lesson for me in ‘never look at the subtitles.’ Because one of my fellow actors had a line that went, ‘Yes, my lord’ and I looked over and it said, ‘Si, senor!'”

Yes, I am that much of a geek that I went looking for the line in question. And you know what? I can’t find it. I’m sure he’s just paraphrasing for the sake of the story, but if anybody can show me where there’s a line resembling “Yes my lord” in Richard III, I’m all ears.

What I did love was this line that I’m not sure people fully understood:

“I did over 200 performances as Richard III, it’s a wonder they didn’t find my bones in a parking lot somewhere.”

Watch the segment and see how little of a chuckle that gets 🙂  I laughed myself silly.

Shakespeare is Universal proves that Shakespeare makes life better by supporting cancer research. Please take a moment, visit the site, show the world your love for Shakespeare and support a great cause. Don’t leave without telling your friends and family. Surely you know somebody that would love one of our limited edition shirts. Available this year in multiple styles including long sleeve, v-neck and women’s styles. Multiple colors available!

What Would You Ask Sir Ian and Sir Patrick?

Every time I see a photo or video with Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen, I’m clicking.  I love those guys. There’s something about seeing two of today’s greatest actors just hanging out and being goofy one moment, and churning out some outstanding acting together (both on film and on stage) the next.  P.S. I’d like to think that one day we’ll be saying this about Zach Braff and Donald Faison.  It’s guy love, that’s all it is.

But here’s what drives me crazy. Despite Stewart and McKellen’s lengthy Shakespeare resumes, I hardly ever see them talking about it. When people get to ask questions, nobody asks a Shakespeare question.

So let’s pretend. Let’s say that I’ve got Sir Patrick and Sir Ian here on stage with me at the first annual Shakespeare Geek Convention, that I haven’t completely fainted yet (got a little woozy just typing that), and we’re taking questions from the audience. There’ll be no Star Trek, Lord of the Rings or X-Men references today, people!  Nothing but Shakespeare questions. You only get one, which can be to either one or to both equally.

Here’s mine:

“Sir Ian,” (Sir Ian, Sir Ian, Sir Ian…), “Christopher Plummer performed his Prospero a few years back and that said that’s it for him, there were no more great roles for men his age. Dame Helen Mirren recently said a similar thing about roles for older women.  How do you feel about that?  Sir John Gieldgud was still performing Shakespeare into his nineties. You’ve played Prospero, you’ve played Lear, is there going to come a day when you too will retire from Shakespeare because there are no more roles for you?”

I was going to ask Sir Patrick an entirely different question about Claudius’ shrug when he drinks the poison, but I looked at the two questions and decided I like this one better.  Plus I don’t expect he’d answer that one.

Shakespeare is Universal proves that Shakespeare makes life better by supporting cancer research. Please take a moment, visit the site, show the world your love for Shakespeare and support a great cause.  Don’t leave without telling your friends and family. Surely you know somebody that would love one of our limited edition shirts. Available this year in multiple styles including long sleeve, v-neck and women’s styles. Multiple colors available!