November 2016
Shakespeare's Own Drama
An excellent overview by Stanley Wells of the drama (broadly speaking) that William Shakespeare experienced in his own family affairs. More.
Bone of Contention
November/23/2016 15:33 Uncategorized
We like spoonerisms and incomprehensible theater reviews, but we love dogs, so when we saw this piece of advice with a Shakespearean twist at the end, we had to post! Happy Thanksgiving (and don't let your dog eat cooked bone, it seems...) Hat tip to barkbox (with whom we have no affiliation.)
- We know, we know! Dog and Bone feels like the Romeo & Juliet of the dinner table: who are we to keep them apart? But cooked bones can splinter and become a choking hazard. And that makes for one seriously unhappy ending. “For never was a story of more woe than this of Drooliet… and her Boneo.”
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The Stage Design Was Quite Laconic...
November/21/2016 15:31 Interpretation | Performance | Reviews | Shakespeare | Shakespeare in Translation | Taming of the Shrew
We can't say we fully (or even partially) understand this review of Taming of the Shrew by the Russian Kachalov Theatre, but in the spirit of acknowledging Shakespeare's global reach, we put it forward here. Opaque though the commentary may be, it certainly seems like a visually arresting production. More.
Analogy Lovers, Start Your Engines!
November/20/2016 15:28 Contemporaries | Interpretation | Language | Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Relevance | Textual Analysis
The Guardian proposes that Leonard Cohen is to Bob Dylan, as John Donne was to Shakespeare. Discuss...More.
The More You Like Each Other, The Meaner You Can Be!
Great interview with David Oyelowo, who plays Othello against Daniel Craig's Iago at The New York Theater Workshop starting November 22. More.
Shakespeare in Mandarin
November/11/2016 15:23 Interpretation | Language | Performance | Shakespeare | Shakespeare in Translation
Tremendous article in the Financial Times detailing the possibilities and pitfalls in translating Shakespeare's works into Mandarin. More.
Comparing Hamilton to Henry IV, part 1.
November/09/2016 15:19 Language | Scholarship | Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Relevance | Textual Analysis
Isaac Butler, compares Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton, with Shakespeare's Henry IV, part 1 -- (proper title: 1 Henry IV) in this complex but well reasoned piece for Slate. More.
What do the words "magazine", "coffee", and "alcohol" have in common?
This delightful article by Madeline White in the Brisbane Times provides the answer: provenance. These three words are very much part of today's English lexicon, but all three originated from the Arabic language. The point? That historically, the English language has proved very adept at incorporating elements from other languages into the vernacular - with Shakespeare in the lead as an arch-shaper of that language, and emoji as the latest digital import into English. Ms. White makes the case better than we can! More.
Westworld and Shakespeare
Michael Crichton leaned heavily on Shakespeare's words when writing Westworld. What does it all mean? More.
Tina Packer on Shakespeare and the Election Cycle
Great radio piece on WBUR's Radio Boston (and the as-always excellent Meghna Chakrabarti) with Tina Packer addressing our current election discussion through Shakespeare's eyes. More.
Glenda Will Howl
Celia Imrie and Glenda Jackson in a rehearsal of “King Lear” at the Old Vic. Credit Manuel Harlan.
After a quarter century absence, two time Oscar winner and former English member of parliament Glenda Jackson will return to the stage this Friday, to play one of the most challenging of Shakespeare's roles - King Lear. More.
Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet At 20
Leonard DiCaprio and Claire Danes in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet
The Guardian re-reviews Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet on its 20th anniversary. More.
We Almost Lost 16 Plays...
George M. Bodman Professor of English David Kastan speaks at Drew
Yale scholar David Kastan speaks at Drew University, and explains how the first folio saved at least 16 of Shakespeare's plays from obscurity. A close call. More.
Hamlet's Father...and Halloween
John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities Stephen Greenblatt.
Leading Harvard Shakespeare Scholar Stephen Greenblatt launches a new MOOC today, entitled "Hamlet's Ghost". More.