WordPlay™ Shakespeare

Now, Half the Page is a Stage...

Shakespeare in Translation

if You Can't Get to Stratford, Try Fuzhou

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In yet another indicator of Shakespeare's influence and reach, a project to build a replica of Shakespeare's hometown is now underway. In addition to celebrating the life of the Bard, Sanweng (meaning "Three Masters") the town will highlight the works of Tang Xianzu, and Miguel de Cervantes. By happy (for us) coincidence, all three master poet/playwrights died the same year, 1616. More.

Selfie Taught

shakespeare-selfie-2018

The
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation just closed submissions for its Shakespeare writing contest entitled the Selfie Student Writing Challenge, a simple idea where students are asked to write a soliloquy or monologue in Shakespearean style of up to 400 words, on some modern subject or pop culture issue. It may be simple, but it's clever too, and perhaps worth putting into your school's curriculum…

AMND, in ASL

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Great
news article out of Washington, on a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, that will be co-produced in English and American Sign Language. Yet another barrier broken down.

Star Wars Shakespeare Parody Series to Continue

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Ian Doescher scored quite a hit several years ago by creating a Elizabethan parody of the Star Wars films (more or less every title tacking "etc" to the end of a word or two and giving it a Shakespearean language veneer). With six tomes under his belt, the next in the series is due out July 7, as announced by Star Wars website. Whatever its limitations in terms of introducing readers to Shakespeare's language, it does certainly convey the rhythm and affect of Shakespeare's work, and can surely only help for students who struggle to understand his language.

Eat, Drink, and Watch Shakespeare!

Boozing Bard

Turns out, you can attend a performance of Shakespeare, and drink your way through it all. Unorthodox to modern ears, but as this article from NPR points out, likely the approach (for audience members at least) from Elizabethan times. And the name of the troupe? Why, The Drunk Shakespeare Society, of course!

Shakespeare: The Cure for Intellectual Lazyness?

Skull with Crown

(Simón Prades for The Washington Post/For The Washington Post)
A good (if not slightly harsh) review of modern perspectives on Shakespeare. Are we too timid with our productions? Is "relevance" overblown"? More.

Oh my...



It looks as if TNT will be releasing a "biopic" of young William Shakespeare. One hesitates to think what they will do with history…

The Stage Design Was Quite Laconic...

Russian actor in strange headgear and dark glasses.
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.

Shakespeare in Mandarin

Poster for a performnce of Shakespeare's Hamlet in Mandarin Chinese
Tremendous article in the Financial Times detailing the possibilities and pitfalls in translating Shakespeare's works into Mandarin. More.