The Play's the Thing

Are any of you peeps out there from the NC area?  If so, have I got great news for you!

There are so many Shakespeare productions in the Triangle this Spring!  I'll share a few upcoming with you:

Romeo and Juliet at Burning Coal Theatre in Raleigh.  I saw this one and it was phenomenal.  They aren't afraid to make the play less serious in its romantic endeavors, and Romeo and Juliet act like giddy, fools in love, rather than the extra-serious and overly dramatic renditions that come across nowadays as a bit archaic.  Plainly put, Juliet acts like an infatuated teenage girl and Romeo acts like a man in love with being in love - and bounds across the stage with the joy of it.  It's crucial for there to be a solid comic in Mercutio, and this one certainly has one.  I highly recommend - though the run is almost over.  Don't wait!

Much Ado About Nothing at Raleigh Little Theatre.

This is one of my favorite plays - who could keep from loving Beatrice and Benedick?  No one, that's who.  This show opened last night and I already have my tickets.  Check out their showtimes to see if you're interested in a Much Ado version set in post-WWII America.  I know I am!

The Tempest at Titmus Theatre at Thompson Hall - NC State University.
2/27/2015 ONLY

New York’s acclaimed Aquila Theatre - the foremost producer of touring classical theatre in the United States – returns to NC State with two new productions of classic works. "The Tempest" is Shakespeare’s famous tale of forgiveness and enlightenment. Believed to be his final play, it is imbued with magic, the supernatural, and a heightened sense of theatricality. DO NOT MISS THIS.

A Midsummer Night's Dream at Raleigh Little Theatre in the Rose Garden

Mischievous sprites, lost lovers, and bumbling rustics cross paths in a magical night under the towering trees, fairy ferns, and blooming roses of the Raleigh Rose Garden.  Bring your chairs, picnics, and the whole family for this fanciful 90 minute evening of Fun!  Can you imagine how fun it will be to see this story told with actual woods surrounding it?

Equivocation. n.

1. the use of ambiguous expressions, especially in order to mislead or hedge

2. Logic. a fallacy caused by the double meaning of a word. 

England, 1605: A terrorist plot to assassinate King James I and blow Parliament to kingdom come with 36 barrels of devilish gunpowder! 

Shagspeare (after a contemporary spelling of the Bard’s name) is commissioned by Robert Cecil, the prime minister, to write the “true historie” of the plot. And it must have witches! The King wants witches! But as Shag and the acting company of the Globe, under the direction of the great Richard Burbage, investigate the plot, they discover that the King’s version of the story might, in fact, be a cover-up.

Shag and his actors are confronted with the ultimate moral and artistic dilemma. Speak truth to power—and perhaps lose their heads? Or take the money and lie? Is there a third option—equivocation? 

Sounds good to me!

There are more coming up later in the spring, including Macbeth and Measure for Measure, but there isn't as much info about them as of yet.  Perhaps I'll have to do another extra post about them then!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine and MOAR Shakespeare

Guys!  Guys, guys, guys!

There have been TWO more reference to Shakespeare in my favorite show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine!  Do you know what this means?!  It either means A. The writers know I watch this show. Or B. Shakespeare permeates our society at a very deep level.

I'm just going to say it's both.

So this is what happened!

FIRST: Gina decided to get Amy drunk because she's never seen six-drink Amy.  She thinks she could be friends with this so-called six-drink Amy and refers to her as her Sasquatch.

Amy: Gina!  You got to see the Sasquatch.  Was it everything you drumpt?

Gina: It was the stuff drumpts are made of.

This is from The Tempest.  It's not word for word, but that's my favorite part.  The phrase "stuff dreams are made of" is a common enough phrase that it's just something people say.  Just something people say FROM SHAKESPEARE!  It gets me very excited.

The line is from a speech by Prospero in the tempest about fairies, pageants and visions.

You do look, my son, in a moved sort,
As if you were dismayed. Be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air.
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself—
Yea, all which it inherit—shall dissolve,
And like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
Act 4 Scene 1

Prospero subtly references the very theater the original actors were performing in: "the great globe itself," as in the Globe Theater.  It's lovely and falls in line with the idea of "All the world's a stage."  We are made of such illusions.

What are your interpretations of the speech?

And SECOND: A phenomenal rethinking of the merits of having Romeo and Juliet as your romance role models.

 

Jake: We can make this work! We're Romeo and Juliet!

Sophia: It didn't work for Romeo and Juliet.  That play ends in a tragic double suicide.

Jake: That's how it ends?  Why do people like it so much?

Aaahh you speak my language, Jake!  [See my previous post on JUST THIS ISSUE!]

Anywho, it looks like this is what I do with my time now.  Here we are.


P.S. On a completely unrelated note, every since my grad class on Chaucer, I can't help but pronounce "two" the middle English way, if only to myself. (Chaucer's works are often misstated as being Old English - 'tis not so!)  So what would that sound like?  Well, like it's spelled, duh. Hint: it rhymes with grow.

Why, Happy New Year!

Hi again, good citizens,

Welp.  The holidays are officially over and I am back!  It was a busy December, but I am not complaining.  I defended my thesis, graduated, and then did tons of Christmas celebration with the family.  I even made Wassail Punch!  Good stuff all around.

To get us back in the swing of things, here comes another list of cultural creations that are Shakespeare-inspired that maybe you didn't know were Shakespeare-inspired.  Fun times, yes?

Let's do another batch of three, okie dokie?


The Fault in Our Stars

Maybe this one is obvious, or maybe not so much.  I don't know.  But I'm including it here.  This is a very popular book that was just released as a major motion picture!  This novel is about childhood cancer, finding love, and living life, even among the darkest and briefest of circumstances.  The title is inspired by a line from Julius Caesar. 

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 2,

It's a beautiful book, and I love the way the quote is turned around.  Cassius is trying to convince Brutus that we rule and govern ourselves - the stars do not.  But with something like childhood cancer, things are not so clear.  And so Green is turning that control outward, to say that even with a flawed destiny and a short life, therein you can create a little infinity.


Brave New World

This is a novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley. Set in London of AD 2540 (632 A.F.—"After Ford"—in the book), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that combine profoundly to change society. It's a very interesting read.  The title comes from Shakespeare's The Tempest and is uttered in excitement by Miranda, daughter of Prospero, who has known nothing of the world except the island upon which she and her father live. 

O wonder!
How many godly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't.
Act V, Scene 1.

It's also a very well-known phrase, and there are many variations of it floating around everywhere.  I'd claim the movie, "In a World" riffs off the idea in their use of the line, "It's a broad new world." I'm certain there are many great examples of its use in colloquial references.  Can you think of any others?


Better Days by Citizen King

Everyone knows this song!

I've seen better days!
I've been star of many plays,
I've seen better days,
And the bottom drops out.

Well, whether they knew it or not (I'm going to say they totes knew - look at the 'play' reference in the lyrics!), the term "seen better days" was first recorded use was in the play, Sir Thomas More (Act 4, Scene 4) in 1590.  The work is anonymous, but has been at least in part attributed to Shakespeare.  He also used the phrase (We have seen better days) in his other works, including Timon of Athens (Act 4, Scene 2) and As You Like It (Act 2, Scene 7).


Okay, so that was informative and moderately fun, right? Cool!

Have a lovely Monday, and I hope you enjoyed this edition of That's Shakespeare?! Who Knew!

Let Shakespeare Write Your Greeting Card

Greeting and good morrow!

So I have been thinking about the holidays, because IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN, and I have come to the conclusion that if we, as a culture, have agreed that there is no better way to show your affections to your loved ones in cards than with words written by other people, then those words should be Shakespeare's, by golly!

Jokes aside, in case you don't know this about me, I just love receiving and sending greeting cards - especially long-distance ones.  I think that in a time of increased casual communication, the extra effort goes a long way.

So I've picked out a few of my favorite cards that feature the Bard.  You can buy them, be inspired by them, or just smile and move along.  The choice is yours!

Personal fav: Holiday Hooch!

Anniversary or Valentine's

Friend's Birthday

Thank You Card

Hope you liked these.  There will probably be more in the future.  And yes, today's post was short.  But I am hella sick, and all I wanna do is dance sleep.