Friends, Readers of this blog, Countrymen, lend me your rears!

I know some of you who read this scour the net for anything Shakespeare. At some point for a variety of reasons everyone needs to find something on Shakespeare online: the texts, summaries, history, scholarship, questions, answers, blogs, whatever.

In the digital age I think it’s important to recognize where we are and what we still need to do. So many old texts are now being digitized and are freely available online. Google Books makes research a breeze! Quarto texts online make editing Shakespearean texts quicker. All the information we want is at our fingertips! Or is it?

Here’s a question for you: what DOESN’T the internet have – Shakespeare related, of course – that you would like to see, or something you’d like to see improved?

Why do I ask? I’m curious.

That’s a common response to the following: “What are you reading?” I show them the cover.

I’m reading Shakespeare, it must mean it’s for school right? That’s the idea in most people’s heads. It isn’t really surprising to me, but I find it funny that the idea that I might be reading some of Shakespeare’s works for anything other than school rarely crosses people’s minds. Hm… I wonder why that is.

Then I reply with something like, “No, just for fun. I like it…. one of the few who do.” Which often elicits a small laugh. The conversation occasionally continues with “I haven’t heard of that one.” “Yeah, it’s not one of the ‘big ones.’” “Oh.”

Just another day in the life of Shakespeare Nerd. Non-stop entertainment!

The Shakespeare Geek has put the question out there for all to ponder, as well as a link to a chapter on that very subject.

This is a huge topic of debate among scholars, and a big consideration for a director who is casting the play. There’s a lot of info out there, a lot of it can be found in the link above. I’ll post some of the info I’ve gathered at a later date. Many seem to settle on the idea that Hamlet is 30 years old. The gravedigger in act V in the First Folio gives us a few clues about that…

I always thought that 30 is just too old for Hamlet. It often seems to me that saying he’s that age was justification for older actors to be able to take on the role. I’m not a fan of seeing 45 year-olds playing opposite a mother their same age. It’s common on stage. Richard Burton, I think, was 39 when he played the role in the version that is on video. He just looked so old! Kenneth Branagh was 36 in his movie. Derek Jacobi in the BBC video version was 42! Mel Gibson was 34 but the beard added 10 years.

Hamlet’s in school, that should make him young-ish. I like the age range of 21, maybe a little older, quite possibly younger. If he seemed a little younger I think that’d be fine. I think the drama (and the tragedy) is heightened when an audience sees this KID going through all this. The bright young lad who would be king.

So is Hamlet older than he seems, or is it such a great role that one would rather cast an older, “better” actor. Naturally with age comes maturity, experience, wisdom, and more skill to an actor. Hamlet is such a huge role (in every aspect) perhaps some think the requirements of the role are too great to burden a younger actor.

With the different sources of Shakespeare’s texts telling us different things it’s impossible to know for sure. His age may have been changed somewhere along in the writing and revising process. Something important when the play is being staged… does it work? Will I believe this old man is the son of this woman? A lot of theatre is about suspending disbelief, but even that has limits sometimes. Look through Hamlet again. How old does he seem to you? There doesn’t seem to be a right answer here. I had an acting teacher who said he was about 34. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that he was about 34 and really wanted to play Hamlet. I still think Hamlet’s much younger than that… around twenty. But don’t take my word for it!

After asking visitors of Ask500People.com if they had a good experience with Shakespeare in school, I decided to ask another.

After the many intriguing responses to my question on the blog if you had read all of Shakespeare’s works, I wanted to get more specific with this little survey.

I asked, “How many of Shakespeare’s plays have you read?” I got 127 responses. Their option were 1-5, 5-10, 10-20, and more than 20. I realize now that I created an overlap. It should be 1-5, 6-10, etc. Oh well. Anyhoo, 70% of the responses said that they had read between one and five of Shakespeare’s plays. 4% had read more than 20. There were also two comments left that said they had read none. See more results here.

The results aren’t super accurate with only 127 votes, but probably close-ish to the the average in the US (where most of the responses were from). I can’t say I was surprised… but I wish I could make the options more specific. Ask500people only lets you give 4 options. The comments that said “none” surprised me a little. I know there are people out there that have not read Shakespeare, but I do forget sometimes. It seems a little odd to me since it’s usually required reading in school.

If you haven’t read all of the plays, feel free to leave your number. But in response to this flawed poll, what do you think? Should people be required to read more Shakespeare in school? I only was required to read two in high school!!! Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth. We studied Midsummer in Junior High as well, but not very closely as far I can remember. Is that enough? Do you think the average of plays read will increase as programs like Stand Up For Shakespeare gain more support? Or will Shakespeare always be the author who “isn’t for everybody”?

I finished season one of Slings and Arrows today. I’m in love with the show. There aren’t a lot of movies or TV shows about what I do with my life (theatre, especially shakespeare), and the fact that the show is amazing AND is about with what I love to do…. AHHH!!! I love it.

I couldn’t help myself, I started season two right away. I would continue but then I wouldn’t get any sleep. If only there weren’t so many other things to do… I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.

I’ve been in a survey mood lately, so I’m going to ask more questions. I like hearing your responses.

A little over a week ago I found the website Ask500People, which gives you the chance to ask a question to whoever happens to stumble across that website, as well as visitors of your own site if you choose to put the poll on it. I asked the question, “Did you have a good experience studying Shakespeare in school?” You can click on that to vote and/or see the results.

As of now, when I am posting this I have 130 responses. 57% of the voters answered yes, 43% answered no. Out of 6 comments, 5 left responses saying they had a negative experience. Most the the responses I got were from North America, but a few from elsewhere.

With only 130 answers, this isn’t a great representation of the average school Shakesperience, but it was interesting to see these numbers. To be honest I was expecting more people to have answered No. Even so, that’s a lot of people who didn’t have fun with Shakespeare in school. With all this talk about Shakespeare in schools, especially with the RSC launching their Stand Up For Shakespeare program, I think it’s good to see where we’ve come from and where we want to be headed with Shakespeare in Education.

And now I invite you to leave a comment here about YOUR Shakespeare experiences in school. When were you first required to read one of his plays? Which play? Did you get to get up and perform at all? Whatever you want to share I’d like to hear. I’ll post my experiences soon, though I’m sure your story is more interesting than mine.

I wonder… how many people would you guess have read everything contained in a volume of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare? All 37 plays, all 154 sonnets, A Lover’s Complaint, The Passionate Pilgrim, Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, and The Phoenix and the Turtle.

I’d imagine not many have. I’ll admit that I haven’t, but I’m working on it. I’ll be there soon! I keep putting off reading certain things which is rather silly of me. Do you know anyone who has? Have you? If so, do you brag about it often? I know I will as soon as I finish! Well maybe not often, but I’ll brag every now and then. It’s fun to brag.

More importantly, what insights, understanding, and wisdom do you think one gains from reading all of Shakespeare’s works in comparison to reading just the popular ones? If you’ve read most of them you’re also welcome to answer the question.

Having read MOST of the works I enjoy seeing similar passages, images, or situations in multiple plays. I say “Oooh, that’s kind of like when X says Y in the play Z!” There are a lot of other happy happenings from reading most or all of Shakespeare, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.

You may or may not be familiar with a Canadian TV show called Slings and Arrows, a show about a theatre company! A Shakespeare Festival at that. Wow! Sounds great already, right?

Well I just found the first season and started watching. Being the Shakespeare nerd that I am, you might find it amazing that I haven’t watched it yet. Even I’m amazed at myself! Especially after watching the first episode, I’m hooked. Why didn’t I ever pick this up before? S&A fans, you are welcome to chide me for my ignorance of this wonderful show. It’s so refreshing to see a show that I can really relate to. I can’t REALLY identify with the characters on Lost, Heroes, or House, even if they are great shows. But when I see people doing theatre, Shakespeare even, I’m immediately sucked in.

Get on NetFlix and find this series! I’ll be watching a lot of it over the next little while, so you might hear back from me on this. Or if you’re watching it too, feel free to comment or email me and we can discuss the show!