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.

Not long ago in a galaxy not so far away I posted about showing some love to the histories. These days Shakespeare’s Histories seem to be getting a lot of love. The Royal Shakespeare Company is putting up a complete cycle of the Histories.

An article from the UK reminds us that the histories are still relevant today. Perhaps more now than ever. Why?

“…they offer a genuine state-of-the-nation epic, one that examines all aspects of a divided kingdom and shows how dynastic wrangling spreads like a disease.”

Check out the full story here. Also included are short commentaries on each of their histories and their significance today. It’s pretty neat stuff. The Histories really interest me. When first learning about Shakespeare I was under the impression that no one cared about the Histories. They were Shakespeare’s bad and boring plays. Then I saw Richard III. “Oooo… this is cool,” I thought. After that I was hooked. “Wait a minute… these are good!” Oh boy, I was pleasantly surprised.

Whiffler, famous for painting a portrait of his mother. Whiffler’s Mother. Wow… that was a lame joke.

whiffler (n.) IPA Pronunciation:
armed processional attendant

CHORUS
Behold, the English beach
Pales in the flood with men, with wives and boys,
Whose shouts and claps out-voice the deep mouth’d sea,
Which like a mighty whiffler ‘fore the king
Seems to prepare his way: so let him land,
And solemnly see him set on to London.
- Henry V (V.prologue)

To me, this word sound like it should be the name of a racket used to hit a Wiffle Ball. It doesn’t sound like what it is to me, but I suppose I’m not using my imagination to make it work. Either way this is a word that most readers and audiences are not likely to know so lets hope that the Chorus does his/her best to make sense of it for us, that a Whiffler clears the way for a procession.

Note that whiffler does have a different modern definition, in case you look it up in a modern dictionary. Today it can mean a person who frequently shifts opinions, attitudes, interests, etc. I don’t know if the definitions are at all related, but don’t get them confused!

Alan over at his blog, Shakespeare Experience, has recently written a post that would motivate me to give him a virtual hug if I could.

*hug*

That was nice. Anyway, I mentioned in a previous post my opinions about what makes Romeo and Juliet a tragedy. It’s not a happy ending. It’s not about a romantic ideal. These kids die a horrible death. It sucks.

Alan’s post Burn, Baby, BURN! says it a little better so I think you should give it a read and share your thoughts. Do you agree? Why or why not?

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!

Oh my goodness… that’s today. AHHHHH!!!!!

The Ides of March (March 15th) is famous as the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C. In the Roman calendar every month had an Ides! It was a basically day named to mark the middle of the month. It was the 15th day of the months March, May, July, and October. All the other months had theirs on the 13th.

Today most people only know of the Ides of March, made famous by the story of Julius Caesar as told by William Shakespeare. In the play, Caesar is parading down the street after a victory on the feast of Lupercal. A Soothsayer yells out from the crowd…

SOOTHSAYER. Caesar!
CAESAR. Ha? who calls?
CASCA. Bid every noise be still; peace yet again!
CAESAR. Who is it in the press that calls on me?
                I hear a tongue shriller than all the music
                Cry “Caesar!” Speak, Caesar is turn’d to hear.
SOOTHSAYER. Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR. What man is that?
BRUTUS. A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
CAESAR. Set him before me, let me see his face.
CASSIUS. Fellow, come from the throng, look upon Caesar.
CAESAR. What say’st thou to me now? Speak once again.
SOOTHSAYER. Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR. He is a dreamer, let us leave him. Pass.

- Julius Caesar (I.ii)