Check-in

Howdy there, friends and countrymen!

I haven't been working too diligently on this project with my recent move and an autumn where I never unpacked my suitcase, but I'm still committed, oh yes. I finished Henry V and decided to take a little break from the bloodshed. Expect to see my plea that you read this play very soon.

In the meantime, it may be of interest:

Consummate hottie and super spy* Christopher Marlowe has been given an official writer's credit on all three of Shakespeare's Henry VI plays. I know I've said this before, but one of my favorite things about doing this project has been that my Google alert for all things Shakespeare keeps paying off. The guy still gets around.

Speaking of which, "Minneapolis Shakespeare" led me to this gem: Masquerade at Bernard's, which is nothing less than Weekend at Bernie's done in the style of Shakespeare. Playing now at the Phoenix Theater if you're interested. (And you know you are.)

I'll be back soon. The plan, now that I've read Henry V, is to read the other plays theorized to have been written in 1599: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and As You Like It, followed up by James Shapiro's A Year in the Life biography.

So now you know.

* He'd tell you more, but he'd have to stab you in the eye. Also, he's dead from being stabbed in the eye.

HIATUS.

Don't worry, friends. I'll be back after my move with big stories to tell, some of which might actually be about Shakespeare.

Weekly Wrap-Up #6

Not a lot got done this week, and not just because adorable kittens like to fall asleep in my text. The lag is most due to the fact that:

* I'm still stuck in Henry V, but I have started to move forward. I'm once again attempting the help of the Chop Bard podcast which I LOVE but is so glitchy on every platform I try that it's still 50/50 whether I would recommend it to anyone. (I have one major malfunction every episode but have been able to push through.) So, hopefully, by next week I'll have something else to talk about.

* I also watched 1985's Just One of the Guys, which is loosely based on Twelfth Night. It was ridiculous in both good ways and bad ways and, since it was directed by a woman, killed two birds with one stone.

See also:

* Peace, Good Tickle-Brain. This site is awesome and all Shakespeare comics all the time. I seriously need The Complete Works of Shakespeare... in Three Panels Each. Right up my alley.

I'll be back next week having seen another performance, but you'll have to wait to see which. I'm going into this one blind - knowing absolutely nothing about the play at all - so it should be a fun experiment.

Weekly Wrap-Up #4 and #5.

A couple weeks' worth since I went on a jaunt to Minnesota last weekend. In the past two weeks, I:

* saw South Dakota Shakespeare Festival's production of The Winter's Tale, which was wonderful even in 100 degree (38 C) weather. Pictured above is the most excellent stage direction ever: [Exit, pursued by a bear].

* watched RSC/Tennant's Hamlet and started out kind of upset that it wasn't my favorite thing ever: it took a while to get on board with the direction they went with this production. (I expect it to be polished like a movie with good sound, good editing, etc, OR a filming of a stage production. In reality, it's halfway between the two which is kind of jarring.)

The acting is top notch, though, and by the time Hamlet kills Polonius I was all in. I know that scene is pretty far into the play, don't get me wrong, but I still think you should probably watch this. The soliloquies made me a feel a lot of things and raised goosebumps that I wouldn't have thought possible given that I have heard those speeches a thousand times.

* read Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 and wrote about both here.

* read Henry V in a tent in the woods. If you can believe it, I didn't get through much of it, but I do hope that I get to whip that out in the future. "Oh, Henry the Fifth? I read that in a tent in northern Minnesota on the eve of my 32nd birthday." Bam.

I'm sort of stuck in the middle of this, so it doesn't seem likely that I'll get to reading A Midsummer Night's Dream like I planned this summer. Might jump straight to the 1599 biography, which I bought this week... on solstice, so maybe that makes up for it.

* participated in an online watchalong of the 1999 A Midsummer Night's Dream. Hoping to get invited to a MND-themed party someday. Seriously, if you've never watched a movie with someone hundreds of miles away over Twitter (especially if that someone wasn't an iggle), you should get on it.

Also also also:

* Pre-orders are live for the computer game Elsinore, based on Hamlet. I'm not a gamer by nature, but I want to figure out how to be one to play this. Very female-driven, which is sometimes hard to find in the world of Shakespeare.

* Check out Hogarth Imprint's Shakespeare Project. Seriously. Margaret Atwood's The Tempest? Gillian Flynn's Hamlet? Dreams do come true.

Speech of the week: Richard II, II,1

This speech is delivered by John of Gaunt, who is having a rough time. His son has been banished and, just before his own death, he delivers a harrowing and beautiful prediction of what is to become of England.

I first heard this speech given by Simon Russell Beale during the RSC's Shakespeare Live broadcast. It was bone-chillingly dark, though you are more likely to hear it given as distressed and mad.

Methinks I am a prophet new inspired
And thus expiring do foretell of him:
His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last,
For violent fires soon burn out themselves;
Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short;
He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes;
With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder:
Light vanity, insatiate cormorant,
Consuming means, soon preys upon itself.
This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England...

Gone camping.

Don't worry, though. Shakespeare is always around.

I'll be back next week with stories of trying to read out of my giant Shakespeare text... in a tent with a flashlight.

I'll also be a year older when I get back, so happy birthday to me!

Why Henry IV is worth reading.

(Yes, it's two plays and yes, you should read both parts.)

I have recently realized that I'm a pretty big fan of the histories and Henry IV parts 1 and 2 are the ones I remember best from college. Here are a few reasons you should give these plays a chance:

1) Falstaff. He's one of the most referenced comedic characters in the English language. His insults are dirty and prolific, and he breaks up the drearier parts of the text with his shenanigans. (Example: he actively takes bribes from prospective troops looking to get out of duty while trying to muster them for battle. This leaves him with quite the shabby brigade.)

Do yourself a favor, watch these comedic scenes while you're reading or soon afterward. They are a great example of why plays need to be more than just words on a page.

2) Prince Hal. Oh, the prodigal son. Prince Hal has had my heart since the moment I encountered him. A lovable ruffian, Hal wasn't raised to be king but knows it's going to be plopped in his lap soon enough. He hangs out with his buddy Falstaff, boozes and hits the brothels, and commits highway robbery for fun. (Literally.) That being said, he knows that someday he'll have to come around to his duties and is looking forward to dazzling everyone with his "nice boy" transformation.

3) Continuity. If you're reading any of the other plays in the Henriad (Richard II and Henry V, which you should absolutely be considering), then you need these. The events in these plays, while not historically so close to each other, are stacked in pretty quick succession in Shakespeare World.

4) History. Speaking of Shakespeare World, don't take the events in these plays as gospel truth. (Shakespeare invents characters, changes ages to make people more interesting, and fast forwards through the boring bits of history.) But if you're interested in English monarchic history or how the Elizabethans perceived their roots, these are a must read.

5) Badassery. You're in it to win it, friend. You've got to read this is you're interesting in reading Shakespeare's works. So do it.

Speech of the week: Hamlet, II,2

A lot of attention gets paid to the "to be or not to be" soliloquy, but I have discovered a new love. Hamlet delivers this monologue in Act II scene 2, in a conversations with his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who have just arrived "unbidden" to visit him at Elsinor Castle. (Do yourself a favor and read it aloud.)

...I have of late--but
wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth, forgone all
custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not
me...

I haven't before now read Shakespeare as a writer. I fancied myself pretty good at words, but in 2010 wrote my first play and first novel (unpublished works, just for me, but accomplishments nonetheless). I sit here thinking of what it must be like to have a mind that can string things like the above together and find myself sorely lacking.

But it is an awfully big ruler with which to measure myself.

My summer reading list.

(Spoiler alert: it's Shakespeare.)

It's cute and trendy for bloggers to share what their summer reading lists are, so I thought I'd get specific about mine.

For the rest of June (that's my calendar up there, because I love that kind of stuff), I'm working on Henry IV parts one and two and Henry V. It is very possible I will take a break from the histories around solstice to read A Midsummer's Night Dream.

July will be all about Henry VI (there are three parts to this play - never let it be said that Shakespeare ACTUALLY believed that brevity is the soul of wit). There's one English history play after that, Richard III, and then I'm out of the woods... until Henry VIII. Not sure when I'll read that.

Originally I intended to read all of the tragedies next because of some random internet-advice I got, but I'm thinking of breaking things up. In August, I intend to jump into Shakespeare's life in the year 1599 with this biography*, and read the plays written that year (according to the author): Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and Hamlet. (Henry V was apparently also written about then, but I'll have already read it.) And hey, if I have a good time with that, I may follow up with this biography by the same author in September and read King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra.

The above is to be crammed around road trips and moving house (hopefully), birthdays and weddings, grocery store trips and live performances. I do have more time than the average person to devote to this project, but I have faith busier people could get it done.

(For those about to Bard, I salute you.)

* I do not use affiliate links on this blog and therefore do not make any money if you click.

Weekly Wrap-Up #3

In addition to downloading a million Much Ado About Nothing gifs to my phone this week, I:

* read Henry IV Part 1 (a little later than anticipated). I tried using the podcast Chop Bard instead of my usual Shmoop or SparkNotes to help me navigate, but I was having some trouble with this approach. First, twelve one-hour long episodes is a lot more time than I would normally devote to reading a play. Using my usual tactics, I could read and watch interpretations for at least two in that time. Second, I have had more trouble getting this podcast to play than anything in the history of ever. It's a lot of fun if you can make it work, but I can't, so I'm back to Shmoop.

I still recommend the podcast, but only if you're listening to the current season. It seems that every series that gets archived is going to be like pulling teeth to listen to regardless of the app you use.

* watched the Tennant/Tate Much Ado About Nothing with some good friends, including Blake, pictured here watching intently.

World's newest Shakespeare fan (he turns two this month), after the play was over, he shouted "Again!". My day was made.

I now own this production and feel it's worth it for the rewatch, but renting it is a good option too if you don't want to spend the money.

* did some tipsy highlighting of Much Ado (Act 5, Scene 1 specifically). I'm afraid to go back and look at the damage I caused... to both the scene and my liver. Ha! (I know this is a bit out of order, but I technically haven't read the play yet, so there's still more to come. It's not all drunk annotation and mixtapes.)

* finally received my 400th Anniversary Shakespeare set from the BBC, pictured here with my text. There are a couple of fun reasons to own this, but what sold me was getting an interpretation of Richard II through Richard III for not much more than buying Hamlet on its own. The rest is bonus.

* dropped the pointy corner of the giant text, pictured above, on my foot. I have a nice bruise.

And for fun:

* You've all watched Jim Meskimen's Richard III video, right? He does two dozen celebrity impressions during the course of Clarence's speech and it's wonderful.

Horribly in Love: a Benedick + Beatrice mixtape

I have a lot of feelings about this, you guys. A LOT. After watching the Tennant/Tate Much Ado, I already had two songs in mind for this mixtape. Put yourself in the frame of mind of two people who may have had something going on at one point, still have a lot of feelings about it, but aren't together anymore. Then click play:

Him: "She Knows" by John Fullbright*

She knows a thing or two about me she didn't learn in passing.

She knows I'm scared of the dark, she knows I'll bleed on command,
She knows I'll shut my mouth if she'll take my hand,
And just how cruel I can be. She knows a thing or two about me.

Her: "A Case of You" by Joni Mitchell

I met a woman, She had a mouth like yours 
She knew your life,  She knew your devils and your deeds 
And she said 
"Go to him, stay with him if you can,  But be prepared to bleed." 

The rest are gravy. I give you a hint of where I think they'd fall in the play, but it's up to you to agree with me or not:

Them: "I May Hate You Sometimes" by the Posies
One-sided love: "If It Kills Me" by Jason Mraz
Writing letters: "If I Wrote You" by Dar Williams
Writing songs: "Happy" by John Fullbright

And a few more to round us out:
"Lover to Lover" by Florence and the Machine
"Our Day Will Come" by Amy Winehouse
"Love Has Brought Me Around" by James Taylor
"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by Carole King (ugh, you guyssss all of the feelings.**)
"Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones
"Very First Time" by John Fullbright ***

* I apologize for the number of Fullbright songs on this mixtape. Basically that whole album could be my feelings about Beatrice and Benedick.

** Okay, in addition to this being a play my (then future) husband and I have done together, this song, you guys. I knew my husband for six or seven YEARS before we started dating and I was convinced for a while that he was going to come to his senses and think "If this was supposed to happen, it would have happened a long time ago. YOU GUYS.

*** Think about this song and the first night that Benedick and Beatrice get to just hang out as a couple. I'm going to say it again. YOU GUYS. (Song starts around the 2 minute mark.)

p.s. I know this is a list of crazy. I'll try to make a Spotify playlist if I have the time/ambition/tech savvy (I still burn CDs you guys, have patience with me).

Planning your summer.

It's Shakespeare season, and even if your podunk town doesn't have a theatre or company to its name, chances are you are within driving distance of at least one Shakespeare production this summer. Here's how to get it all sorted out:

1) Hit up a resource like Shakespeareances (they cover some other pertinent authors as well). I'm not saying every Shakespeare production in the world is listed there, but there are a LOT. They've included Davenport, Iowa's production of Thomas Middleton's Revengers Tragedy, so what I'm saying is they've dug pretty deep and keep their list fairly updated.

2) Check where the folio is. These volumes are on tour in the US for the rest of the year, so try to get to it if you can. Most cities have planned quite a few activities around the three or so weeks the folio is on display, so don't miss out.

3) Think bigger if you can. A car will allow you to have a mini road trip, so widen your search circle to cities near you, even ones you have to visit for other reasons. (I'm going to get to see Macbeth and Taming of the Shrew because I have doctor's appointments in another city. Look at your personal calendar for the summer and see if anything lines up.)

4) None of these things doing it for you? Have your own virtual Shakespeare festival in your living room. Invite your friends, serve up some Elizabethan grub (or, you know, just put out some guac - you ARE the host, after all), and pull up MIT's Global Shakespeare. (A seriously amazing resource.)

(Above picture is from this coming weekend's performance of The Winter's Tale in Vermillion, South Dakota. It's going to be sweltering, but if you're in the area you should go anyway.)

Why Richard II is worth reading.

Ugh, this fucking play. So good and so, so bad.

1) You have to read it. You know why.

2) You need to read it so I have someone with which to talk about it.

3) You should read it because it's fucking great and terrible and I'm not sure how I feel about so many things.

4) Someone else needs to watch this David Tennant version for me, because I have questions about choices they made (no spoilers, but AUMERLE. Aumerle, you guys).

5) Ugh, this fucking play.

6) The action closely precedes that of the next play which will be a vastly more enjoyable (or at least, less painful) read, Henry IV, part 1, which includes one of my favorite Shakespeare characters, Prince Hal.

7) John of Gaunt's "This England" speech is incredible.

8) Just do it, you guys.

(Picture copyright of the BBC or RSC or someone. Not mine. From the play that you need to watch. They are taking it down the autumn of 2016, so watch before then, okay? And then come back and hold me.)

Weekly Wrap-Up #2

This was another busy week in Shakespeareland. To sum up:

* I read Edward III, a play not officially on my Shakespeare list, but one that scholars think Shakespeare at least partially wrote. I included the work because of that and because the action closely precedes that of my next play, Richard II.

* I stumbled upon this Vi Hart's Are Shakespeare's Plays Encoded within Pi?  video on Khan Academy, where I can frequently be found geeking out about math. The gist? If defining pi as a number (3.1415...) has perhaps infinite digits, then at some point you should be able to find Shakespeare within the numbers (if you assign the letters of the alphabet numbers like A = 01, B = 02). Vi even does the whole thing in iambic pentameter, which is pretty damn impressive. (I really recommend the video that comes after the Shakespeare one too. And hexaflexagons. And... just watch them all, okay? Math is cool.)

* I caught the back half of Sir Patrick Stewart on the May 27th episode of the NPR game show Ask Me Another. He seems to be a lovely human being and it's worth a listen!

ALSO:

* Romeo and/or Juliet - this choose-your-adventure book hits stores next week and looks like a blast. I don't know about you, but I'm going to try for that giant robot attack ending.

* The Folger Library is a wealth of podcasts and audio recordings. This week I listened to two episodes of Shakespeare Unlimited. Whatever you're reading currently, there's probably something interesting to listen to there.

* I also recommend Emma Smith's Approaching Shakespeare lectures, good for after you've read whatever play you're working on. (She covers 27 of the 37.)

Why Edward III is worth reading.

The play Edward the Third isn't technically Shakespeare, but the people who make these decisions are getting on board with the idea that the Bard at least contributed to it. (I like the idea that it's a 40/60 split between Will and Thomas Kyd, but I'm no scholar.)

You may be thinking that that's a pretty good reason to avoid the play all together, because why add to the burden of reading all of this, but I'm here to set you straight:

* Bragging rights is always going to be a reason to read a play this challenging, but even beyond that, after reading Edward III, you're going to be able to have an opinion on authorship. You're going to be in on the mystery and have a theory about what went down over 400 years ago. How cool is that?

* You'll be able to follow the line of the upcoming stories a little better. Richard II (chronologically next in line play-wise and history-wise) mentions a bunch of stuff that happens in this play and you're going to get it. ([smugly, you say] Oh, this references the Black Prince. Too bad he couldn't have been king. I really loved how he was portrayed in Edward III.)

* You'll be able to follow the differing opinions and reaction to royalty by playwrights in Shakespeare's time. What did it mean to be king? What did it mean to be God's ruler - was that even a real thing? What were the realities of kingship? Each play says something a little different about this and because each play isn't straight up factual history, you're going to get to see the statement each is making about monarchy.

* The general madness of the king forgetting about fighting TWO WARS because he fell in love with a married woman (who eventually has to threaten to off herself to get rid of him).

* Prince Edward, who is still loved today despite the fact he was never king (he died a year before his father).

So, I say go for it. There's a good scene-by-scene summary here, but resources for this one are a lot slimmer than for "actual" Shakespearean plays, so buckle in.

How to read the histories.

The best piece of advice I read when starting out on this project was, when reading the histories, find a good stage or film adaptation to watch while you're reading through the work, marking interesting passages to return to after you're done watching.

This is a good idea, but since my goal was to read every word of Shakespeare's plays and sometimes quite a bit gets left out in modern performances, I realized that skipping around was both confusing and counter to my goal.

So, the following is how I've been approaching the histories:

1) Read a summary of each scene, using a reliable crib note-type site. This isn't a mandatory step, but if the language intimidates you (and there's nothing wrong with that - it sure as hell intimidates me), having a summary helps you get a lot more out of the scene. You understand the overall action and can actually enjoy the words. My favorite site for this is Shmoop because they use a lot of humor to get their point across.

2) After reading the scene summary, read the scene and underline anything that grabs you. This doesn't have to be the usual famous monologues, just lines you like. In King John, I took to underlining all of Lady Constance's fantastic burns.

3) Continue through the entire play this way and pat yourself on the back when you're done. Good work.

4) Find a stage adaptation to watch, following along in your text if you so choose.

5) Write a one or two sentence summary of the play. Your future self will thank you when you aren't able to remember King John from Richard III.

6) Wait a few days. You deserve the break. You can start on something else if you can't stand to be away from the Bard for even a minute.

7) THEN find something else to reinforce what you just read. I like listening to a short podcast or lecture, but you could also find a comic book, online game or quiz, or have a discussion with someone else who has read the play. If you're the creative type, you could even make something of your own.

8) Move on. You're done!

Weekly Wrap-Up #1

* My cat felt so neglected, he took to laying on my text so I had to interact with him in order to read. (I'm a terrible human being.)

* I embraced my ignorance and spoiled the ending of King John by looking up a timeline of the English monarchy. As a History AND English major, this hurts.

* I read along as the Wichita Shakespeare Company performed King John in a park. Proof that any play can be done anywhere by anyone. (This isn't an insult - look what we, as people, can do! This play is 420 years old! Wichita is 4,440 miles away from Stratford-Upon-Avon!)

* I set up some handy Google alerts so I don't miss anything Shakespeare-related in my corner of the world.

* I researched the twisted underworld of literature that is Shakespeare's Apocrypha. More on that some other time.

* I watched my Tempest interpretation (Forbidden Planet) before actually reading the Tempest because it was already on my DVR.

Other fun stuff:

* Don't forget to look and see if a First Folio is coming your way! (Looking for performances? This is a seemingly well maintained list.)

* Play some games while you're at it.

* And a handy flow chart to help you decide what flavor of Shakespeare you're in need of at the moment.

Why King John is worth reading.

Because, let's face it, you're going to need some convincing for this one:

1) It kicks off the histories, chronologically speaking. And hey, they get better from here, right? Right?

2) Constance is head of the burn unit. Seriously, this woman and Eleanor of Aquitaine swap insults like they're going out of style.

3) You get to read what that "gild the lily" line ACTUALLY says. #misquotedshakespeare

4) There are some other beautiful, interesting, and hilarious lines. The Bastard, our faithful nut-sheller of every scene, has some real gems. (My favorite line from this play, though, comes in act five scene four. "When we were happy we had other names." Oh, Duke of Salisbury, you manly tear crying poet.)

5) Bragging rights. Okay, you knew that was coming. If you want to say you've read Shakespeare's complete plays, you've got to read this one. So buck up, brace yourself for Arthur's whining, be prepared for all of the women to disappear as fast as Prince Henry materializes from absolutely nowhere, and get to reading.

So you if came here with the Google search "Should I read King John?", the answer is yes. You should.

Essentials for your year of Shakespeare.

Because I love a good list, and because I've already accumulated a bit of stuff for this project:

1) A copy of the complete works. I'm sure there's something scholarly about which edition you pick up, but I got mine based on the cover. I'm not sorry. Having things that you love, love to look at, and you know you'll keep forever is okay by me.

2) A notebook or word processor document or, heyyyyy, a blog. Take notes, write to do lists. Get rolling and get organized.*

3) Access to the internet so you can watch amazing things like this. The internet is going to be important if you want to do this whole project for free**, which should be pretty doable. I'm going to be transparent about what I spend on things during this project and try to offer free alternatives. (Step one, you won't be able to buy as many stickers.)

4) A local library. Even one that stinks as much as the one I frequented when I started this project should have a copy of Hamlet on DVD.

5) A DVD player or whatever. So far, I've found a performance of every play on the internet, you just have to dig pretty deep. So maybe not a DVD player. I don't know, man. It's a list.

6) And enthusiastic audience. This isn't a must, but I have a handful of Twitter friends who tend to root for me when I'm excited about something and it's nice.

*My great great uncle would say this frequently. Someone would inevitably tell him that he should probably get organized THEN get rolling.

**I'm aware the internet isn't free in most places and you still need a computer/phone for it. Access should be possible at your local library, but I understand that this is a privileged statement. Do your best, Shakespeare project-ors.

Me and Will

A brief history of Shakespeare... if you take out everything that doesn't involve me:

1994 - as a fifth grader I try to decipher my sister's freshman English copy of Romeo and Juliet. I didn't make it past the first page, but damn it, I wanted to get those jokes.

1996 - Romeo + Juliet comes out and is every middle school girl's everything, including me. This film introduced me to Radiohead, Harold Perrineau, and the glory of Hawaiian print shirts. This movie made me feel cool and smart and I don't mind that you know that about me.

1999 - Screw R+J, 10 Things I Hate About You comes out and becomes every teenage girl's everything, including me. This movie pushed me into a world of feminist literature (I read the Bell Jar and the Feminine Mystique) and I felt even a little smarter.

I take Acting I in high school and am properly introduced to Hamlet via Mel Gibson's classroom learning materials, before we all knew how bonkers he was. At some point, I successfully read Romeo and Juliet in my own freshman English class and fall in love with the music of the film more than anything.

2002 - I play Beatrice in and costume the cast of Much Ado About Nothing, my senior play. It was a post-nuclear apocalypse romp with ratty, Waterworld-esque military garb and some pretty intense face paint. I look like this:

I don't look like that now. Man, I need to work out more.

(I also fell in love with my future husband during this play, but he didn't ask me to prom, so screw that guy.)

College - who even remembers? (I read most of the histories for a Shakespeare class.)

2016 - I visit the First Folio in the likeliest of places: Vermillion, South Dakota. I look like this now, more or less:

Yes, I took a folio selfie.

In April, Google Doodle was Shakespeare's death-plus-400 years (deathiversary?) and I remembered, oh yeah. I love this guy.

In May, I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company's Shakespeare Live broadcast in a local-ish movie theater, bought a copy of the Complete Works and started this.

So, you're all caught up.

#brevity2016

You heard it here first - no. Second. Twitter heard about it first.

This is my Shakespeare project.

Sure. Lots of people have had Shakespeare projects*, but this is mine.

Wherein I shall:

1) Read all of Shakespeare's plays in the course of one year fourteen months. (More on the change in a moment.)

2) Watch an interpretation of each play, most likely a movie or recording of a stage performance.

3) See as many live performances as possible. (This is the reason for fourteen months - I get to do the festival season twice to help out with this.)

4) Supplement the 37** plays with contemporary works, criticisms, biographies, etc. As much as I can stomach, really.

5) Pilgrimage to one Shakespeare holy site.

6) More to be added if I think of anything.

*Three among many sites I've bookmarked in the last day.
**We can argue about this later.