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.