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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.

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.