Read on Twitter
Happy Shakespeare Birthday-Day!
Whether poetic, political, philosophic, rhetorical, whimsical, fantastical, historical, cultural, or even pop-cultural, he’s our guy. The man that built the words of America.
Whether poetic, political, philosophic, rhetorical, whimsical, fantastical, historical, cultural, or even pop-cultural, he’s our guy. The man that built the words of America.
There are too many kinds of Shakespeare threads to do, so here’s a (hopefully) delightfully chaotic one. In the spirit of these Coronavirus times, the @FolgerLibrary is free streaming an acclaimed production of Lincoln’s fav play at 5pm tonight, Macbeth. https://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-birthday-2020-virtual-events?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Birthday2020Reminder&utm_content=version_A&promo=
2./Shakespeare’s Globe across the pond has been opening up its vaults too—check its YouTube for new play productions every 2 weeks. https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/blogs-and-features/2020/04/03/how-to-watch-our-free-globe-player-films/
3/. Over at the @ShakespeareinDC they are hosting a streaming of Twelfth Night in honor of Willy’s Bday. https://www.shakespearetheatre.org
4./But who can forget this lighthearted, yet brilliant classic rendition of the Midsummer Night’s Dream play-w/in-a play by...The Beatles?!! https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-beatles-shakespeare-midsummer-nights-dream-1964/
5/.If you like your Shakespeare w/a dose of cinema, hard to even know where to begin or end with all the great Shakespeare films, from Laurence Olivier’s King Lear to Joss Whedon’s Much Ado, Richard Burton’s Taming of the Shrew & K Branagh’s Henry V. This is a nice collection too
6/ want some Shakespeare-inspired art that’s not cinema? Here’s a nice round-up of how his plays influenced whole mindsets thru prints & paintings etc
Shakespeare in Art https://www.amazon.com/dp/1858942292/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_iEkOEbFT951QF
Shakespeare in Art https://www.amazon.com/dp/1858942292/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_iEkOEbFT951QF
7./ Feeling melodically melodramatic? There’s all the different Shakespeare operas, from Verdi to Berlioz. Want your Shkspr drama without words? There’s all the Shkspr-inspired ballets, from Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet (few things being home the reality of what death is as does
8/. (...as does the tomb scene pas de deux, mirroring their intro pas de deux) to the contemporary Christopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale.
9/. You can watch a whole rehearsal of the Wheeldon Winter’s Tale w/The Royal Ballet if that’s your thing:
10/. There’s whole suites of incidental music set to/inspired by Shkspr too! Best known, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. You know the ubiquitous Wedding March? That’s a smart piece from Mendelssohn.
11/. Benjamin Britten also did MND. It’s quite different (It was Britten, and the ‘70s after all). Anyway moving back to a little pop culture Shksp May I introduce you to this gem
12/. For instance, bc we’re all missing baseball, may I give you this Shakespearean-I mean Neil Diamond sonnet:
13/. Overwhelmed with Elsa’s “Let it go”? How abt fine-tuning it to Shakespeare like this:
14/ but for a little bit of a throwback, how abt The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air a la Willy Shakes?
15/. But forsooth! “I am never merry when I hear sweet music.” Going the more serious route, I have to plug my own essay abt Shkspr’s plays & sonnets, written for @aminterest a few years back: https://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/06/17/shakespeares-civic-art-and-the-politics-of-poetry/
16/. There are some fantastic videos/podcasts over at @KristolConvos with Paul Cantor abt Shakespeare & Politics. https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/paul-cantor/
17/. What’s 14 lines a day? There’s no better time to learn some Sonnets, coached by none other than Patrick Stewart. He’s recording a Sonnet a day, for the betterment of mankind. “When I do count the clock that tells the time” indeed— https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hear-daily-shakespeare-sonnets-sir-patrick-stewart-180974616/
18/. Just out in @TheHudsonReview is a new essay abt “The Shakespeareans” & how they created Shkspr as *the* English world’s genius: https://hudsonreview.com/2020/04/the-shakespeareans/#.XqC1ECUXaEd
19/. Also may I recommend this new essay condemning a recent terrible, erroneous effort of “authenticating” Shkspr authorship.
Infecting the teller essay by Brian Vickers - The TLS https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/infecting-the-teller-essay-brian-vickers/
Infecting the teller essay by Brian Vickers - The TLS https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/infecting-the-teller-essay-brian-vickers/
20/. I suppose before this thread becomes a novel I should bring it to a close. But how do you bid farewell to greatness? From Henry VIII:
21/. From As You Like It:
“Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56966/speech-all-the-worlds-a-stage
“Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56966/speech-all-the-worlds-a-stage
