Back in the spring of 2018 the director of the library where I work called me one morning and asked if I’d be willing to put on a bear costume for Shakespeare’s birthday.
“Oh yeah,” I said, “Because of Exit, pursued by a bear, from Act III of A Winter’s Tale.”
I may have been showing off a little bit. Or more than a little bit. Anyway I was unfortunately not available and maybe that’s just as well because the event was rained out last year. And I’m a little annoyed that no one even thought to ask me if I’d be willing to grin and bear it this year because I would. I absolutely would. I did talk to a coworker who was working the event, though, and he told me his favorite Shakespeare play is Titus Andronicus, which I found a little disturbing, and I told him there’s a new play called Gary: A Sequel To Titus Andronicus that opens on a stage covered with corpses, and he probably found the fact that I was laughing a lot disturbing, but that’s another story.
I also managed to get some pictures of the event.
At one point when the musicians stopped playing I said,
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
Yeah, I may have been showing off a bit.
One of the activities was writing with a quill. It turned out to be harder than I thought it would be–maybe because I was trying my hand at Omar Khayyam, not the Bard. And contrary to what Ben Johnson said maybe Shakespeare did blot a thousand lines.
And I’m very glad that this year the rain it didn’t raineth every day.
So what’s your favorite Shakespeare play?
I am honestly more of a sonnets fan than play fan, but I think Taming of the Shrew, and more to the point, the adapations – Kiss Me Kate and 10 Things I Hate About You.
I like the cookies. Someone put some serious time and love into them.
As a left hander, I find writing challenging enough – I would drag my hand through the ink and make a rorshach….
I can understand appreciating the sonnets more. And Taming Of The Shrew is fun–I saw a production in Britain that was absolutely terrible, though, and it completely ruined my belief that all English people intuitively understand Shakespeare.
A lot of love was put into those cookies and cakes. This is, I think, the second year that the library has had a Bard bash and I hope it keeps up because it’s a really great tradition.
And I’m a southpaw too. Maybe that’s why I had so much trouble with the quill.
My favorite comedy is “Much Ado about Nothing” and thanks for all this ado about something, Chris.
“Much Ado About Nothing” is a favorite of mine too–I like the Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson version, and the Nashville Shakespeare Festival did a wonderful production years ago. Your comments are never nothing.
I have always liked a “Midsummer’s Night Dream.”
That’s one of my favorites too, and probably the one I can quote the most–I played Puck in a college Shakespeare class. Also Caliban, but that’s “The Tempest” which is another story.
Did you really? So you’re an actor too. Hidden talents, huh?!
My acting may not be so much a hidden talent as a talent that I don’t get to express that much. Nashville is known for its music, and I can’t carry a tune in a bucket, and there’s just not that much chance for me to act.