My profound thanks to Jennifer Hubbard (writerjenn) for sending this video my way. In this presentation made available by Open University, father and son actor/scholars explain and demonstrate what Shakespeare's plays sounded like in Shakespeare's time. That is, they are fans of "op" or "original pronunciation", and are intent on sharing it with the world ( Read more... )

Time again for a bit of the Bard. This morning my windchimes were tinkling merrily in the increasingly strong February breeze. At this moment, it doesn't actually feel like winter, since it's quite warm outside, but the weather people assure me that's about to change. Again. a ( Read more... )

It's Wednesday, which is a good day for something from Shakespeare (and a bit of a tradition around here, when I remember to get my act together). Speaking of acts, today's poetry is found in Act III, scene 2 of As You Like It. You can read my (somewhat irreverent) summary of the play if you'd like, but assuming that not all of you have the time or ( Read more... )

"I can suck melancholy out of a song as a weasel sucks eggs."

Gotta love the Bard.


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As many of you already know, I like As You Like It a lot. Women in drag. Sassy dialogue. Awesome metaphors. What's not to like?

I'm watching the recent HBO/Branagh production. As research. Yeah. Research - that's the ticket.


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From Act V, sc. 3 of As You Like It, one of the plays I discussed last June as part of "Brush Up Your Shakespeare Month", comes a delightful (and secretly bawdy) song, "It Was a Lover and His Lass". This particular scene consists of Touchstone, the clown, and his intended bride, Audrey (who is on record as saying "I am not a slut, though I thank ( Read more... )

Time again for a bit of the Bard. This morning my windchimes were tinkling merrily in the chill December breeze and, although it's not official yet, it certainly feels like Winter. What could be more fitting than one of Shakespeare's songs? This one is from As You Like It, Act II, scene 7, and is given to Lord Amiens, one of Duke Senior's company ( Read more... )

The quote in today's icon is, as many of you will recognize, from Hamlet, Act I, sc. 3, when Polonius gives Laertes a laundry list of platitudes.

Brush Up Your Shakespeare Month ended earlier this week, so I thought I'd create a post out of some of my favorite Shakespeare quotes from the plays covered in the second half of the month that are ( Read more... )

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Finally today, my summary of As You Like It, which is, I'm afraid, not particularly short, although it's far shorter than reading the full play. Please remember that all female roles would have been played by a boy. The role of Rosalind is therefore very tricksy - it would have been a boy pretending to be a girl (Rosalind) dressed as a boy ( ( Read more... )