The poll is the question.

If you are into William Shakespeare, tell us about it.
Have a favorite work of the Bard's?

Tell us, and why!

At school, I was forced to learn and watch Richard II, and the years drove on, it has been the only play I have enjoyed. Though I am well aware of the plots, quotes and characters of the other plays...

...and his sonnets.

I chose Macbeth, as it was the very first live production I was in, at age 5.

I was chosen to play Prince Malcolm.
Did pretty well, considering....

I chose Macbeth, as it was the very first live production I was in, at age 5.

I was chosen to play Prince Malcolm.
Did pretty well, considering....
Sshh! It is called The Scottish Play, due to its superstitions.

Ahhhh, yes....I remember.

Well, I'll have you know that we did just fine, calling it by its proper name.

No injuries, no deaths, no wild mauling by ferocious beasts, no sudden outbursts of Richard Simmons going "Ok, Sisters! Settle!"

(Although I was bitten by a mosquito...so that's something, I guess...)

Romeo & Juliet.  Lady Di & I watched it after dinner on our very first date and it kind of set the mood for that first kiss.
I'm not too privvy on any of the other plays, but the movie version of R&J has a special place in my heart. It has drama, humor, violence.
good luck with the board HawkTheSlayer
p.s. sorry that my response isn't associated with live theatre  8)

Yes, the classic film by Franco Zeffirelli was considered to be the finest representation of the film, to this day.

It helps that an Italian directed this film, as it was set in Florence.

I suggest seeing the play live.
The mood is so much more alive, without the cameras and gaffers getting in the way.
This is a perfect way to enhance a dinner date.

Yes, the classic film by Franco Zeffirelli was considered to be the finest representation of the film, to this day.

It helps that an Italian directed this film, as it was set in Florence.

I suggest seeing the play live.
The mood is so much more alive, without the cameras and gaffers getting in the way.
This is a perfect way to enhance a dinner date.
if I get the chance, I'd love to take my wife to a live performance.

Have you tried looking at your local Community Theatres?

Most Community Theatres put on at least one Shakespearean play per year, some do as many as 3.

If you are ever in Ashland, Oregon, they have The Annual Shakespearean Fsetival.
I understand it is quite the sight!

Tough choice but I think I will have to go with A Midsummer Night's Dream.


"Lord what fools these mortals be" (or as Carlos says, "Lord, what foods these morsels be"  :D :D  He also does a great Macbeth soliloquy in a Puerto Rican accent.  ;D ;D)




Cat

Ever hear Cheech marin's version of "King Lear"?

"A horse? A horse? We don't need no stinking horse! Get me a low rider, man!"

Ever hear Cheech marin's version of "King Lear"?

"A horse? A horse? We don't need no stinking horse! Get me a low rider, man!"



No, I never heard that one.


I remember as a kid, my grandmother would recite Shakespeare all the time. Now, when I get with my dad and my grandmother, the three of us will recite while my sisters looks on as if we had three heads or something. There is nothing like reciting Shakespeare with your dad and grandmother.  ;D ;D



Cat

I like the bit Robin Williams did on Broadway-

Could you imagine Jack Nicholson, in denim tights, saying, "To be or not to G*dd**n be...
Whether 'tis nobler to take the s**t, or sling it right back at 'em..."

I laughed my head off.

Or, how about John Wayne in 'Macbeth'- "Well, is this a dagger I see before me, pilgrim?"

Romeo and Juliet, followed by A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew

There was a comedy duo, who had a one-off song in the later '80s, called "Shakin' Shakespeare Down".
They were called, appropriately enough, "The Bard".

It was a comedic rap, giving a layman's reference to several Shakespearean pieces.
Quite hilarious!

If you can find it, give it a listen!

I picked other:

I've never read a Shakespeare play, but I did see the film adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost, to which actor/director Kenneth Brannagh turned into a musical.  I loved it 8)

Love's Labour's Lost!

I forgot all about that one!!! :-[

It takes a certain taste for appreciation, though.
That one never struck me as much as the others I have listed, I guess.

The Sonnets


This is my all time Favorite anything of Bill



When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least:
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee,--and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings'.

What about the reduced Shakespeare company ?? They are fantastic, so funny.Hamlet forwards and then backwards in 3 minutes, I was crying with laughter.

On a more serious note I had to do Romeo and Julliet at school and the Othello at college and that does tend to put you off a bit when you are disecting a play line by line.

As an aside, Sir Thomas Bodley who founded the library I work in in 1602 hated Shakespeare with a passion and refused to have any of his works in the library! 

What about the reduced Shakespeare company ?? They are fantastic, so funny.Hamlet forwards and then backwards in 3 minutes, I was crying with laughter.





I saw "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" on t.v. as well as on stage. Funny as hell.




Cat

It occurs to me that Master Shakespeare was a dirty old curmudgeon!

For example, the phrase "I killed her over and over again" actually refers to the sex act.
Another favorite of mine is "My naked sword is out." Can you just SEE where that one's going?

He tapped the collective unconscious, and he replaced it with Medieval Porn!

Hamlet.  Followed by Macbeth and Julius Caesar.

Trivia note: There is a play called "Young Will Shakespeare", that is semi-autobiographical.

This play takes place in Will's mid-20s. He is researching plays. He and Anne are the main protagonists in the play.

Anne, his wife, wants Will to stop dreaming and take up the position as a teacher.
Will dreams of becoming a famous producer of plays, and playwright.
This, combined with Will's womanizing, nearly destroys their marriage.
However, things eventually work out.

Quite interesting.
Another trivia note- Shakespeare is allegedly buried in one of the more famed Churches in England.
There is a famous quote, which denotes the grave.

The Tempest would have to be my favorite.

Nobody else like it?

The Tempest was good, just not a lot of production of it, these days.

I saw "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" on t.v. as well as on stage. Funny as hell.

Cat


My wife and I saw it at Acme Theater Productions in Maynard, MA ( http://acmetheater.com/pastseasons.asp ) ... it was brilliant and hilarious!

In July 2006, I played Pompey in William Shakespeare's comedy, "Measure for Measure", with The Town Cow Theater Company of Concord, Massachusetts -- it was the first time I've ever performed in a Shakespearean play.

Click the link below titled "Suryakant's MySpace Profile" and then scroll down to see an audio/video sample of one of my scenes, captured on a low-quality "recyclable" pocket-size video camera. I'm the guy in the puffy white shirt and long brown vest. The audio is pretty good.

Duncan MacLeod, Highlander:

He is Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander. Born in 1592 in the Highlands of Scotland and he is still alive. He is immortal. For four hundred years he's been a warrior, a lover, a wanderer, constantly facing other Immortals in combat to the death. The winner takes his enemy's head and with it, his power. I'm a Watcher, part of the secret society of men and women who observe and record, but never interfere. We know the truth about Immortals. In the end there can be only one. May it be Duncan MacLeod, The Highlander.

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/d/duncan1.jpg


John Small, Shakespearean Buffoon:

He is John Small, the Shakespearean Buffoon. Born in 1958 in the Lowlands of Connecticut and he is still a fool.  He is a Trekkie. For years he's been a nerd, a geek, a parodist, and a dweeb, constantly facing other Star Trek Fans in trivia-combat with bad breath. The winner takes his enemy's gold-pressed latinum, and with it, his Tribbles. I'm a Chuckler, part of the secret society of men and women who observe and laugh, but never interfere. We know the truth about Trekkies.  In the end they're a pain in the butt. May it be John Small, The Buffoon.

http://www.baeli.com/mfm/resized/IMG_5573.JPG

*The Karma God doth deliver a witty Karma point for thou, o Buffoon who madeth me laugh so hard that I nearly wet myself*

*The Karma God doth deliver a witty Karma point for thou, o Buffoon who madeth me laugh so hard that I nearly wet myself*


Only "*nearly*" ?  Huh!  I gotta post FUNNIER MATERIAL !!  ;)  ;D 

A Trekkie, eh?

Hmmmmm.....
Here be a point for thee to ponder, my fellow Thespian...

William Shakespeare's Star Trek Works:

-Klingon Of Venice
-Much Ado About Odo
-King Kirk ("A toupee...a toupee, my Starship for a toupee!")
-Siskello
-Taming Of the Troi
-A Comedy Of Androids

AND! -Khanlet, King Of Ceti Alpha 5

A Trekkie, eh?

Hmmmmm.....
Here be a point for thee to ponder, my fellow Thespian...

William Shakespeare's Star Trek Works:

-Klingon Of Venice
-Much Ado About Odo
-King Kirk ("A toupee...a toupee, my Starship for a toupee!")
-Siskello
-Taming Of the Troi
-A Comedy Of Androids

AND! -Khanlet, King Of Ceti Alpha 5



Alas poor Tasha. I knew her, Geordi.

(I'm giving Carlos credit for this line)


Cat

A Trekkie, eh?

Hmmmmm.....
Here be a point for thee to ponder, my fellow Thespian...

William Shakespeare's Star Trek Works:

-Klingon Of Venice
-Much Ado About Odo
-King Kirk ("A toupee...a toupee, my Starship for a toupee!")
-Siskello
-Taming Of the Troi
-A Comedy Of Androids

AND! -Khanlet, King Of Ceti Alpha 5


Lay on, MacWorf! And damned be he who cries, "Qa'plah!"

(from MacWORF, "The Complete Works of William Borgspeare", by Blammo Books: Ooh, la-la, fa-BOOM!"

A Trekkie, eh?

Hmmmmm.....
Here be a point for thee to ponder, my fellow Thespian...

William Shakespeare's Star Trek Works:

-Klingon Of Venice
-Much Ado About Odo
-King Kirk ("A toupee...a toupee, my Starship for a toupee!")
-Siskello
-Taming Of the Troi
-A Comedy Of Androids

AND! -Khanlet, King Of Ceti Alpha 5



"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in from solar space a blaze of rays,
To the last molecule of our planet's time;
But ALL OUR YESTERDAYS have guided souls
Away from dusty death.  Out, out, brief starlight!
Light's but a stalking shadow; a poor blazer,
That thrusts and jets its power upon our space,
And then is seen no more; it is a gale
Blown by an atom split, full of light and fury,
Signifying nova."

--From MacAtoz

I remember an episode of 'Doctor Who', called "Revenge Of the Cybermen".

After Tom Baker took out a cybermat with gold dust, he began to go on a Shakepseare-quoting tangent.

"Ghastly death. Out, out, damned cyber-spot!"

Othello, out of the three that I've read, the other two being Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream. There's alot to love about the Moor. I love how the villain is the most important character in the story (Iago is a more complex and interesting character than Othello, really), the exploration of how quickly love can turn to hate and the closeness between the two emotions, the theme of how scheming and jealousy can undo somebody from the inside out, and the topsy-turvy morals with only Bianca and Cassio, the hooker and her john, surviving.

If you get the chance to see "Othello", starring Laurence Fishburne, do so.

He plays Othello to the hilt, bringing to life a few aspects of the character as no one else could do!