Happy birthday to the Bard! It seems odd to say, but not every Shakespeare adaptation is wonderful and worthy of attention, even when it features topflight talent and suitably melodious classical delivery. Sometimes they just stink. The 1980 BBC TV movie of The Tempest is unfortunately one of those. It mostly sticks to the plot, and the … Continue reading So-Bad-It’s Bad Shakespeare
Four Hundred Years Ago
2023 is the four-hundredth anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare's First Folio, and I can't believe I forgot to commemorate it. Oh well, it's December, obviously, so we're still in the ballpark. Phew. Anyway, the First Folio was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death, by Henry Condell and John Heminge, two friends of … Continue reading Four Hundred Years Ago
Stage To Screen: Much Ado About Nothing
One of Shakespeare's most popular plays (and one of my favorites, too), is Much Ado About Nothing. Written in either 1598 or 1599, it's full of biting wit, passionate romance, and manipulation of both the shameful and shameless varieties. While it has a long production history, it has a short filmography. For those who might not be … Continue reading Stage To Screen: Much Ado About Nothing
Stage To Screen: Henry V
This month's Stage To Screen is a strike-while-the-iron-is-hot kind of scenario, because first of all, I felt like writing about Henry V, and secondly, the Lawrence Olivier version is on HBO Max right now, so the timing is fortuitous. Henry V is one of Shakespeare's later plays, and is thought to have been written and perfomed in 1599. … Continue reading Stage To Screen: Henry V
Stage To Screen: The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming Of the Shrew is just about as infamous as Romeo and Juliet and just as loved, only for different reasons, since the battle of the sexes is catnip for story lovers. It's been adapted almost as much as Romeo and Juliet in various forms, but we'll get to that. If anyone isn't familiar with Shrew's plot, the basic … Continue reading Stage To Screen: The Taming of the Shrew
Stage To Screen: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
When I was going for my degree, I had to read a lot of plays, and one of my favorites at the time was Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. It's an existential absurdist spinoff about Hamlet's two college friends, and it's like Groundhog Day in that the action takes place around the title characters. … Continue reading Stage To Screen: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Stage To Screen: As You Like It
As You Like It is one of Shakespeare's later and more mysterious works, although it contains a lot of famous lines, such as "All the world's a stage." Thought to be written in 1598 or 1599 and possibly not performed until 1603, the play is a comedy about finding freedom through disguise and breaking through barriers. … Continue reading Stage To Screen: As You Like It
Stage To Screen: Romeo And Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's most infamous play. Even those who don't know much about Shakespeare know its elements. The balcony scene, for one thing (which is a window in the original script, by the way), has been parodied and referenced more times than anyone can count--everyone from Bugs Bunny to school drama teams to … Continue reading Stage To Screen: Romeo And Juliet
Taking Up Room 