Rare Shakespeare First Folio soon on display in Philadelphia

by Derek Spencer

Photo by Ian's Shutter Habit @ Flickr.com, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0

Ever wanted to see an original printing of Shakespeare's First Folio in person? If you live in or near Philadelphia, you'll get your chance soon.

As part of the free Shakespeare For All Time exhibition, the Philadelphia Free Library's Rare Book Department will be displaying this incredibly rare tome, along with the Second, Third, and Fourth Folios, from January 27 &ndash May 31, 2014.

The copy of the First Folio on display contains handwritten annotations that are over 300 years old — pretty exciting stuff.

You can find information about the Rare Book Department, including its street address and hours, here: http://libwww.freelibrary.org/rarebooks/visit.cfm

A new version of "Hamlet" puts you in the director's seat

by Derek Spencer

Ever wanted to "play" Hamlet as if it were a choose-your-own-adventure-style book? Well, Ryan North's new book, To Be Or Not To Be: That Is The Adventure allows you to do just that. North, author of the long-running webcomic Dinosaur Comics, has put together a massive tome (768 pages!) in which seemingly anything can happen, including King Hamlet avenging his own death while he is a ghost.

Clearly, this is not the canonical Hamlet.

Accolades for Delaware Shakespeare Festival's "The Two Gentlemen of Verona"

by Jason Scott

The titular gentlemen.
Photo by Alexandra Orgera

Prestwick House is fortunate to be in Delaware, the home of the small but feisty Delaware Shakespeare Festival. Their performance of The Two Gentlemen of Verona last night was a cool and welcome respite after a long, hot day. Although hysterical local TV weathermen do their best to instill fear at the thought of being outside in mid-July, I managed to avoid spontaneously combusting.

The play will never be mistaken for one of Shakespeare’s best, but the lively Delaware Shakespeare Festival’s version made it one of one of my “best liked” Shakespeare plays. Everything was first rate and the “jazz age” theme played out in the costumes and music really worked for me. In fact, the music, composed by Michael Hahn with musical direction by Johanna Schloss, deserves some kind of award for making the best possible use of an unlikely onstage combo of guitar, clarinet, accordion, and triangle.

Photo by Alexandra Orgera

Adam Darrow as Proteus and Emilie Krause as Silvia gave standout performances on a stage crowded with talent. My one quibble is that the first act ran a touch long in view of the fast-paced and frothy vibe the production was going for.

The Delaware Shakespeare Festival performs under the stars on the grounds of Rockwood Park in Wilmington. Local temps were in the 90s during the day, but by the time the sun passed behind the trees, and play started, it was a comfortable 83 degrees with a light breeze.

Jason Scott is the CEO of Prestwick House.

The American Shakespeare Center

Earlier today, I mentioned that we published ShakesFear by Ralph Cohen, Director of Mission of the American Shakespeare Center. We've also partnered with the ASC in the production on most of our Shakespeare Literary Touchstone Classics. The ASC is a fantastic theater organization for anyone who lives in the Mid-Atlantic states.

Located in beautiful Stanton, VA, the ASC has a reproduction of Shakespeare's Blackfriar's Theater where they perform Shakespeare all year long. Spring's a fantastic time to visit, as they're located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, and they have a great season going on. Right now, you can see Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Comedy of Errors if you head down for a weekend -- three of my favorite plays.

In addition to the school group rates, special matinee performances, and teacher programs that they have for people who visit their theater, they're also provide Study Guides for each play in their repetoire and have a regular podcast and blog with useful information for those studying and performing the plays.

Kurosawa and Shakespeare

What do I like more than Shakespeare?

Shakespeare with Samurai!

One of the world’s greatest directors, Akira Kurosawa directed a two films based on Shakespeare -- Ran, based on King Lear, and Throne of Blood, based on Macbeth.

Ran is one of Kurosawa’s first color films and is one of the most beautiful movies ever put to cellulose. The transfer from England to feudal Japan works perfectly, and this is my favorite version of Lear.

Throne of Blood is a unique take on Macbeth. While the story remains the same, Kurosawa blends Shakespeare with Japanese traditional Noh drama. The heavily stylized movements of Lady MacBeth mimic and other characters give this a distinctly Japanese feel. In the above photo, you'll see Throne of Blood's version of Lady Macbeth, Asaji, horrified and trying to "wash this blood clean from [her] hands." Throughout this scene Asaji holds this terrible look on her face like a Noh mask.

If you’d like to give your students the chance to compare a few director’s interpretations of Shakspeare, I’d recommend picking up these movies at the video store to show a dramatically different take on Shakespeare.

Talk Like Shakespeare Day

Taking off of the idea of Talk like a Pirate Day, this year, people are pushing today as “Talk Like Shakespeare Day.” A rather lofty goal if you ask me – to practice speaking like the greatest author in English? Or you could just sprinkle in a few “‘tises” and ‘Zounds” into your vocabulary and be happy with the small effort.

ShakesFear Reviews

First up, we’ve recently been getting some great press on Ralph Cohen, of the American Shakespeare Center’s book, ShakesFear: and How to Cure It.

Kirk G. Ramussen of The Rocky Mountain Review writes, “If you are just starting your career, or have been assigned to teach Shakespeare for the first time and are suffering your own form of 'ShakesFear,' Cohen’s Handbook will provide cheerful assistance in your time of trial. Cohen is a wise and logical man whose book will become your friend immediately… Cohen’s book will become your desktop (not bookshelf) “go-to,” no matter how many years you have taught Shakespeare.”

Link (Subscription Required)


Julian Lopez-Morillas of playShakespeare.com writes, “…Cohen’s approach is refreshing…. His techniques stress the vitality of Shakespeare in performance, emphasizing the openness of the works to alternative interpretations…. The reader is left with the feeling that Cohen's students have been unusually fortunate to study Shakespeare with a teacher whose unconventional approach, born in a sincere love of the plays, seeks to keep them accessible, relevant and inclusive.”

Link

We’re proud to have worked with Dr. Cohen on this book, and if you’re teaching Shakespeare, you owe it to your students to check it out.

Happy Birthday Shakespeare!

The study of Shakespeare’s life is full of assumptions, best guesses, and wild conjecture. Was he a secret Catholic spy? A nobleman hiding his identity? Sir Francis Bacon? Or the son of a minor civil servant and glove maker?

The first of many mysteries of Shakespeare’s life, the date of his birth is unknown, but we celebrate it, today, April 23^rd, 3 days before the recorded baptism of a William Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

So, today in honor of the birth of the greatest author in the English language, we have a handful of posts today that celebrate Shakespeare.

Who's on First? Shakespeare Style

Well, I've fulfilled my requirement of a few posts between each interesting and amusing Shakespearean post, so today I've got a video to share courtesy of The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey (with thanks to News on the Rialto) of what would happen were Laurel and Hardy born in the Elizabethan Age.

Using Shakespeare in Conversation

In the latest Talk of the Nation, blogger Joe Muldoon and head of the Folger Library, Gail Pastor, discuss using Shakespeare in everyday conversation.

They take calls from listeners about their favorite Shakespeare quote, and how they weave it into conversation. It may sound a little pompous from time to time, but hey, if you can't seem elitist around friends, who can you sound elitist around?

It's hard to pick out a favorite quote, but I think my favorite to pull out in everyday conversation is from Caesar, "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look, He thinks too much; such men are dangerous."

By the way: If you're ever looking for a specific quote for any occasion, one of my favorite Shakespeare Resources is the Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary. The Lexicon contains every word used by Shakespeare, cross referenced, so you can always find a relevant quote for a bulletin board or handout. (Sorry there's no copy/image on our site for this one yet. I promise we're working on it.)

What are your favorites?


Thanks News on the Rialto.

Link.

Shakespeare's Birthday Open House - April 21

It's getting close to that time of year again, Shakespeare's Birthday!

Last year, a few of us drove down to visit our friends at The American Shakespeare Centre for the Bard's birthday. (The director of the ASC, Dr. Ralph Cohen, is the author of the recent Prestwick House Release, ShakesFear and How to Overcome It: A Guide to Teaching Shakespeare, and the ASC has been doing editorial work our list of Shakespeare Literary Touchstone Classics).

This year, we're inviting all of you to come visit us!

We're having an open house -- complete with Birthday Cake, performances of Shakespeare by students from The Cab Calloway School, a tour of our facilities, and elephant rides (Okay, so we won't have elephant rides, but wouldn't that be fun?).

So, RSVP by E-mailing us at info[at]prestwickhouse.com or calling us at 800-932-4593 if you want to stop by our offices in Smyrna, DE on April, 21.