“Nay, I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but ‘Mortimer.’” ~ Hotspur, Henry IV, Part I What do you get when you combine the good intentions of a well-meaning Shakespeare lover who also loved birds? Well, THIS....
Read More "Gang Glast Aglay: Shakespeare, Starlings, and a Good Idea Gone Bad"
Never heard of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus? You're not alone. In Shakespeare's day, it was never performed. Today it is rarely, if ever, staged or taught. But soon, two of Hollywood's most respected actors, Ralph Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave, will try to rectify that situation. T. S. Eliot once called Coriolanus Shakespeare's greatest tragic achievement, superior…
Read More "Film Based on Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus” Opens 2/14"
Thanksgiving is a time of abundance: of food, of family, of friends. Here are ten thoughts from authors who have reflected on the holiday in many different ways. 1. “One Day is there of the Series / Termed Thanksgiving Day. / Celebrated part at Table / Part in Memory.” ~ Emily Dickinson 2. “’I do…
On October 28, the new film Anonymous opens in wide release. Anonymous is a political thriller which postulates that the true author of the works we attribute to William Shakespeare was, in fact, Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford. The political backdrop is that of the succession of Queen Elizabeth and the Essex Rebellion…
Read More "New Film, Old Debate: Did Shakespeare Truly Pen the Works That Bear His Name?"
Making the rounds on the Internet recently is this fabulous video by impressionist Jim Meskimen performing Clarence's speech from Shakespeare's Richard III. (Meskimen, by the way, is the son of the actress Marion Ross who played Mrs. Cunningham on the classic television show Happy Days) During the 3:46 minute monologue, Meskimen takes on not only…
Henry Clay Folger was a man with a mission. His goal was to obtain every possible copy of William Shakespeare's venerated "First Folio" in existence. Folger began his obsessive quest in 1893 and over the next 35 years, he acquired 82 of the manuscripts. The most recent sale of a Folio in 2001 went for…
Read More "The Fate of the Folios: A Tale of Intrigue at the Folger"
In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a soothsayer warns the would-be king to "Beware the Ides of March." Like the basis for many of Shakespeare's plays, the impetus is not completely original. In this case, he adapted the line from Plutarch's much tamer rendering in The Life of Julius Caesar which advises Caesar "to take heed…
Authors rarely have any say in what cover art is chosen to adorn their works. The interpretations can often be down-right ridiculous. Here, for your viewing pleasure/horror are the worst-of-the-worst, the baddest-of-the-bad, and the silliest-of-the-silliest. Here we have Jane Eyre, apparently channeling Jane Russell. Jane's supposed to be homely?? That'll never sell. And perhaps her…
