Shakespeare's Diary

Anonymous

The Bard — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:14:13 +0000

The advance information about the movie Anonymous indicates it is full of all the usual ridiculous Oxfordian theories, and a good many more–Shakespeare killing Marlowe, for example. Oxfordians conveniently forget that we have far more factual information about William Shakespeare as actor, dramatist, and a member of an acting/producing company than many other actors and dramatists of the period. Moreover, Oxfordians have to rely of conspiracy theories that are easily pierced by facts and anyone with intelligence.

For an imaginative approach to Shakespeare’s life, based on facts , see The Shakespeare Diaries. “J.P. Wearing’s The Shakespeare’s Diaries…is a genuine work of scholarly imagination…a work of prodigious research, based on all the facts we know about Shakespeare’s life. The book is crammed with fascinating incident…there is much engaging stuff about his relations with the actors in his company, with the Dark Lady (Aemilia Lanier) who deceived him with Southampton, and with such fellow playwrights as Ben Jonson and John Marston…The Diary is crammed full of plague and deaths and burials, as well as gossip about the great and the near great, including the Essex Rebellion and the War of the Theatres. Shakespeare comes across as a mild, gentle, and generous human being.” Robert Brustein.

Ralph Fiennes in The Tempest

The Bard — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:15:44 +0000

For as review of Ralph Fiennes as Prospero in The Tempest, click here

And check out The Shakespeare Diaries.

Kevin Spacey as Richard III

The Bard — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:22:50 +0000

For a review of Kevin Spacey as Richard III at the Old Vic, click here. The production runs until mid-September (2011).

Check out The Shakespeare Diaries.

Patrick Stewart as Shylock; Merchant of Venice set in Las Vegas

The Bard — Sun, 22 May 2011 13:27:02 +0000

The Royal Shakespeare’s new production of The Merchant of Venice is set in present-day Las Vegas, and so far the critics are lukewarm about the production. Here’s one from the Daily Telegraph.

And don’t forget to check out the play in The Shakespeare Diaries.

Patrick Stewart to play Shylock.

The Bard — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:22:05 +0000

Patrick Stewart is to play Shylock at Stratford-upon-Avon. For details of this and other RSC productions, click here. There are some interesting ideas on The Merchant and Venice and Shylock in The Shakespeare Diaries.

2010 in review

The Bard — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 14:59:50 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 6,000 times in 2010. That’s about 14 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 3 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 131 posts.

The busiest day of the year was May 5th with 51 views. The most popular post that day was Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Chorus.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were cordless-homephone.info, wedding.ebonito.com, google.com, tryje.info, and deadlinescotland.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for romeo and juliet opening lines, opening lines of romeo and juliet, shakespeare diary, opening lines to romeo and juliet, and romeo and juliet beginning sonnet.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Chorus July 2007

Macbeth Act 1.7.1-28 February 2008

Romeo and Juliet Act 2. Chorus October 2007

Romeo and Juliet Act 3.5.1-64 January 2008
2 comments

Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Scene 1 (1-78) August 2007

Derek Jacobi as King Lear

The Bard — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 14:09:24 +0000

There’s a very interesting interview of Derek Jacobi as he prepares to play King Lear in London. After the London, the production will tour the British provinces and then end up on Broadway in 2011.

Update: The production has received a very good review in the Observer. Read it here, and don’t forget to check out The Shakespeare Diaries on King Lear.

Helen Mirren as Prospera in “The Tempest”

The Bard — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 14:25:01 +0000

Julie Taymor, who directed the film of Titus, now brings a film of The Tempest in which Prospero is played by Helen Mirren and renamed Prospera. There’s a somewhat mixed review of the film in the Daily Telegraph (click here to read the review).

For some further thoughts on The Tempest, check out The Shakespeare Diaries.

Judi Dench as Titania

The Bard — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:55:57 +0000

Sir Peter Hall has just directed Judi Dench as Titania in a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The review in The Stage points out the acting styles of some performers echo early acting styles (e.g. those of Edmund Kean and Henry Irving in the nineteenth century). Click here for the review.

For other aspects of Midsummer check out The Shakespeare Diaries.

Hamlet on BBC2

The Bard — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:47:52 +0000

The film version of the recent production of David Tennant playing Hamlet with Patrick Stewart as Claudius will be broadcast on BBC2 television on 26 December 2009 at 5.05 pm. Despite some textual cuts, the film runs three hours.

Check out The Shakespeare Diaries.