Shakespeare Rambling

[aunt_zelda]

Man oh man do I not like Romeo and Juliet.

Just saw a great production, great costumes, set, fantastic actors, REALLY REALLY GOOD FIGHT SCENES ... and I kept getting annoyed about the story.

I've never really liked R&J. I got into Shakespeare very young, and I quickly got ... ok, not "bored" but "disinterested" in R&J compared to the other plays. It has big parts for about 4 characters, and also Mercutio who steals the show and then dies. I prefer the more ensemble-type pieces, or the ones that focus more on one character, I guess, than the more limited plays.

They're so SELFISH. The scene with Juliet "dead" and her entire family crying over her body was so painful, so raw. I was so ANGRY at her for doing this to her mom and Nurse and fiancee. (And her dad, but considering the scene where he smacks her around and threatens to turn her out on the street makes me a little ok with him crying over her.)

Benvolio was crosscast, first time I've seen that. Seen Mercutio crosscast, but not Benvolio. She did a great job.

I've now seen R&J 4 times live, 5 times if you count West Side Story.

I don't get it. I've lost track of how many Midsummer plays I've seen. Twelfth Night I've seen at least 3 times live and I love it more with every production. Macbeth I will see any time, any place. Lear I want to see again, I saw it live the first time on my 18th birthday, best present ever.

I wanna see a production of Measure for Measure, or, gods be good, All's Well that Ends Well. I have never seen a production of this advertised, and I've been fortunate to be exposed to a lot of theater. Hell, I've BEEN in 11 Shakespeare plays, all before the age of 18, I'm hardly sheltered here.

Gotta Catch 'Em All.

I really wanna see someone doing the tetralogies all together in a series. Especially the first one, Richard III gets played frequently but the proceeding 3 plays are hardly ever on anywhere, especially in America, where we didn't learn English history in elementary school and thus are presumed to not know who the hell all these Henrys and Richards and Edwards are.