Where Fore Art Thou, Shakespeare?

I just noticed that even though this blog is about theater in general, I've only focused on musicals--how silly of me.  Straight plays and one-act plays are great to talk about, but one playwriter I've always wanted to sink my teeth into is none other than William Shakespeare.

Born in 1564. he's known to have written at least thirty-eight Comedies, Histories, Tragedies, etc.  (I know he's written a heck of a lot more.)  before his passing.  At the time, his work wasn't as treasured as it is now but it was well-liked by various citizens in England, illiterate or not.  It's partly due to him that I'm inspired to try and continue my work as a playwriter (I don't know if writing and directing one one-act counts as being a writer but it's something).

So I will list my Top Five favorite of Shakespeare's work, and I will try to have legitimate reasoning as to why.

1. A Midsummer Night's Dream--this play was the first of his work that I dove (well, was forced) into. When I was a freshman, one of the one-act plays that I auditioned (and was casted) for was this play, where I was Puck.  I'm aware it was somewhat abbreviated but I had a pretty solid understanding of this piece after the performances well. 

2. Hamlet--I don't know what it is about this show I like so much, but I think it's between two reasons--Kenneth Branagh and the text itself.  I think the soliloquies really spoke to me and made me think about myself and my life. In my Shakespeare class, we watched a couple of movies of Shakespeare's plays (Henry V and Hamlet were directed and starred by Branagh) and I fell in love with his acting technique and how well he was able to grab my attention (especially with Hamlet--that goatee made it almost impossible for me to take him seriously at first).  As a bonus, Kate Winslet starred as Ophelia--almost any movie with her in it is always a hit in my eyes--and Robin Williams makes a cameo too.

 

3. The Tempest--my English 11 class was forced to read it, probably to cover some unspoken curriculum rule of having every single student read at least one Shakespeare play in class.  (Around the time my English class finished this play, my Shakespeare class began.  Both classes were in the same room back-to-back, so I would literally hang around between the two periods and become good pals with my Shakespeare teacher, who still admires my spunk.)  But I liked this play because it heavily influences ideas of deception and how far its evils can hurt man and unhuman creatures.  Plus, in the film version that was shown to my class (The Tempest, Julie Taymor, 2011) takes the play with a different twist (Prospero is now Prospera, who's played by Helen Mirren). 

4.Henry IV, Part 1--I bet you weren't expecting this play to be on here, right? Well, to be honest, out of the three History plays that my Shakespeare class talked about and read/watched (Henry IV Part 1, Part 2, and Henry V), this play was my favorite.  I think part of the reason why was because I could relate to Prince Hal and his struggle to try and please his father, who's lost faith in him.  Plus, this play didn't go as far into war as the other two, which I greatly appreciated.

5.Twelfth Night--I always loved the idea of women power, especially during time periods like Shakespeare's.  I thought the idea of how Viola dressed up as a random guy named Cesario just to be in favors with Count Orsino was mad but entertaining. It showed how women really didn't have a lot of power to request an audience unless she was a man.  (Yes that's Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia, the "leading lady".)

And there you have it!  I really do enjoy Shakespeare.  I'll end this post with my Shakespeare final, a Venn diagram linking four plays together (every play mentioned earlier except the first) and how each play has disguise and deception and have similar ways of doing it.