So I was thinking today about a future where we have people on the moon. You know, typically Friday afternoon stuff. Like you might read in a Robert Heinlein novel. I was talking about the next generation being the ones who might live on the moon, who might be the first to perform Romeo and Juliet on the …. wait a second.
How you gonna swear by yonder blessed moon when you’re standing on the fool thing?
For that matter, how is Hamlet going to ask Polonius, “You see that cloud?”
Here’s the game. Which of Shakespeare’s plays are going to need to do some editing once they’re performed on the moon? For bonus points, put on your director hat and tell us how you’re going to creatively get around those lines. Is Romeo going to swear by yonder blessed Saturn?
I read that the noted literary critic and teacher, Harold Bloom of Yale U., has died. The report mentioned that his memory contained all of Shakespeare’s works and some other notable authors, too. I wonder if you have encountered anyone, perhaps even yourself, who makes this claim regarding Shakespeare. It’s one of those prodigious feats of memory that I can’t even imagine.
Lookup the name “John Barton”, legendary director at the RSC, who was said to have had similar recall. Barton died in 2018. The DVD series “Playing Shakespeare” is hours and hours of him instructing the likes of Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Ben Kingsley, Judi Dench and many more giants of their field in the intricacies of performing Shakespeare.
I found your blog today while scouring the internet for interpretations of Shakespeare’s poetry. However, I have a small requisition. Would you kindly elongate your blogs? Because they are very short. You may then be infrequent, however, compact in your blogs.