William Shakespeare is widely regarded as one of the most influential playwrights in history, and his plays have been performed and studied for centuries. From the timeless tragedy of Romeo and Juliet to the hilarious antics of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s plays continue to captivate audiences around the world. Whether you’re a fan of tragedy, comedy, or romance, there’s a Shakespeare play for everyone. So why not revisit these timeless classics and discover the magic of Shakespeare for yourself?
This weekend my son and I went to the Boston Calling music festival because he’s a big Eminem fan. His sisters will be going to see Taylor Swift this summer, and we already dragged him to that once, it didn’t seem fair to doom him to a life of shows like that just because he’s outnumbered.
Anyway, here’s where the Shakespeare comes in. We’re walking from the hotel to the festival…
Geeklet: “I told my friend at school that I’m going to see Eminem and he said, ‘Are you going to eat M&Ms?'”
Me: “I once played Othello *at* Othello.”
Geeklet: “What?”
Me: “Never mind.”
Later in the evening when we’re trying literally not to get lost in a crowd. Somehow the conversation turns to how you never know, just bumping into somebody or stepping on their shoe might set them off.
A few hours after that, it’s dark, it’s a standing room only crush of people, and he steps on my toe.
Me: “Yo homes, you just step on my toe? I will murder you.”
Geeklet: “No you wouldn’t.”
Me: “I can do it, too. We’re in the same hotel room. Smother you in your sleep with a pillow.”
Geeklet: “Othello.”
Me: “…wait, what? Seriously?”
Geeklet: “Wait what what?”
Me: “That’s the one that ends where the guy smothers his wife with a pillow. Didn’t know you remembered that.”
Geeklet: “I didn’t, I just picked the one that rhymed with pillow.”
Back in September 2016, Shakespeare Geek readers helped make life better by backing Behowl the Moon, a baby board book based on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, into existence. I’m very happy to welcome back Erin Nelsen Parekh to tell us about her follow on project “The Wild Waves Whist”, using material from The Tempest.
Maybe you remember reading here about Behowl the Moon, the board book that turns two quotes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream into a story for babies and toddlers. There’s a second book up on Kickstarter now that would make it a series: The Wild Waves Whist, which steals two bits of The Tempest.
The Wild Waves Whist will have more Shakespeare-certified animal noises, more rhymes, more funny old language, an island setting brimming with mystery and possibility. It will be a delight and a dare.
Many of you helped bring Behowl the Moon into being by supporting it on
Kickstarter. And once it was made, the pairing of Shakespeare’s words and narrative art caught a good bit of attention (link to http://drivelanddrool.com/press/). Behowl the Moon is just about sold out of its first printing and going back to press!
It’s not probably ever going to be a blockbuster—not every adult wants this kind of wordplay during storytime with a kid. Even if they did, lots of people grow up with no feelings about Shakespeare aside from vague, homework-induced distaste. But among those who love and respect the complex play of image and sound and meaning in Shakespeare’s work, Behowl the Moon finds the perfect audience.
Back The Wild Waves Whist on Kickstarter now!
What actually happens when you mix small children and early modern English? My oldest, at two, told me we needed breakfast, “else the Puck a liar call.” A three-year-old remixes songs and quotes: “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, and the wolf behowls the moon.” When I read for a group of kids, usually aged from about one to three or sometimes all the way to six and seven, they hiss for “’scape the serpent’s tongue,” clap on “give me your hands,” lay their heads down at “good night unto you all,” and happily roar, tweet, bray, hoot, and squeak whenever they get a chance. And everybody, everybody, howls.
Toddlers interact with a snippet of unadulterated Shakespeare just as they would any other kids’ book, remembering the bits they like the sound of, puzzling out what’s going on in the pictures, asking questions about the characters. They are hilarious and brave and unexpected. I have to make another one—just to see what they’ll do next.
If you can help me make this, by supporting the project, sharing the link, or telling a friend, you’ll get my endless gratitude—and we’ll get to find out what happens together.
Look at that, I had a picture of Boatswain after all.
It dawns on me, as I sit here in my Tempest mood, that I’ve got almost 100 Shakespeare Geek designs in Amazon and RedBubble, but none of them have anything to do with The Tempest.
How’d that happen?
I immediately set about to remedy that problem when … I got stuck. I have no idea how to proceed! It’s easy to grab a quote and throw it on a shirt, but I think that’s just playing the “quantity over quality” rule and I don’t love that. Maybe that’s why I’m not raking in the cash, either, but that’s never been my goal 😉 If I’m going to put up a design and ask people to spend real money to own it, I’d like to feel like I put some effort into it.
So, who wants to brainstorm with me? Amazon offers t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts, but RedBubble offers a larger selection of other merch – iPhone cases, pillows, blankets, journals, stickers, etc… so I can really do either. If you’re a fan of The Tempest, what do you think would look good on merchandise? A favorite quote? One of our old jokes or hashtags games from over the years?
I suppose we could look into original artwork if somebody had a cool idea. I’m already thinking about maybe digging into the public domain stuff and seeing if I can’t get creative with one of the old woodcut images depicting Prospero and Ariel. Hmmm…
Who’s feeling creative? I promise I won’t nag people to buy it if we end up making it. I just want to see some new designs flowing into the store, and The Tempest is the biggest gap I see right now. (Not a lot of call for Pericles merchandise.)
I ran across a bunch of Tempest references last week, and was reminded each time how much I enjoy the opening scene. I was even trying to think of a gimmick post that would allow me to talk about my enjoyment of the boatswain character. I called it “One Scene Wonders”, but then remembered he technically appears at the end of the play as well.
Then I figure what the heck it’s my blog I can write whatever I want.
How much do you love Boatswain? From his opening “Cheerly my hearts! Yare, yare!” it’s like he’s got his own language and personality, even though he doesn’t even merit a proper name.
Boatswain
I pray now, keep below.
He’s also got patience. First he tells his passengers, “Keep below.” Then he politely tells them, “Stay out of the way, you’re doing more harm than good up here.”
Boatswain
You mar our labour: keep your cabins: you do assist the storm.
Then when Gonzalo goes and name drops the King, our hero does exactly what any worker would do when told the suits were coming. He says, “If you can do it better than go right ahead, otherwise get out of the way.”
GONZALO Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.
Boatswain
None that I more love than myself. You are a
counsellor; if you can command these elements to
silence, and work the peace of the present, we will
not hand a rope more; use your authority: if you
cannot, give thanks you have lived so long, and make
yourself ready in your cabin for the mischance of
the hour, if it so hap. Cheerly, good hearts! Out
of our way, I say.
He’s not even done. After complaining that his passengers complaints are louder than the storm, he sees them returning and asks, “Are you trying to get us killed?” When Sebastian swears at him he says, “If you’re going to stay out here pick up a rope!”
Boatswain
Down with the topmast! yare! lower, lower! Bring
her to try with main-course. A cry within A plague upon this howling! they are louder than
the weather or our office.
Re-enter SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, and GONZALO
Yet again! what do you here? Shall we give o’er
and drown? Have you a mind to sink?
SEBASTIAN
A pox o’ your throat, you bawling, blasphemous,
incharitable dog!
Boatswain
Work you then.
This poor chap’s just trying to do his job and not get them all killed, and these sorry fools are all getting in his way. Even Gonzalo has to acknowledge, “I like this fellow.” Granted, I’m not sure it’s a compliment to say “I see him more fated to hanging than to drowning,” but we’ll take what little appreciation we get.
GONZALO
I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks he
hath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is
perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his
hanging: make the rope of his destiny our cable,
for our own doth little advantage. If he be not
born to be hanged, our case is miserable.
All of Shakespeare’s openings are great, in their own way. I like this one because as far as setting the tone of the rest of the play goes (see Macbeth, Hamlet) it’s really more about what Gonzalo says after Boatswain’s big moment, all that stuff about “give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground” because in the next scene we see the island. So really the interaction with Boatswain is kind of extra, isn’t it? Sure it introduces the bad guys and gives a taste of their personalities but there’s plenty of ways he could have done that. I’m glad he picked this one.
Anybody else love seeing this guy make his brief appearance?
When I first heard about the Hogarth Series that would product “modern novelizations” of Shakespeare’s work I thought, “Eh. So what. If you rewrite Shakespeare it’s not Shakespeare, it’s yours, and it’s just like any other novel.” As such I’ve avoided them all to date.
I decided to change that because we’ve got a book club at work and I wanted an excuse to read something of at least passing interest to me. When multiple people told me that Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood’s retelling of The Tempest, was the best one to come out so far, was hooked. If I’m going to give the series I try I might as well start with my favorite play.
So glad I did! I’m just about halfway finished with it but I’m very excited to get out a review (and, who we kidding, it gives me another post for Shakspeare Day).
Felix, our director, is in the middle of what’s to be his masterpiece, a production of The Tempest. He likes this play so much he even named his daughter Miranda. Unlike Shakespeare’s story, however, both Felix’s wife and daughter have passed away before the story takes off. But the next part plays out like you’d expect — control of the group is usurped by Tony and Sal, and Felix is “banished” from the theatre scene until he gets a job teaching Shakespeare to prisoners. He even uses the pseudonym “Mr. Duke”, an amusing callback to Prospero as Duke of Milan.
The plot is following along close enough to the original that you have some idea what’s going to happen. Tony and Sal are going to end up in the prison where Mr. Duke will make his triumphant return. I just have no idea what’s going to happen other than that. Our Prospero has no Miranda. This one seems to be all about revenge. What would Prospero have been like if everything else had gone the same, except Miranda had not survived? I think we might have seen the full scope and scale of his power.
While retelling The Tempest this book is also a lesson in The Tempest as Felix walks his prisoners through the finer points of the play. He makes them re-envision Ariel as something other than just “a fairy”. He asks them to find all the “prisons” in the play (apparently there are nine?) and they discuss what form each prison takes, who is imprisoned, and who has captured them. I’m learning lots of new things. I hope she gets back to the question of “is the island by itself magic” because I’ve often wondered about that myself.
I don’t want to spoil much more of the book so I’ll stop here. Suffice to say I’m loving it, and when I’m done with this one I’m going to dig into Jo Nesbo’s new Macbeth next. Definitely recommended.
This weekend my son and I went to the Boston Calling music festival because he’s a big Eminem fan. His sisters will be going to see Taylor Swift this summer, and we already dragged him to that once, it didn’t seem fair to doom him to a life of shows like that just because he’s outnumbered.
