Let the debate begin!  An educator puts forth the idea that Shakespeare would appeal more to kids if it were presented “like a modern film trailer”, focusing on the most exciting bits and skipping out on the boring part…such as the opening.

I’m not quite sure what she’s suggesting with the comparison.  After all, a film trailer is not a final product.  It’s supposed to convince you to go see the full movie, no? So if she’s suggesting that you introduce Shakespeare to kids with the trailer approach so that they can see the interesting bits, and then they go back and read/see the whole thing? I don’t have a problem with that.

I’ve never been a bardolater who wants to claim that every word is an essential part of a masterpiece.  There are plays I like and plays I don’t love.  There are scenes I find less interesting than others.  I’m not against editing.  I’m not against adapting.  But if this lady is suggesting that you reduce Shakespeare down to the “interesting” parts and then never come back around to the whole thing? I think she’s nuts.

The Shakespeare Geek blog has been around since 2005, making it the oldest continually active Shakespeare blog in existence.  Shakespeare is Universal represents our biggest fund-raising effort to date. For almost eight years and almost three thousand posts I’ve tried my best to make a place where everyone can talk about everything related to the subject of Shakespeare. If you’ve found my sites and products useful and interesting, I would greatly appreciate your support so that I can continue to do even more. Thank you.

OMG this needs to be a thing, immediately.  Like, for all the Complete Works, the Sonnets, and the long poems.

A virtual Sir Ian McKellen explains Shakespeare to you.

If you don’t click that link you don’t understand what I’m telling you.  The link came to me with a simple “Ian McKellen explains Richard III” title and I thought oh all right I’ll take a look.

A virtual Sir Ian greets you and walks you through the play, as you direct him.  Which line gives you trouble?  Would you like to see a few different versions of the scene?  You pick what you want him to talk about and Sir Ian talks.  So if you want to see the Olivier version Sir Ian actually introduces it and talks about the clip.

How much do I love this?  I don’t know what’s on Sir Ian’s schedule for the next couple of years, but seriously, I would mortgage my house for a complete collection of him doing this for the complete works.  What an absolutely genius idea.

O!  O!  And then a virtual Sir Patrick Stewart joins in and they banter back and forth about interpretation of Macbeth!  I’d die.

If you’ve not yet seen our Shakespeare is Universal campaign, please consider joining us.  This one-of-a-kind t-shirt will only be available for a few more days and by signing up you’ll be part of a very select club, just 100 people in the entire world who’ve chosen to express their love for Shakespeare in this unique way.  Thank you for your support!

Building a tradition of their own, A.J. Leon and his band of Misfits, Inc. are once again celebrating Shakespeare’s Birthday by building a wall of “What does Shakespeare mean to me?” blog posts, and I am more than happy to contribute.  I could write on that topic in my sleep.

Shakespeare means eternity to me.  It means transcendence.  It means that someone somewhere knew what it means to experience and feel the things that all other human beings may eventually experience and feel, and put that down in writing like a recipe, like a roadmap, like a decoder ring for all of us for centuries to come to decipher.

He is a canvas upon which all of humanity can illustrate their own existence, simultaneously linking it to those that have gone before while carving out its own unique story.

Shakespeare is inspiration, he is wisdom, he is comfort, just like those people closest to us. He is at times comedy and at times tragedy, just like life.

What does Shakespeare mean to me?  Everything.

This year’s Shakespeare Day Celebration is sponsored in part by Shakespeare Is Universal: Shakespeare truly is for everyone, and nothing demonstrates that sentiment better than his most famous quote of all, translated here into languages from around the world.   In celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday, show that you believe his works are just as relevant, powerful and important as they’ve ever been!

First we had Patrick Stewart who is equally at home as Captain Picard, Professor Xavier, or Macbeth.

Pretty soon we’ll have the world of Joss Whedon jumping from Buffy and Firefly to Much Ado About Nothing.

And now, now we have the queen of the geek universe Natalie Portman signed up to play Lady Macbeth?!

I hope the legions of fans she picked up from Star Wars (and even going so far back as The Professional) appreciate what they’re about to get themselves into.  This is almost certainly going to be firmly in Black Swan territory – and more in a dark and twisty way, not so much with the sexy bits.