Bikini Shakespeare in Chicago

If you happen to be in Chicago soon, you might want to check out Bikini Theater's Tempest. 

Here's what the Gorilla Tango Theater says about the show:

Bikini Shakespeare returns with its latest installment, The Tempest! This island romp will feature the bikinis and speedos you can't resist, with the hilarity and poetry of Shakespeare. Watch as Prospero toys with the lives of some unsuspecting ship-wrecked courtiers, just as they had toyed with his in a time long forgotten. Magic, spirits, monsters, power, and love all come into play as Prospero spins a web of revenge and redemption.

If you want to know the "hidden meaning" behind this production, look at what director, Katie Horowitz had to say in the Chicago Reader.

Complete Works: a Web series

I'm not sure what to make of this, but apparently a group of folks have created a Web series called Complete Works. According to the creators, "We are creting a new, 14-episode comedy web series about the Finals of the American Shakespeare Competition."

Their Blog shows the progress of the filming which apparently ended in August 2012 and they are now in post-production. There is a bit more information about the project on their Facebook page.  Here's the plot summary from that page:

"Hal has been obsessed with everything Shakespeare since his "Henry the Fourth" birthday party. Now in his 20's, he's stuck at a technical college studying everything boring...until he sees a poster for the American Shakespeare Competition. Winning the ASC could not only pull him out of his humdrum Midwestern life, it could give him the performing career he's always dreamed of.

There's only one problem: Hal's never done an arts competition. And in this world, winning takes a little more than just art."

Stay tuned...

Terrence Howard and Sanaa Lathan to Star in Film Version of Macbeth

According to Eurweb,  Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan and Blair Underwood will be in a new adaptation of Macbeth. Howard will take the role of ‘General Macbett’ (sic) who will have an encounter with the ‘Weird Sisters,’ the spirit daughters of Africa that control the elements. Sanaa Lathan will play the role of ‘Lady Macbett.’ Entitled “Macbett,” the movie also stars Evan Ross, son of Diana Ross, and will begin filming in Jamaica and Puerto Rico in the fall.

Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre’s Lear Khehkwaii

The Fairbanks Shakespeare Theater will be touring a 90 minute version of Shakespeare’s King Lear inspired by Gwich’in language and culture, Lear Khehkwaii. The play is set in late 1800’s Alaska, a time when Alaska Native cultures were introduced to western influences and when the King James Bible (originated in Shakespeare’s time) was being translated into the Gwich’in language. Half of the script has been translated into the Gwich’in language and will be incorporated into the production and performed by a multi-cultural cast of eleven artists including native Gwich’in speakers, Alaska Native, Native American actors and FST company members. The project incorporates arts education and language revitalization through the live performance of one of the world’s greatest story tellers, William Shakespeare.

Much Ado About Josh Weedon

I don't know much about the work of Josh Weedon, but  there seems to be some buzz about his film version of Much Ado About Nothing. Here's the official site and here's the trailer.

Shakespeare Magazine is Back (sort of)

I've managed to salvage some of the original articles from Shakespeare Magazine and have posted them here.

I hope you find them interesting.

I'm back and will resume posting soon.

We Need a Little Shakespeare is the latest Post from the Folger's Blog.

LETTERS TO SANTA WRITTEN BYSHAKESPEARE CHARACTERS

All They Want for Christmas is Some Shakespeare

Putting the 'Mac' into Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' | Culture Monster | Los Angeles Times

Putting the 'Mac' into Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'

It's widely considered rude to be playing with your iPhone during a theatrical performance -- unless the actors are doing the same thing.
A group of stage performers in San Francisco is producing a reading of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in which they will enact the drama by reading the text from their personal iPhones and iPod Touch devices. To make the experience more communal, the audience is invited to read along by downloading a special Shakespeare application that contains the full play.

The event -- which will take place Oct. 25 at the Apple Store in San Francisco at 1 Stockton St. near Union Square -- is organized by actor Ron Severdia, who runs the website playshakespeare.com.

Last year, Severdia launched an iPhone application that contains all of Shakespeare's plays as well as his poems and sonnets. The program, which was developed by the company Readdle, is available for free download from iTunes and features a keyword search function as well as auto-scroll capabilities.

"It's not a profit-generating thing. It's a loss generator, actually. But it's done out of the love of the work," said Severdia in a phone interview.

The actor said he first chose "Macbeth" for the obvious pun on the Apple brand of Mac computers. "That was the original joke and it sort of stuck," he said.

The performance, which is free, will feature 13 actors performing 40 different roles in the Scottish tragedy.

Severdia said he and his tech team are putting the finishing touches on a new version of the application that will have features like finding the nearest Shakespeare festival using GPS; searching by line numbers; and a new interface. He expects the new version to cost $1.99 to download.

-- David Ng

Putting the 'Mac' into Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' | Culture Monster | Los Angeles Times

Putting the 'Mac' into Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'

It's widely considered rude to be playing with your iPhone during a theatrical performance -- unless the actors are doing the same thing.
A group of stage performers in San Francisco is producing a reading of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in which they will enact the drama by reading the text from their personal iPhones and iPod Touch devices. To make the experience more communal, the audience is invited to read along by downloading a special Shakespeare application that contains the full play.

The event -- which will take place Oct. 25 at the Apple Store in San Francisco at 1 Stockton St. near Union Square -- is organized by actor Ron Severdia, who runs the website playshakespeare.com.

Last year, Severdia launched an iPhone application that contains all of Shakespeare's plays as well as his poems and sonnets. The program, which was developed by the company Readdle, is available for free download from iTunes and features a keyword search function as well as auto-scroll capabilities.

"It's not a profit-generating thing. It's a loss generator, actually. But it's done out of the love of the work," said Severdia in a phone interview.

The actor said he first chose "Macbeth" for the obvious pun on the Apple brand of Mac computers. "That was the original joke and it sort of stuck," he said.

The performance, which is free, will feature 13 actors performing 40 different roles in the Scottish tragedy.

Severdia said he and his tech team are putting the finishing touches on a new version of the application that will have features like finding the nearest Shakespeare festival using GPS; searching by line numbers; and a new interface. He expects the new version to cost $1.99 to download.

-- David Ng

How Iago Explains the World - NYTimes.com

How Iago Explains the World - NYTimes.com

Shakespeare on the Arab Stage

Shakespeare on the Arab Stage

Macbeth Unit Plan

Macbeth Unit Plan

The Story Behind the Former American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford Connecticut
by Frank Rizzo

Remember when you first went to the theater...remember rthe show...or who was in it?

Why everyone should read Shakespeare

By TOM GELSTHORPE
August 19, 2009

I sincerely hope that someone younger than me reads this column and that, as summer wanes, some of you are returning to hallowed halls of learning with joyful expectations. Despite my painful, mixed feelings about being droned at by the professoriate, I'll admit it's one way to learn useful stuff. Self-taught or other-taught are better than remaining ignorant. Bliss is more likely in the presence of wisdom. I favor whatever might lift you above the nether regions of fads, claptrap and superstition.

The Shakespearean Heroes Science Fiction Should Steal From

William Shakespeare was the J.J. Abrams of his day, reinvigorating Elizabethan England's worn-out action-adventure franchises. And Shakespeare's writing still has clues for today's story-smiths. Characters who switch from nice to nasty? Secret passions? Strange disguises? The Bard got there first.

There's a reason actors are so juiced up to do Shakespeare, besides the fancy speeches and the prestige: Shakespeare does tricky character arcs and memorable people. And whenever you watch something like Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Star Wars or Star Trek giving you a character who goes through a drastic transformation or a serious conflict, you're watching little chunks of unresolved Shakespeare. (Of course, a lot of these things go back to Sophocles, and probably the first cavewoman to stage playlets around the fire pit.)

No Fear Shakespeare: a frightening thing

No Fear Shakespeare: a frightening thing

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T. K. Roxborogh, a New Zealand teacher and lover of Shakespeare, has written a YA novel, Banquo's Son, a sequel to Macbeth.

You can find out more about the book and join in on a discussion about it at http://banquosson.blogspot.com/ and more about Tania here.