Summer’s here and the time is right for Shakespeare (in the streets?)

I love summer. Shakespeare blooms all over town (state, country, world).

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Media Thursday: a change in direction…

Ohayo, Bardophile-san!

[feelin’ my half-Japanese roots today, I s’pose]

It’s Thursday, so it’s “Media Day”… and I don’t have a piece of Shakespeare-related media to review–though I did catch bits and pieces of the 1936 film with Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard…and wow… it’s a little off-putting to a 34 year-old Shearer playing the not-quite 14 year-old Juliet, and damned disturbing to see a 43 year-old Howard as Romeo (though it was a little better than John Barrymore’s 54 [but trying to be 24]) year-old Mercutio [note: Branagh’s recent stage version had Derek Jacobi as Mercutio, but that age difference was played for subtext]. From what I saw, Basil Rathbone’s Tybalt was ok…but let’s just say it hasn’t aged well.

ANYwhooo… what we’re really about today…

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Welcome to my nightmare…

OK, so you know I’ve been working on my Nightmare Engine, or whatever I’m calling it today (I can’t settle on a moniker yet). And last weekend, I built a stand for it…

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Audition (breakdown, go ahead…give it to me)

Wednesday, I posted an audition piece I created last summer that combined both comic and dramatic beats in a single thematically related speech. A little bit of Parolles from All’s Well That Ends Well and a central speech of Angelo’s from Measure for Measure, and both dealing with the conceivable loss of virginity.

Today, I want to share some dramaturgical choices made in the construction of it…

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Media Thursday (kinda): new (old) plays to read…

So, not really a review for today’s Media Thursday.

Instead, I’ll share two plays I’ll be reading over the summer.

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A different audition monologue…

Monday, I posted some female audition monologues. Today, I’m going to do something a little different.

Last year, I was prepping to audition for two Shakespearean plays, and for each they wanted a monologue that displayed both comedic and dramatic skills, all within two minutes.

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Audition stuff…

A friend of mine, with whom I’d worked on a show last year, messaged me on Friday, asking for some Shakespearean advice. It wasn’t exactly secret or confidential, so let me share.

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