OK, so like I’ve been saying, I’ve been dramaturging for the Camarillo Skyway Production of Much Ado About Nothing (as well as wearing some homegrown mutton chops and a really cool waist-coat as Antonio).
[we open a week from tonight. am I nervous? did Shakespeare write blank verse?]
But as a part of my dramaturgical duties, I like to share stuff with the cast and crew. And while searching for such goodies, I came across:
The Geeky Blonde…
is the YouTube moniker for Rhiannon McGavin, Los Angeles’ Youth Poet Laureate (who knew we even had such a thing?). And she put together a series of “Condensed Shakespeare” videos that wittily reduce some of the plays down to 10-20 minute videos of her basically paraphrasing/acting every role as well as providing commentary (and answering questions from a sock-puppet…don’t ask, it works).
Here’s the scary thing. She’s 18.
And she did most of these between 2011 and 2014 (the playlist has an updated date of 2014, but the latest publication date for any of them seems to be 2013)…so you do the math. She was really young when she did these (not that she’s an old maid now)…and for her to have that kind of knowledge and talent that young is just freakin’ terrifying (in a good way).
Here’s a link to her playlist… and her webpage. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but I found them entertaining as hell…
And of course, here’s one of my (perversely) favorite plays…