It’s March and time for Madness. But here at the Bill / Shakespeare Project, it’s not about the round ball, but about the grand Bard (of Avon, that is!). We’ve got a 32-play bracket, and today we continue with the second half (the left side of the bracket) of the first round…
1 Romeo and Juliet [#RandJ]
vs.
32 The Two Gentlemen of Verona [#2Gents]
16 The Tempest [#Tempest]
vs.
17 Coriolanus [#Corio]
9 Richard III [#R3]
vs.
24 Troilus and Cressida [#TandC]
8 King Lear [#Lear]
vs.
25 The Merry Wives of Windsor [#Wives]
4 Othello [#Othello]
vs.
29 The Winter’s Tale [#Winter]
13 The Comedy of Errors [#Errors]
vs.
20 All’s Well That Ends Well [#AllsWell]
12 Henry V [#H5]
vs.
21 Richard II [#R2]
5 Titus Andronicus [#Titus]
vs.
28 The Merchant of Venice [#Merch]
Which are your faves?
You can vote in any of the following ways:
- Leave the titles of your winning choices in the comments below
- Tweet @walthall with #BardMadness and the hashtagged titles (see above), one winner for each pairing
Use the Instagram poll in the story at @billwalthall[because of some time constraints, Instagram voting will have to wait until tomorrow…]
Or- Leave the titles of your winning choices in the comments of the BSP Facebook page…
This round will last today and tomorrow (Sunday); the second round will be up Monday!
Cast your votes today!
Romeo and Juliet / The Tempest (though Coriolanus is awfully timely right now) / Troilus and Cressida (TandC is the Bard’s most underrated play) / King Lear (Shakespeare’s best vs. Shakespeare’s worst, duh!) / Othello (my hardest decision so far: WT might be Shakespeare at his loveliest, but Othello has Iago, one of literature’s towering creations, ear-popping poetry & a plot that rips your heart out—is this the “irrational jealousy” bracket?) / The Comedy of Errors (silliness beats sermonizing any day) / Richard II / Titus Andronicus (Merchant is the better play but at this point I’d much rather experience a terrific production of Titus)
Romeo and Juliet; The Tempest; Richard III; King Lear; Othello; Comedy of Errors; Richard II; Titus Andronicus
This round was harder!
Romeo and Juliet
The Tempest
Troilus and Cressida
King Lear
The Winter’s Tale [#Winter]
The Comedy of Errors
Richard II
The Merchant of Venice [#Merch]
I think I already voted on Thursday for this round, but as I don’t know anything about sports/brackets, I’ll do it again just for good measure…
R&J
The Tempest
Richard III
King Lear
The next few are tough ones and I honestly can’t remember what I picked Thursday, but tonight I’m feeling like:
Winter’s Tale
Comedy of Errors
Richard II
and lastly- Merchant of Venice
Some of my favorites already knocked out! I agree with Jim Eigo on Coriolanus, but couldn’t disagree more on Merry Wives — King Lear is a great play but very disturbing, so I’ll vote for the laughs. Titus Andronicus is the only play I’ve never seen or read — and never will. Richard II vs Henry V was a tough choice, but I’ve gotta stick with Hal. So:
-Romeo and Juliet
-The Tempest
-Richard III
-The Merry Wives of Windsor
-The Winter’s Tale
-All’s Well That Ends Well
-Henry V
-The Merchant of Venice
Oops, my mistake, favorites NOT knocked out, this is the second half! “Never mind!”