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Act Three, Scene One: Found– one Antipholus of Ephesus

Didn’t finish Act Three yesterday.

A day off got in the way, as did last night’s trip to Thousand Oaks to see the Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival‘s production of Macbeth at Cal Lutheran University… it was great to spend some time with great friends and great drama under the stars.  The production was very good, the lead excellent, and the experience great… I’m planning a review as a podcast.  If I can get off my butt and write it today, I’ll record and release it tomorrow (but today’s holiday may get in the way!).

But Act Three, Scene One…
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Act Two: the Where’s Waldo, er, Antipholus of Ephesus? Edition

OK, Act Two is in the books… another short one, again, only two scenes.

In II.1, we meet Adriana, the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus (AE), and Luciana, her sister.

Any bets Antipholus of Syracuse (AS) ends up with the sister of his long lost brother’s wife? No takers?  Really?

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Act One, and some quick thoughts… like “long lost, oh, brother”

OK, finished Act One last night… very short act, two scenes.

Of course, this is a very short play… by my count (and for my count, I’m using the Pelican Shakespeare, edited by Frances, E Dolan… and I plan to use the Pelicans for the entire series, just to be consistent), Comedy has 1766 lines, the least of any Shakespeare play.  (to put this in perspective, the character [not the play, but just the character] of Hamlet has over 1550 lines himself alone…)
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The COMEDY of Errors?

And so we begin… 36 plays in 36 months…

And The Comedy of Errors begins with Egeon, pleading to the Duke of Ephesus:

Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall
And by the doom of death end woes and all.

— I.i.1-2

He’s not pleading for his life, but for his death, a death to “end woes and all.”

THIS is a comedy?

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Tomrrow


... and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time...

— Macbeth V.v.19-21

Or at least:
The clock is slow... I don't feel tardy

–Van Halen, “Hot for Teacher”

Either way, I can’t wait for tomorrow.  The Comedy of Errors text sits on my desk, almost mocking me… I’m waiting for tomorrow even to open it up… haven’t even cracked it open to read the intro… haven’t even read the section on it in Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare… don’t want to cheat and start early… but I’m giddy, like tomorrow is Christmas… there are times I actually rub my hands together in giddy anticipation!

See you all tomorrow, and we’ll begin to read and start this experiment!

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Podcast the First: Introduction

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Welcome to our first podcast.  It’s a little re-purposed from some of our first week’s entries, but it gives a pretty solid overview of what we’re doing and why… and a hint of where we’re going with all this.
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A Little Different Background: OK, So Not Everyone’s a Fan…

Ran into a former student from OHS last night in Aaron Bros… didn’t know her at first, but she recognized me (part of that whole ce-leper-ty status Lisa says all teachers have: part celebrity, part leper).  When I introduced Lisa to her, she told my wife (unprompted) that she had taken an English class from me, but she lost interest when we hit Shakespeare… “It was too complicated,” she said. “Still is.”

Kinda ironic given the launch of this venture.

So all that stuff I wrote earlier in the week? Guess that was shot through the prism of golden idealized nostalgia…

Just a guess, but I don’t think she’ll be joining us for this endeavor.

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Can I Have a Little More Background, Please: OSF

The thing about being a new young teacher is that they load you down with extra-curricular activities because you can’t say no.
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A Lot More Background: A Night with the Bard

“Let’s put on a show!”

cue the Mickey Rooney / Judy Garland reference machine (btw, Rooney played Puck in a 1935 film, that also included JAMES CAGNEY AS BOTTOM… I’ve never seen it, but just thinking about Cagney as Bottom makes me want to…)

OK.  But how and what?
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