The Shakespeare Theatre Company of Washington, D.C. made an unusual casting choice for its current production of “Antony and Cleopatra.” Director Michael Kahn decided to use three 20-inch ball pythons to play the role of the asp that Cleopatra uses to commit suicide in the play’s final scene. The slithery, but non-poisonous, Shakespearean actors were [...]
According to legend, William Shakespeare sometimes stayed at an inn called The Ship near the village of Grendon Underwood in Buckinghamshire when he travelled between Stratford-upon-Avon and London. The legend even says that some of the colorful townsfolk, as well as the nearby woods, helped inspire him to write “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The stories [...]
Although this isn’t strictly a piece of Shakespeare news, “The Guardian” has published an article explaining how the same type of liberties that allowed Elizabethan businessmen to build the Theatre, Curtain, Rose and Globe theatres without interference from London authorities could allow a group of residents to derail plans to build a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper [...]
“Satirist Martin Baum said his book, To Be or Not To Be, Innit, was a way of combining text speak and street slang with the Bard’s classics. The book includes Macbeff and Two Geezas of Verona, among 15 abridged versions of Shakespeare’s work. Mr Baum, 48, said “text speak and street slang” was becoming normal [...]
London SE1 Community Website has posted pictures and a video of a floating replica of an Elizabethan theatre travelling down the Thames in London on Wednesday. The replica was part of Shakespeare’s Globe’s celebrations for the Bard’s 444th birthday. The miniature playhouse was placed on a boat and floated from Butler’s Wharf to the Shakespeare’s [...]
