Shakespeare!

[Speed Tracer]

There are only three constants in this world we live in. Three things which are, for lack of a better word, completely undisputed. Deny these facts, and you risk being labeled an idiot, a buffoon, an ignoramus. These are Socratic truths, undeniable by man, woman, or super-intelligent dolphin.
1. Never start a land-war in Asia.
2. Never screw with a Sicilian when death is on the line.
3. Shakespeare is the smartest, sexiest, awesomest person who ever lived (the sexy part is a matter of preference, of course).

This is a recurring theme for me. I'm not a fanatic, merely a scholar. I have been reading, performing, and studying Shakespeare since age 5... and understanding it since age 13, I think. This is a bit much, I know, but I haven't deified him. He's not God to me, just the next best thing.

This said, Shakespeare isn't perfect. No one is. I know three kinds of people, in respect to Shakespeare. A, People who take his word as gospel: "Nothing Shakespeare wrote is bad." B, People who don't like Shakespeare, but have been hypnotized into thinking he's the best thing since sliced bread: "I don't really like him, but he's Shakespeare, he couldn't have written anything bad." C, People who think Shakespeare is, by definition, crap: "Shakespeare sucks."

Now, I tend to fall into a fourth category - Shakespeare lovers (Bardolaters), who are least willing to discuss his faults while simultaneously loving his work. That's me. I respect that the Bard was working for money, not because he was a deeply-troubled artiste. I respect that, when Queen Lizzie #1 told him to write a play about :insert contrived plot here:, he did it. I respect that Shakespeare was not some messianic superman. He was a guy, and smart, and he wrote good stuff.

This thread is meant for us to discuss this good stuff. Go.

 

[anytimepally]

Tush! Never tell me? I take it much unkindly That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.

Thus begins my favorite of Shakespeare's works, Othello, of which I know every line and can even perform every part in distinct voices if need be .. I know that's a bit odd, but when I was in college, if ever I got tired of studying or didn't know where to go with a half-written paper, I would perform Othello for no good reason other than it gave me something else to do while whatever I was working on worked itself out in my head.. however, I have never seen it performed, on stage or on film, because I'm afraid that would ruin it for me.. but, it is a dream of mine to play Iago someday

I tend to refer to Shakespeare as "Billy Shakes" in my real life, so I'll do the same here from now on...

Other favorites of mine include:
*Hamlet (I actually got to play Laertes with a "Shakespeare in the Park" community theatre group during my second year of college.. I particularly enjoyed the scene where I got to strangle Hamlet for a moment.. and I always love death scenes.. sadly, this is the only Shakes I've acted, as my acting experience is very limited)

*The Tempest (My dad has always been really into genealogy, and he says we're related to the guy upon whom this play is based)

*Macbeth (I saw this one performed recently.. the guy who did Macbeth was an overactor and didn't do the part justice.. luckily, I've seen better versions in the past or he might've turned me off of it completely)

*A Midsummer Night's Dream (Probably my favorite comedy of his)

When I was a kid and would get into trouble, my aunt would punish me by reading scenes from Romeo & Juliet so while I enjoy the Dire Straits' song of the same title, the play remains among my least favorite.. also, I was never a fan of the poetry.. to me, it's missing that *something* that his plays, for the most part, have

 

[Speed Tracer]

I've gotten a chance to play some great Shakespearean roles over the year. My favorite was Iachimo from Cymbeline.

His name means "Little Iago" in Italian. For anyone familiar with Shakespeare, you know what this means. He's not an insidious ultra-villain like Iago, Edmund, or Richard III, but he's still good.

Most of Shakespeare's comedies and romances have crappy villains anyway, who do little besides be bad. The Duke in As You Like It, Don John in Much Ado About Nothing - these are essentially the only villains in comedies, and they are bland as characters. Most comedies have only the circumstances acting as a villain, with no actual evil person in the play. The greatest comic villains are clear; there are only two - Angelo in Measure for Measure and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.

Every tragedy has a villain, and many of them are great. Comedies, romances, not so much.

But Iachimo I like. I don't know why, but I just do. Why? Simple. He's not just the guy who does stuff that gets in the way of the protagonist; he's actually a character. Shakespeare allows him to be redeemed onstage, but also allows him to perform his greatest act of villainy - and then stop halfway through it.

Iachimo is a wily Italian. The correct phrase is "zany." He's drinking it up with the good guys in Italy, and ends up making an inconceivable bet with the hero, Posthumus, that his lover, Imogen, is unfaithful. Iachimo never even considers losing this bet, despite the fact that Imogen is the purest creature in the history of the universe. He doesn't even feel a setback when his plans are initially foiled. He's a cavalier and a mastermind, filled with a kind of mindless ambition that all men have.

He woos Imogen unsuccessfully, first charming her with philosophy, the flattering, then just coming onto her. She rebuffs him, but he's fully prepared. He makes it appear that the fact that he was aroused was just a test, to probe for Imogen's infidelity, by which he meant to see if Imogen was "fit" for his friend Posthumus. Imogen accepts this. Iachimo's phase two, unlike phase one, is a real spectacle. I imagine a checklist.

Step 1: Get paper.
Step 2: Get box.
Step 3: Make box look nice.
Step 4: Give box to Imogen (say it's a gift or something).
Step 5: Climb into box.
Step 6: End up in Imogen's room.
Step 7: Win the bet, by any means necessary.

He does this, and is smuggled into Imogen's room at night. He emerges to find her half-naked, sleeping.

This is all one scene, and the only person who has lines in it is Iachimo. It's quite a tour-de-force, really. Iachimo's monologue is unimaginably poetic, and his wiles shine through. He notes every aspect of Imogen's room - and her body - so he can describe it to Posthumus later. As a final coup, he removes Imogen's bracelet (given by Posthumus) to prove that he, er, did the deed with dear Imogen.

Part of the scene is comic. It's hard to do the out-of-the-box bit without some hilarity, and I think it should be welcomed. But Iachimo's ponderings over sleeping Imogen are chilling and dead-serious. Being both evil, male, opportunistic, and Italian, Iachimo is overcome by lust for Imogen. If he raped her, then and there, he could actually win his bet, and not have to resort to trickery. He'd probably get away with it to. She's just sitting there.

But, he doesn't. In a moment where a stupid villain would be overwhelmed, Iachimo shows amazing restraint. He does nothing, and simply reflects on how much purer Imogen is than he is. Then, he disappears into his box.

Later, he wins his bet with flying colors, stunning Posthumus into silence several times, piling manipulation on manipulation, deceit on deceit, until he has devastated Posthumus completely. Now, he disappears from the play for a long time, and returns when the Roman army attacks England.

As a further attribute to his character, Iachimo ends up battling Posthumus, even though they are technically on the same side. When Iachimo is defeated and Posthumus shows mercy, Iachimo again soliloquizes about who he is, and realizes that there's more to life than winning bets. He resolves to right his wrongs.

To date, this is still my favorite Shakespearean character.

 

[Winslow Leach]

My all-time favorite written work is Hamlet. I know it backwards, forwards, upside down and sideways. I've done the play three times, each time playing a different role. I was the King; I was Polonius, and doubled as the Ghost; and I was Hammy himself (and I do mean hammy, lol!) in a modern-dress production.

I've also done

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bottom)

Romeo & Juliet (Mercutio)

The Comedy of Errors (Dromio of Ephesus)

Twelfth Night (Malvolio)

Henry IV Part One (Hotspur)

I love doing Shakespeare.

 

[Winslow Leach]

I'd love to play Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing someday...

 

[Winslow Leach]

I also like Julius Caesar.

 

[Speed Tracer]

Here's some others I've done...

Iago - Othello
Benedick - Much Ado About Nothing
Polonius - Hamlet
Malvolio - Twelfth Night
Don Armado - Love's Labour's Lost
Bottom - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Mercutio - Romeo and Juliet
Ariel - The Tempest
Edmund - King Lear
Richard III - Richard III
Octavius - Antony and Cleopatra
Sir John Falstaff - Henry IV Parts 1 and 2
Parolles - All's Well That Ends Well
Dromio of Ephesus - The Comedy of Errors
Mistress Overdone - Measure for Measure
Gower - Pericles

Just a very few of my absolute favorites.

I've also had a lot of assorted smaller parts in various other plays. Maybe if I have the patience I'll list them sometime.

 

[anytimepally]

Tush! Never tell me? I take it much unkindly That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.

Thus begins my favorite of Shakespeare's works, Othello, of which I know every line and can even perform every part in distinct voices if need be .. I know that's a bit odd, but when I was in college, if ever I got tired of studying or didn't know where to go with a half-written paper, I would perform Othello for no good reason other than it gave me something else to do while whatever I was working on worked itself out in my head.. however, I have never seen it performed, on stage or on film, because I'm afraid that would ruin it for me.. but, it is a dream of mine to play Iago someday

I tend to refer to Shakespeare as "Billy Shakes" in my real life, so I'll do the same here from now on...

Other favorites of mine include:
*Hamlet (I actually got to play Laertes with a "Shakespeare in the Park" community theatre group during my second year of college.. I particularly enjoyed the scene where I got to strangle Hamlet for a moment.. and I always love death scenes.. sadly, this is the only Shakes I've acted, as my acting experience is very limited)

*The Tempest (My dad has always been really into genealogy, and he says we're related to the guy upon whom this play is based)

*Macbeth (I saw this one performed recently.. the guy who did Macbeth was an overactor and didn't do the part justice.. luckily, I've seen better versions in the past or he might've turned me off of it completely)

*A Midsummer Night's Dream (Probably my favorite comedy of his)

When I was a kid and would get into trouble, my aunt would punish me by reading scenes from Romeo & Juliet so while I enjoy the Dire Straits' song of the same title, the play remains among my least favorite.. also, I was never a fan of the poetry.. to me, it's missing that *something* that his plays, for the most part, have

It was pretty late when I was typing this last night and while I was wrapped up in celebrating Othello, it totally slipped my mind that, although I haven't seen it performed otherwise, I did once perform in it myself with the same group I did Hamlet with.. I played Roderigo, and much better than my Laertes, I must say.. man, those days all run together ... you'd think since I've only been in about eight plays that I'd be able to remember them all

 

[anytimepally]

Here's some others I've done...
Iago - Othello

I'm jealous!

 

[Speed Tracer]

Man, Iago is a GREAT role, really wonderful, but it'll be a long time before I even consider wanting to play him again. So much text! I mean, I can handle memorization, but our troupe insists that we also paraphrase everything. This is why I don't think I ever want to play Hamlet.

By the way, our directors are hard on us and don't cut a thing out of the text.