Aug 31, 2023 | Shakespeare - Theatre
I am often asked what’s my favorite Shakespeare play. It’s like asking me to pick my favorite ice cream. Sure, there are favs, but it’s ice cream – the worst I’ve had is terrific. Having performed about two-thirds of the canon, any list...
Aug 29, 2023 | Essential Posts - History - Shakespeare - Theatre - Writing
Shakespeare: A Wordsmith For All Seasons Shakespeare’s unmatched linguistic prowess allowed him to coin and popularize a staggering number of words. It’s estimated that he introduced around 1,700 words to the English language—at least, his plays are the...
Aug 26, 2023 | Books - Shakespeare - The Novel - Theatre
Playing the expectations game is dangerous. You rewrite Romeo & Juliet, you’d best bring something new to the table. You write about the fall of Jerusalem, there had better be something uplifting in that awful story. And if you write a novel about William...
Aug 25, 2023 | Books - Essential Posts - Shakespeare - The Novel - Theatre - Uncategorized - Writing
Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, and how the Capulet-Montague feud inspired a series of historical novels I always hated Shakespeare. They made me read him. In junior high, it was JULIUS CAESAR, and I hated it. In high school, it was ROMEO & JULIET, which...
Aug 24, 2023 | Shakespeare - Theatre
If you wanted to throw a wrench into my theory about the cause of the Capulet-Montague feud in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, one needs only point out that in the earliest version, Lady Montague does not, in fact, have the final death in the play. Benvolio...
Jan 23, 2021 | Family - Shakespeare - Writing
This is going to be a little raw. I hope you’ll forgive me. In the summer of 2012, my wife was directing me in Richard III at the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, flipping the script from twelve years earlier when I had directed her in the show. I was playing King...
