Jul 8, 2006 | Books - Publishing - Shakespeare - Travel
My sources were many and varied. The major ones were Barbara Tuchman’s A DISTANT MIRROR, Allison Cornish’s READING DANTE’S STARS, ASIMOV’S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE by Isaac Asimov, and a collection of differing versions of Romeo & Juliet (ironically...
Jul 7, 2006 | Books - Publishing - Shakespeare - The Novel - Travel
The Road to Verona, the Same Night “Giotto’s O.” In the middle of a dream in which no one would let him sleep, it seemed to Pietro that the words were deliberately meant to annoy him. Almost unwillingly he dreamed of a rock, a paintbrush touching the rock, forming a...
Jul 6, 2006 | Shakespeare
Those who have studied Shakespeare’s sources will be critical of my choice of years. As I’ve stated earlier, Luigi da Porto, whose version of the story was penned in the early 16th Century, firmly places the events of the play between 1301 and 1304. This is during the...
Jul 5, 2006 | Shakespeare - Theatre
If you wanted to throw my whole theory about the cause of the feud out of whack, you could point out to me that Lady Montague does not, in fact, have the final death in the play. I would answer with a nod, a sigh, a smile. “I know. Benvolio does.” The first legitimate...
Jul 4, 2006 | Books - Shakespeare
I firmly expect to get mugged by Shakespeare and Dante scholars alike. The Dante folk will take issue with several of my choices. His movements prior to his arrival in (or return to, as it certainly was) Verona are much debated, and I’ve chosen one of the more...
Jun 30, 2006 | Essential Posts - Shakespeare
The production of R&J that I directed came and went as shows do. Throughout the following year, however, I was unable to leave the idea of the origin of the feud behind. The play was done, but my research continued. I’d waded shin-deep into the history of Verona;...
