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I have to admit, my only experince of Shakespeare is Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth, which I studied at school. I know that some of his works involve killings, but I didn't realise that he'd written a play such as Titus Andronicus...

 

Globe warns over 'gruesome' play

 

Has anyone read or studied this one?

 

An what about his other plays.. which have you read or seen? Favourites?

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I've not read or heard of that one before Michelle.

 

The ones I have read are: (the more stars there are the more I liked it)

 

Midsummers Night Dream *****

Romeo And Juliet ****

MacBeth *

Hamlet **

Othello ***

King Lear *

 

I'm sure there's another 1 or 2 but can't think of them offhand :wink:

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Ooh, yes, Titus is completely gruesome! I've never seen it performed (& I've been meaning to see the film that was made a few years back, but haven't yet) but I read it years ago at school (it wasn't on the curriculum).

 

My favourite's Macbeth - I just love everything about it, so dark & bleak with madness, jealousy, murder & mayhem all over the place - everything a good play should have! I actually used Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene as my audition for the drama course at college, I loved it so much. We studied this one for Higher English too.

 

The only other one I've been involved in a production of is Romeo & Juliet, which isn't one of my favourites, but it was great fun to do. We all refused to e "wimpy & slushy" & instead were normal, petulant teens (which is what R&J were, essentially, as they were supposed to be about 14 & 17 yrs old - LOL!).

 

I also did some study on Othello at college - I loved that one. Again with the jealousy & murder. I think Iago is one of the most despicable characters Shakespeare ever wrote & I adore him - he must be such fun to play. When I was at college, we kept 3 fish - they were all black moors, so Dan called his Othello. In response, the others were Iago (mine) & Desdemona (Ellie's). We liked to think we had very cultural pets - teeheehee!

 

One of my other favourite is Twelfth Night (or, What You Will), which is a comedy of errors with a girl dressed as a boy, falling in love with her master who loves another woman who loves the girl dressed as a boy. It all comes right in the end. It also features Feste, the fool, who is wonderful. If anyone hasn't seen the film version with Ben Kingsley in this role - go watch it, you're missing out - he was fantastic!

 

And the whimsical Midsummer Night's Dream is always wonderful - complete with cat-fight between Helena & Hermia. I've always thought it would be fun to play Puck.

 

I've also read & enjoyed:

The Comedy of Errors (we did a scene from this once at college - I was Adriana)

King Lear (again, we did a scene for college - I was Cordelia)

The Tempest

Much Ado About Nothing

As You Like It

Richard III

Hamlet (another scene - this time for fencing class - I was Laertes!)

Anthony & Cleopatra

The Taming of the Shrew (another scene - as Katherina, the shrew)

 

Can you tell I adore Shakespeare? We went to visit the Globe Theatre in London (just a tour, not to see a show) on our honeymoon & were lucky enough to see part of a tech rehearsal for an all-female cast performing The Taming of the Shrew - they were excellent & I wish we could have seen the actual show.

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Ooh, & if anyone ever gets the chance to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company, snap those tickets up! They perform a rundown of every one of Shakespeare's plays in the 1st half, leaving Hamlet for the 2nd where they perform it faster & faster, eventually even doing it backwards, & even involving the audience in "heckling" the characters with lines such as:

 

"Paint an inch thick!" (basically calling Ophelia a slapper with too much makeup)

&

"Cut the crap, Hamlet,my biological clock is ticking & I want babies now!"

 

It's absolutely hilarious!

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When we were studing Macbeth, we went to see it performed in London (I think!), but for the life of me I can't remember where we went. After seeing a couple of film versions, it was good to see it performed as it was intended.

 

This was around 1987.. according to Wiki, the Globe wasn't open then, and neither was the Rose, so goodness knows where we went!

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Michelle, isn't it funny you find that article right when we were discussing the Globe theater???

 

I've never seen Titus Andronicus and I don't believe I will any time in the future, either. Yick!

 

But I adore Shakespeare.

 

I grew up in San Diego, California which built a replica of the original Globe theater in 1935 for the Pacific International Exposition.

 

When I was in high school, I took a Shakespeare as Literature class and we went to see several productions, including Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, & Midsummer Night's Dream.

 

When my drama class presented some famous scenes from Shakespeare's plays, I got to play Lady Macbeth and Puck (the soliloquy at the end of the play). It was great fun and I learned a lot.

 

In February, 1983, on a trip to California, Queen Elizabeth visited the Old Globe and unveiled a statue of William Shakespeare.

 

For my next trip over your way, I have two goals. 1) Visit Statford Upon Avon and 2) see a performance at the Globe.

 

As far as my favorite, I think it would be Twelfth Night. Such a fun mix up!! :lol:

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I also did some study on Othello at college - I loved that one. Again with the jealousy & murder. I think Iago is one of the most despicable characters Shakespeare ever wrote & I adore him - he must be such fun to play.

I've just studied Othello as part of my GCSE English course. The only experience I'd had before was when I was a stage hand at school for A Midsummer Night's Dream (about 26 years ago!).

 

I thought Shakespeare would be boring, but it was amazing. I loved it so much!

 

I totally agree, Kell, about Iago - he's deliciously and wickedly good!

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The Globe is great because you are supposed to behave like the (very rude) Tudor audiences.

We quite often go to Stratford and the performances there are brilliant as well although the audience is a bit more tradition lol.

I love them all when I see them live and not read. Can't read a Shakespeare play and still find Romeo and Juliet a bit annoying (want to give them both a stern parent/teacher talking too) I cried with laughter at Midsummer Nights Dream and Comedy of Errors this summer. Like King Lear too.

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Roman Polanski's Macbeth scared the pants off me,[i was only 14] A piece of trivia for you now. The Grammer of shakespearian english is very similar to spanish grammer, hence my kids loved Shakespeare, and 'got' the jokes from around 6 years of age.

 

My favourites I think are Loves labours lost

and King Lear

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My favourite of his, I think, is Troilus and Cressida, which is wonderfully dark and nasty - it has such a bad ending.

 

I like Troilus and Cressida, but my favourite is Othello - I love Iago as he is such a fantastic villain! The last time I went to see it was about three or four years ago in Manchester, where Andy Serkiss played Iago. It was a fantastic performance.

 

I also love Macbeth. I bought a copy of Macbeth from a jumble sale when I was about 7 years old and just fell in love with it. I've been to see it many times.

 

I like a Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing and the Merchant of Venice. Another favourite is Coriolanus.

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Coreolanus is the ONLy one not covered by the Reduced Shakespeare company. instead the make a joke out of how they don't do "the anus play" - LOL!

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  • 1 year later...

I really should read some more Shakespeare. His use of language is amazing, he really was a genius.

 

The plays I know are:

 

Hamlet

Macbeth

The Tempest

Antony and Cleopatra (did it for school, found it quite boring)

A midsummer nights dream

Much Ado about nothing (saw it in London, brilliant production)

 

My favourite is The Tempest because it's so magical

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I've read a Midsummer Night's Dream, and seen a bit of a new version, read and analysed the c**p out of Richard lll for english SATs, seen part of 2 or 3 versions on the TV (in lesson), and I think I've read a few more...

 

And, basically:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I CAN'T STAND SHAKESPEARE! I just think they're all boring and nothing happens.

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I have of course read a lot of Shakespeare in school, and some on my own, and I love his plays! Here are the ones I have read:

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream (my favorite)

Macbeth

Hamlet

Romeo and Juliet

The Merchant of Venice

The Taming of the Shrew

Richard II

King Henry IV, parts I and II

King Henry V

Antony and Cleopatra

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Oooh Shakespeare - just love his plays and sonnets. They've stood the test of time because their themes are so universal - usually concerned with human truths. My first introduction was O level Merchant of Venice - I was completely absorbed to see what the conclusion would be. We saw Macbeth at the cinema - hadn't realised it was going to be so gory.

 

At A level I studied Hamlet and was lucky enough to see Robert Lindsay play the lead at the Royal Exchange in Manchester - fantastic theatre - in the early 80's. We also studied The Tempest which turned out to be one of my favourites - I loved the civilization versus nature theme.

 

Since then I have studied Much Ado About Nothing and Othello. I thought Othello was brilliant - my daughter is studying it at the moment.

 

So all in all - a Shakespeare fan!:welcomeboard:

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