Loving Shakespeare

Watching Johannah's performance this weekend, I have been reminded of how much I enjoy Shakespeare's writings. I remember reading Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth in high school and not enjoying them at all. There was so much emphasis on every single line and what each specific word meant. I wanted to love Shakespeare because I assumed all educated people did, but I just couldn't feel it. As I have aged, however, Shakespeare has come to life for me.

The musical, "Return to the Forbidden Planet," is a modern-day take on The Tempest. Since I wasn't familiar with the play, it was tricky for me to understand the plot line at first. However, after I "got" it, I enjoyed looking for all the nuances for which Shakespeare is famous.

The first time I saw a Shakespeare play was in Northampton, England. The Royal Shakespeare Company was putting on Hamlet with Sam West in the title role. We actually went to Northampton (versus Stratford-upon-Avon) because it was the touring season of the company. While I don't remember anything about the city itself, the play was unforgettable. I expected to see the actors in Shakespearean attire, but to my surprise, everything was set in modern day. The characters were all wearing trench coats and carrying machine guns, and there was absolutely no scenery during the entire play. Just a blank white stage with bright lighting. The play was over three hours long, but I remember thinking that it felt like only minutes had passed. John and I had read the play just days before so that we were prepared for the plot but I was unprepared for how caught up I would become in the characters' lives and their struggles.

The second play I saw was The Merry Wives of Windsor in London. John and I took his sister, Beth, to the comedy. This time, the actors were dressed in 40's style of clothing. Expecting to see something along the lines of Hamlet, I was surprised to be laughing the entire time. It's an amazing feat to be able to write dramas that tear at the heartstrings while also writing comedies that really mean nothing at all, don't you think? Afterwards, we headed to a Thai restaurant in town and listened to Beth speak the craziest language I've ever heard to the cute Thai waitresses. You should have seen the disbelief on their faces when a red-haired, tall, white woman started speaking Thai :-)

Return to the Forbidden Planet was my third foray into Shakespeare's plays. While at times the mechanics of a middle-school production got in the way of understanding what was going on, still the play was just as wonderful as could be. Johannah was a star. She had such a commanding stage presence! At times, it was a bit disconcerting to see the seriousness and anger on her face that only Glo had seen before. :-) She sang beautifully and danced flawlessly. We were so proud of her. I'm not sure the middle-school-aged kids could actually appreciate the beauty of the play itself, but just hearing their memorized words reminded me of the greatness of Shakespeare himself.