"Knowing I lov'd my books,
he furnish'd me . . ." (The Tempest 1.2.167)
Are You Shakespearienced?
featuring a Fun Quiz
and A Few Little Facts About the Bard,
along with links to cool Shakespeare sites on the web
and whatever else happens to come our way.
Shakespeare's
Birthplace, in
Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon
Want to see my photos
from my
semester in England? Click here.
Woo
hoo!)
Announcement: there's an entirely section of Fun Trivia below, along
with a few new links, though I regret to admit that the Literacy Quiz has not yet been
revised.......
Test Your (Shakespearean) Literacy!
A Self-Testing Quiz
"Who chooseth me must give and hazard
all he hath." (The Merchant of Venice 2.7.9)
Pick the answer you think is correct by clicking on it:
1. In Elizabethan English, a "natural" is
2. A "bard" is
3. In Elizabethan English, an "incontinent varlot" is
Fun Trivia
You say you want more Shakespeare trivia in
your life? You've come to the right spot.
I recently acted as dramaturg for a local production of The Scottish Play, and indeed we
found the play to be about as cursed as such can be! Not only did severe medical maladies
happen to several of us, and one cast member suffered a death of a grandmother, but when we
moved into the stage area to erect the set, all the power tools suddenly began to go haywire. The
theatre staff lost at least five power screwdrivers, and the power saws inexplicably lost the use of
their on/off switches. The trap, which was to be used to raise and lower the witches and the
Ghost of Banquo, kept jumping its track and eventually (for the safety of all concerned) had to be
abandoned as a staging device. Most eerie of all, the lighting technician proceeded to hang an
elaborate system of lights one night, left the theatre and locked it up, only to come back the next
day to find the lights had been moved and left unplugged; during our opening night performance,
the house lights came on during Act 1 and remained on for about a minute, flickered, went out,
came back on for another minute, then went out. The Stage Manager told me that she was
looking directly at the switch for the house lights during the entire episode, and no human hand
was anywhere near them. Well, the theatre was reputed haunted even before our production, so
who knows...
In 1940, Russian poet Anna Akhmatova wrote the following poem entitled "To the Londoners":
Shakespeare's play, his twenty-fourth--
Time is writing it impassively.
By the leaden river what can we,
Who know what such feasts are,
Do, except read Hamlet, Caesar, Lear?
Or escort Juliet to her bed, and christen
Her death, poor dove, with torches and singing;
Or peep through the window at Macbeth,
Trembling with the one who kills from greed--
Only not this one, not this one, not this one,
This one we do not have the strength to read.
What do you think this poem may mean? Give it your best shot!
E-mail me! (see Previously Run Trivia for some speculations!)
Roy White of St. Paul, Minnesota wrote to me some interesting observations about Anna
Akhmatova's poem: "The explanation I have seen, and one that makes sense to me, is that the
Russian word 'drama' ('dramu' in the accusative) refers to plays that are not comedies.
Shakespeare wrote 23 such plays, and now time is writing the twenty-fourth, which she has not
the strength to read. As for the suggestion that the 'leaden river' is the Thames [see Previously-
Run Trivia page] ... who knows? but when she writes that we should read Hamlet by the
'leaden river,' surely the obvious reverence is to Akhmatova's own leaden river, the Neva."
Now, GET THIS. This one goes in the category of "I know you won't believe this BUT..." Or
maybe the old Stranger Than Fiction category.... The comedic actor Del Close, who was one of
the developers of Chicago's Second City comedy revue and who died in March of 1999,
bequeathed his skull to Chicago's Goodman Theater. His will decreed that his skull "may be
used to play Yorick, or for any other purposes the Goodman deems appropriate." I am both
chilled and warmed, somehow, by this odd bit of news. Truly a man of the theatre, bless his
heart. Not to be flip, but this puts a whole new spin on "Get thee to my lady's chamber," doesn't
it? Not to mention "Curst be he who moves my bones"? Seriously, though, think about it.
You're playing Hamlet. You pick up a skull in the Gravedigger's Scene. You know as you hold
it in your hand that the man who once lived in it was someone you knew, someone you miss
terribly. It gives an actor an amazing proximity to Hamlet, who is holding in his hand the skull
of someone he knew. Cool, huh?
OKAY, HERE IT IS, the moment you've been waiting for.
GREEN EGGS AND HAMLET
I ask to be or not to be
That is the question I ask of me.
This sullied life, it makes me shudder.
My uncle's boffing dear, sweet mother.
Would I, could I take me life?
Could I, should I end this strife?
Should I jump out of a plane?
Or throw myself before a train?
Should I from a cliff just leap?
Could I put myself to sleep?
Shoot myself or take some poison?
Maybe try self-immolation?
To shuffle off this mortal coil,
I could stab myself with a fencing foil.
Slash my wrists while in the bath?
Would it end my angst and wrath?
To sleep, to dream, now there's the rub.
I could drop a toaster in my tub.
Would all be glad if I were dead?
Could I perhaps kill them instead?
Hmmm... This line of thought takes consideration.
For I'm the King....
....... of procrastination.....
Afraid you've missed some versions of
Fun Trivia along the way? Click
here for
Previously-Run
Fun Trivia
Cool Links to Shakespeare Sites on the Web
This portion is always under re-construction, thanks to
all the e-mails that are pouring in from around the (ah-hem) Globe. But here are a few.
The Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis is gearing up
for some wonderful offerings for those of us in Missouri! Check them out!
Click here for a lovely tribute to a lovely actor, Sir Derek Jacobi. (Thanks, Kerry
McDaniel!!!)
Shakespeare's Sonnet of the Day will come to you courtesy of www.jollyroger.com, if you
click here.
Bill Morris tells me that Shenendoah Shakespeare
Express is an interesting acting troupe headed by Dr. Ralph Alan Cohen, who is committed
to presenting shows as close as possible to the originals of Shakespeare's day. In fact, I hear that
there is a new Shakespeare Center planned in Staunton, Virginia, connected with Dr.
Cohen.
Want to see an animated Shakespearean love sonnet? Just click
on Blue
Mountain Arts to see their dancing Shakespearean love sonnet.
Thanks, Susan Dorsey!
A really fun page I've recently discovered is found at Surfing with the Bard. Check it out!
And for all you actors and would-be Shakespearean actors, learn some Proper Elizabethan Accents for
more fun and frolic in your life if not my classroom.
Want to test your abilities in sonnet gazing? Then click on
Shakespearean sonnet quiz for a link sure to puzzle you
enough for today if not for the rest of the week.
Have you been insulted enough today? Even if you have, I'll
bet you haven't been insulted in Elizabethan English, now, have
you? Go to the Shakespearean
Insult Page for your daily dose of insults. Reload each time
for a new insult!
Looking for more links to Bardology? There's a brief page of miscellaneous
Shakespeare links maintained by someone at MIT.
Know of any Shakespeare sites I should list? E-mail me at TitaBaumlin@missouristate.edu and I
will include a link and a short (or long, depending on how cool
the site really is) tribute to your generosity.
Who knows when the next version of Are You Shakespearienced? will appear. I have never yet
managed to refresh it as often as I would have liked. There seems to be a tide in the affairs of . . .
Last modified on 7 November 2002,
http://www.missouristate.edu/english/eirc/shpag.html
is maintained by your resident Bardolater,
Tita
French Baumlin.
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