brush up your shakespeare

i have a confession to make. i don't really like shakespeare. this has been a difficult truth in my life, because not only do i "do theatre" as a profession, but i also was an english major in college and have always felt like i should appreciate the bard better. but for some reason, i never did. i felt alienated from his plays by his language, and was so distracted by the fact that he "borrowed" all his material that i never really appreciated the plays for what they were. this has been a difficulty in my line of work/ study but i've borne it so far and i've done alright with it.

then something happened. last weekend i saw hamlet at the lantern. this production stars the ingenious geoff sobelle as hamlet and really blew me away. in my new attempt to appreciate acting more and focus on tech less, i went into the show promising to pay attention to the story and the play and not the production value (which, by the way, was fantastic). geoff made this easy. as a physical actor, geoff is the best i've ever seen. his body motions are like the flow of water - natural, fluid, and unpredictable but always smooth. and the way he delivered his shakespeare was really unlike anything i've ever experienced. i FORGOT that i was watching shakespeare when geoff delivered his monologues. the words rolled off his tongue in the most conversational and natural way. this renaissance play that i never really felt connected to became a work that i could relate to. and it was mostly because of geoff's acting.

i wonder if a lot of people feel the way that i do about shakespeare - that it is old, alien, and kind of boring. his story lines are all very similar (just read the compleat works of wllm shkspr (abridged) and you'll see what i mean - they compress all his comedies into one story) and his tragedies almost predictably end with disastrous death. but perhaps all that i needed (and what others who may question the bard's authority on theatre need) was for someone to breathe some fresh air into a 400 year old play. i think this is one of the most important aspects of performance art - it really brings old works to life in a way that makes them understandable and personally important. this may seem like an unimportant task when people are faced with a massive recession, home foreclosures, and unemployment but i think it's crucial to be reminded of the past and how people have worked through difficult times. more importantly, arts are an escape from our own lives. shakespeare might not be what i would use to escape reality, but it is what a lot of other people use. and quality productions of theatre that transport you to a different place and a different time where you can ponder issues others than what might be confronting you right now are invaluable.

all this is to say, i feel a little ashamed that in ever really appreciated shakespeare. but now that i've seen such an incredible performance of hamlet, i get what the fuss is about. and hey, maybe this means that i'll finally appreciate that yale book award i won in high school (which just happened to be the complete works of william shakespeare).