Macbeth is in my top 3 plays. I have always loved it's betrayal, sly wife goading the ambitious but reluctant husband, the madness, fair is foul and foul is fair, prophecies, and friends turning on each other. Just so much tragedy in a story about human folly.

But I never saw a movie I really liked. The 2015 Macbeth was good (I enjoyed the spin on the "Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane"), but it felt conceited.

I just saw Throne of Blood and my god is it good. Feudal Japan is such a wild setting. And Toshiro Mifune playing Washizu as Macbeth was out of this world.

Special call out to to the "Fool!" scene. I felt that. Him recognizing his mistake and knowing this will not end well is so good!

You have to watch this movie!

Hi, I just found out there is a musical for Titus but I can’t find the soundtrack anywhere. I saw two different articles about it but does anyone have resources? Thank you, thank you thank you

I was reading up on Imbolc and Brigid's crosses and this poem was posted on a blog but with no attribution. Is it something from Shakespeare? My search results have been less than helpful. Taming of the Shrew is coming up but then I can't find the text in the search results.

And if perhaps you do admire,

That this great house did ne’er take fire,

When sparks ,as thicks as stars in the sky,

About the house did often fly,

And reach’d the sapless wither’d thatch,

Which dry spunge the fire would catch,

And where no chimney was erected,

Where sparks and flames might be directed

St Bridget’s cross hung over the door ,

Which did the house from fire secure

For a bit of context, I'm 15, and I've loved Shakespeare since I was about 10. I never had a real desire to be a Shakespearean / classically trained actor until I saw Hamlet live a few years ago. Ever since then I've really wanted to choose Shakespearean acting as my career path (I originally wanted to be a costume / set designer for theatre), but I don't know where to even start.

I have extended knowledge on the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras and I've read almost all of Shakespeare's plays. I've memorised a lot of scenes from many of his plays just for fun - I know ALL of Horatio's lines off by heart and I can recite most of Hamlet's soliloquy's.

I'm genuinely such a big fan of Shakespeare and I really want to get into acting but I'm afraid I'm too old to even try and start. Idk if this would even be a problem, but I already picked my A-Levels (textiles, fine art, and classical civ) and they obviously have NOTHING to do with acting. Should I just stick with my original career plan of costume / set designing, or is it not too late to switch paths?

Does anyone have any advice 😭

Can be about original texts, how Shakespeare wrote a certain character, etc...

I don't know if this is controversial but Claudio from Much Ado deserved to be whacked more for what he did...

So I watched a video from Alpharad where him and a bunch of friends got together and just did a improv version of Romeo and Juliet. It looked a lot of fun, so I wanted to try to do the same but with Macbeth since we’re currently reading it in English class. Question is what cast members would I need for this? How it’s going to work is every character is going to have a bullet point of an objective they do in a scene, and they have to improv their way to it. So what characters would I need for this format to work, and which ones aren’t needed?

Hi friends- I’m in the early stages of writing my senior thesis in Shakespeare and adaptation. One of the first things we have to commit to is which of his plays (of the three we’re reading within the class) we’re going to focus on. I’m about 85% committed to King Lear- fascinated with its themes and what I know of the play. I’ll admit also I’m a bit afraid because of how difficult I’ve heard Lear is to study but I don’t want to just not do Lear because it’s hard.

The Tempest also sounds very interesting to me. Though I’ll probably commit to Lear, I was curious what sticks out to you/what you liked/didn’t like about both plays. I’ve heard lots of discussion on how much both plays are enjoyed :)

hey! i’m going to be auditioning for drama schools soon and i’m a bit lost and what is overdone in terms of monologues for young guys, i auditioned a couple years ago with some success (just chose not to go that year), but since then, i have come out as a trans guy, so playing miranda won’t quite work anymore lmao

i have, in the last year, played ross in macbeth, and ferdinand in the tempest, but i don’t think ross has a good enough speech (and i would like to avoid macbeth as everyone knows it), and ferdinand’s biggest speech isn’t particularly long

i’m currently 20 years old and pre-t, so would like to stick to younger characters if possible

thanks!!

And if so, what's the context around it?

I’m trying to find some depictions of the demons from Henry VI, Part 1 online but am hitting walls. I’m surprised as I thought this would be something with a huge amount of content but seemingly not.

Also, could anyone who has seen this play live describe what this scene was like? I saw Hamlet once and the scenes with the Ghost were terrifying so I imagine this scene would surely be unsettling at the very least.

Titus Andronicus - Simon Russell Beale in the title role
Measure for Measure
The Winter’s Tale
Much Ado About Nothing
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Hamlet: Hail to the Thief
Fat Ham (James Ijames)
The Constant Wife (Somerset Maugham / Laura Wade)
4.48 Psychosis (Sarah Kane)
The BFG

It will be nice to be able to tick a few more off my list!

I know the difference between an English (Shakespearean) sonnet and an Italian sonnet, but I was wondering if Shakespeare ever wrote a sonnet in the Italian rhyme scheme??

*Measure For Measure

The title of it caught my eye on Bookshop.org because it’s a Shakespeare play I have never heard of before.

I read the synopsis and it seems like an interesting play.

I am looking for portrayals of the life of Shakespeare in TV or films. Googling this just brings of list of adaptations of his plays. So far, I have seen:

David Mitchell in Upstart Crow

Bill, the comedy film from the Horrible Histories people

Will Shakespeare with Tim Curry.

I think there must be a lot more than this. Can anyone recommend anything?

In 3rd grade we had a unit about plays, which included the factoid that William Shakespeare was the greatest playwright in history. Naturally, on my next visit to the school library, I asked for a book by Shakespeare. I still remember the librarian’s blank stare, followed by, “He’s really hard to read, maybe you should wait a few years.” When I turned 58, I decided that I was probably old enough to start.

I’m not an academic, not a teacher, not an expert. I thought I would read one play per month and knock off all of Shakespeare in 3 years. It is now four years later, and I’ve knocked off twelve plays. I’ve obviously had some hit and miss, but I thought I would share what I feel has worked best for me.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets Folger Library edition (ISBN 9780671722876) Shakespeare’s English Kings by Peter Saccio (ISBN 0195123190)

Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare by Isaac Asimov (ISBN 0517268256)

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Vol. 1-6, Bantam Books 1988 (make sure you get the 1988 book club edition, not the classroom edition)

To start, I wanted to get familiar with Shakespeare’s language. I started with reading one Sonnet every morning at breakfast. When I passed #10, I started re-reading. So I read #11 and re-read #1. Etc. I still haven’t finished the sonnets, I should get back to that.

Next, I wanted to get familiar with Shakespeare’s culture, and thought reading his 10 historical plays was a good beginning. My method was to read Peter Saccio as an introduction, then read an Act of the play, then read Asimov’s commentary on that Act. In hindsight, I’m really glad I chose this as a starting point. There might be better, or more up-to-date companions, but these really helped me. There is plenty of humor in the historical plays. Asimov is very readable, and knows history and mythology well.

At this point I was reading from Signet’s 1972 Complete Shakespeare, and was getting frustrated with eye strain. I searched for something with larger print, and settled on Bantam’s 6-volume set. These are getting harder to find, and are still a pretty big chunk of book to haul around. I still think it was the best choice, plus it sets a reading order for me.

One more tip: if you're US and your library sponsors it, Kanopy is the place to stream Shakespeare plays.

Hi yall!

I’m directing an adapted version Hamlet with some 6th grade students. The adaptation is pretty good, it exclusively uses the original language, but it makes some hefty cuts. Since I’ve never produced nor acted in Hamlet myself, i am seeking some resources that offer some higher level analysis of the play so that i can fill in the gaps that the cuts have left. I have watched/read the play a few times and have a good grasp of it for sure, but i was wondering if anyone has any preferred lectures online that i could watch as well! My searches have only yielded resources for high schoolers who don’t wanna read lol

It’s such a dense work, and i know that my analysis can only be buttressed by another perspective. Thank you!!

I'm currently trying to find the smallest date range in which R&J began. I've come to the conclusion that it begins on July the 10th, that is, if the play begins on a Sunday. Multiple sources say it does, but they do not back it up.

Any help appreciated!!

I often teach Shakespeare at GCSE, and for the purposes of that, drawing comparisons between Lady Macbeth and Queen Elizabeth is very fruitful — the way she talks about her children, her quest for power/ shedding femininity(in terms of imagery) and, of course, Shakespeare’s new king and patron being her successor (big shoes to fill!) with 2 male heirs ready — no succession crisis for James.

I’m curious to know if there’s much criticism drawing comparisons between the two, or if, while exciting to discuss with GCSE students, critics have found this link to have little convincing evidence. I don’t have access to much literary criticism at all now, sadly, ever since graduating, so I am unsure of how recent, historically grounded criticism might have looked at the character or the play of Macbeth at large.

Would be curious to hear your thoughts, and if there’s any interesting articles you’ve read on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth!

Thank you :)

I'm half-way through it right now and I know this poem isn't talked about often due to the very strong taboo around its main theme, but I want to get this off my chest.

The accuracy with which Shakespeare was able to portrait what was going on in the poor woman's mind in the aftermath of what happened, how she felt, how she tried to rationalise it, the desperate, venimous curses against Oportunity and Night... We all know how abbhorent such crime is, but the detail and depth in which Shakespeare was able to show its multifacious wickedness is awe-inspiring. It's genuinely disturbing and I understand not anyone can stomach it; even for an uncultured brute like me, the image of Lucrece sitting in her bed, covering herself with a blanket, holding her monologue interrupted only by sobs and groans, knowing what has been done cannot be undone, is gut-wrenching. Poor woman!

King Lear (draft)

A king, high and mighty 

Three Daughters, varied in nature 

Not favoured by almighty

Proud with stature 

Old age come 

Looks he upon them 

Tell me your love’s total sum 

This is where discords stem

Goneril and Regan exclaim 

We love no one more than you 

Cordelia’s lips proclaim

Half for my husband, half for you 

Ired, the mighty king

Cuts off Cordelia sans dowry 

Rich and giddy, her sisters sing

For the king, there’s an incoming worry 

When he visits Goneril and Regan 

Shamed and insulted 

Into the storm, he walks shaken 

Lonely, his mind with madness tainted 

Cordelia, the cut off daughter 

To her father, loyal as ever

Retribution and slaughter

She thought she was clever

With Gloucester’s loyalty, they advance

Betrayed by the illegitimate son

Indignity is their circumstance  

Noose on the neck, justice undone 

Cordelia dies, King Lear laments 

To death, he is banished 

Fate gives no two cents 

Such is life, easily extinguished. 

(please let me know if I misrepresented something)

I’m writing a play about Shakespeare and when ever I write a project, I have a playlist that goes with said project. These songs remind me of vibes I’m going for in the play. So what are some songs that remind you have Shakespeare/or Shakespeare plays?