#William Shakesp

[mapsofnonexistentplaces]

ok trying to go over the year’s reads in chronological order i am just spitballing and none of this is good reviewwork

house of leaves — it’s house of leaves what do you want me to say. there was a house of leaves. genuinely really love it but i’ve started to form this semihearted grudge against it because it’s like The One Weird Book everyone recommends and it kind of clouds discussion of other ergodic lit LOL it’s for good reason though there’s nothing else quite like it

kafka on the shore — book that i need to finish actually i’ve still got a chunk of it undone…. honestly might just restart it altogether i don’t remember much of the plot since i started it in like february. but augh. i remember it feeling very smooth to read. pacing of it was extremely stilted in a way that like. i thought was quite cool actually. loved the way it split its perspectives

ulysses — read through a few chapters before i kind of just dropped it unintentionally. really want to get back to it it’s just. impenetrable if i’m not giving it my full and utmost attention lol

a streetcar named desire — reiterating something i said ages ago which is “i could not fucking care less about what tennessee williams’ plays are about but goddamn if they’re not extremely inspiring in the way they’re composed and conveyed” or something like that

the like first 2 books of the new wc arc go inbetween here chronologically…. they’re not as fun as the last arc enough so that i’ve decided i don’t care about those cats anymore lol. complete slog that makes me wish for the days of cat hell possession conflicts instead of weird love triangles or whatever

wonderbook — really good…. i mean it’s literally a “guide” but it feels much more like just a ‘manifesto’ of how a story can be good. it was a really fun read as someone who’s never really been too impressed by common writing advice and who has also never really gotten engrossed in writing circles with other people…. kind of book that feels valuable to both people who are freshly getting into writing and more experienced writers. definitely helped me name and put pressure on elements of my own writing and composition that was just fully instinct-driven prior. it’s good.

tainaron — aughhhh i’ve reread this one like thrice this year…. i’ve fucking yelled about it before on my blog so many times and i’m just restating what i’ve said before which is go look up tainaron and read it it’s like 70 pages it’s just posted online by the original author and it’s a wonderful time. bugs can be both scary and beautiful. you will realise this. ❤️

sphinx or robot — from the same author! this one’s also fun but just not as satisfactory or unified as tainaron imo. nother good short bout though

a midsummer night’s dream — i don’t like shakespeate. dint care.

if on a winter’s night a traveller — hol-like in that it kind of clouds discussion of ergodic lit but once again i kind of get it. honestly this feels like a really good digestible intro to such styles id definitely recommend it with the caveat of like. “be ready for useless background misogyny throughout”. the whole premise grants it a really slick pace love the idea of uniting unfinished ‘chapters’ of stories together…. will forever be thinking about leaning from the steep slope and wishing it was a fully fledged novel though

the castle of crossed destinies — another calvino work. once again love this guy’s prose although i wish he wrote women better LOL uhhh honestly just a really good bite sized bit of weird allegorical literature it’s so much more obtuse and “dry” than ioawnat but i feel like the framing device and style make up for the kind of nothing plot. i suppose that’s kind of the point of it as well….

strassburg’s tristan — currently reading through it and halfway across! specifically the hatto translation which i’m like most definitively marking as some of the most beautiful prose i’ve ever read LOL style of it feels like wading through water

shit that’s on my reading list and that i want to go through soon also….

already started vandermeer’s ambergris trilogy i think i just started and forgot to ever finish city of saints and madmen. fun style though

the complete cosmicomics — again sifted through a bit of the beginning it feels like an even more sludgy set of calvino works than castle of crossed destinies was. but it’s enchanting regardless and i’ll probably read it and like it. i’m lame!

this is how you lose the time war — been on my list for ages i’ve seen excerpts i’ve liked….

piranesi — when rocks have a shape they can be anything in the world or whatever i’m sure this book will say it in a cool way

the seagull — i’m really struggling to find interesting plays that are not about divorce or uninteresting melodrama and this one still applies im sure but from what i’ve read it does so in an interesting way LOL

pale fire — to complete the set of “weird books nobody will shut up about being weird” i need to get to this one. 👍

[bursahabermedya]

Othello ile Sanat ve Sohbet Dolu Bir Buluşma Osmangazi Belediyesi, kültürel faaliyetler çerçevesinde düzenlediği bir kitap okuma etkinliği ile hem edebiyatseverleri bir araya getirdi hem de dünyaca ünlü İngiliz yazar William Shakespe https://bursahabermedya.com/othello-ile-sanat-ve-sohbet-dolu-bir-bulusma/ #Osmangazi #bursahaber #bursasondakika #bursahaberleri #haberler #bursa

[stephen-barry]

Florida versus Shakespeare

Florida teachers are only going to use certain sections of William Shakespeare's works in their classes, cutting out any content that could be deemed to conflict with the state's new laws.

[theleylinesblog]

Ah, William ShakesPeer

American humour is shite. They have a high profile lawyer called Clint Bolick and nobody takes the piss out of him or banters him

In the UK he would never have become a lawyer with that name, he'd have been a tortured supply teacher whose life would not have been worth living - how it should be

[like-nxrthernstxrs]

Act 1, Scene 2

Scenye 2. A stweet.

Entew CAPUWET, COUNT PAWIS, and the cwown, his SEWVANT.

Capuwet. But Montague is bound as weww as I, In penyawty awike; and 'tis nyot hawd, I think, Fow men so owd as we to keep the peace. Pawis. Of honyowabwe weckonying awe you both, And pity 'tis you wived at odds so wong. But nyow, my wowd, what say you to my suit? Capuwet. But saying o’ew what I have said befowe: My chiwd is yet a stwangew in the wowwd, She hath nyot seen the change of fouwteen yeaws; Wet two mowe summews withew in theiw pwide, Ewe we may think hew wipe to be a bwide. Pawis. Youngew than she awe happy mothews made. Capuwet. And too soon maww’d awe those so eawwy made. Eawth hath swawwowed aww my hopes but she; She’s the hopefuw wady of my eawth. But woo hew, gentwe Pawis, get hew heawt, My wiww to hew consent is but a pawt; And she agweed, within hew scope of choice Wies my consent and faiw accowding voice. This nyight I howd an owd accustom’d feast, Wheweto I have invited many a guest, Such as I wuv, and you, among the stowe Onye mowe, most wewcome, makes my nyumbew mowe. At my poow house wook to behowd this nyight Eawth-tweading staws that make dawk heaven wight. Such comfowt as do wusty young men feew When weww-appaweww’d Apwiw on the heew Of wimping wintew tweads, even such dewight Among fwesh fennyew buds shaww you this nyight Inhewit at my house; heaw aww, aww see; And wike hew most whose mewit most shaww be; Which on mowe view of many, minye, being onye, May stand in nyumbew, though in weck’nying nyonye. Come, go with me.

To SEWVANT, giving him a papew.

Go, siwwah, twudge about Thwough faiw Vewonya; find those pewsons out Whose nyames awe wwitten thewe, and to them say My house and wewcome on theiw pweasuwe stay.

Exit with PAWIS.

Sewvant. Find them out whose nyames awe wwitten hewe? It is wwitten that the shoemakew shouwd meddwe with his yawd and the taiwow with his wast, the fishew with his penciw and the paintew with his nyets; but I am sent to find those pewsons whose nyames awe hewe wwit, and can nyevew find what nyames the wwiting pewson hath hewe wwit, I must to the weawnyed. In good time ^w^

Entew BENVOWIO and WOMEO.

Benvowio. Tut, man, onye fiwe buwns out anyothew’s buwnying, Onye pain is wess’nyed by anyothew’s anguish; Tuwn giddy, and be howp by backwawd tuwnying; Onye despewate gwief cuwes with anyothew’s wanguish: Take thou some nyew infection to thy eye, And the wank poison of the owd wiww die. Womeo. Youw pwaintain weaf is excewwent fow that. Benvowio. Fow what, I pway thee? Womeo. Fow youw bwoken shin. Benvowio. Why, Womeo, awt thou mad? Womeo. Nyot mad, but bound mowe than a madman is; Shut up in pwison, kept without my food, Whipped and towmented and—God-den, good fewwow. Sewvant. God gi' go-den. I pway, siw, can you wead? Womeo. Ay, minye own fowtunye in my misewy. Sewvant. Pewhaps you have weawnyed it without book. But, I pway, can you wead anything you see? Womeo. Ay, if I knyow the wettews and the wanguage. Sewvant. Ye say honyestwy West you mewwy. Womeo. Stay, fewwow; I can wead.

He weads the wettew.

“Signyiow Mawtinyo and his wife and daughtews; County Ansewme and his beauteous sistews; The wady widow of Vitwuvio; Signyiow Pwacentio and his wuvwy nyieces; Mewcutio and his bwothew Vawentinye; Minye uncwe Capuwet, his wife, and daughtews; My faiw nyiece Wosawinye, Wivia; Signyiow Vawentio and his cousin Tybawt; Wucio and the wivewy Hewenya.” A faiw assembwy. Whithew shouwd they come? Sewvant. Up. Womeo. Whithew? To suppew? Sewvant. To ouw house. Womeo. Whose house? Sewvant. My mastew's. Womeo. Indeed I shouwd have asked you that befowe. Sewvant. Nyow I’ww teww you without asking. My mastew is the gweat wich Capuwet; and if you be nyot of the house of Montagues, I pway come and cwush a cup of winye. West you mewwy.

Exit.

Benvowio. At this same ancient feast of Capuwet's Sups the faiw Wosawinye whom thou so wuvs; With aww the admiwed beauties of Vewonya. Go thithew, and with unyattainted eye Compawe hew face with some that I shaww show, And I wiww make thee think thy swan a cwow. Womeo. When the devout wewigion of minye eye Maintains such fawsehood, then tuwns teaws to fiwe; And these, who, often dwownyed, couwd nyevew die, Twanspawent hewetics, be buwnt fow wiaws ^w^ Onye faiwew than my wuv? The aww-seeing sun Nye'ew saw hew match since fiwst the wowwd begun. Benvowio. Tut ^w^  you saw hew faiw, nyonye ewse being by, Hewsewf pois’d with hewsewf in eithew eye; But in that cwystaw scawes wet thewe be weigh’d Youw wady’s wuv against some othew maid That I wiww show you shinying at this feast, And she shaww scant show weww that nyow seems best. Womeo. I'ww go awong, nyo such sight to be shown, But to wejoice in spwendow of minye own.

Exeunt.

[madscientiststvstatic]

People try to inspire me into posting my fanfiction but please consider i have a WIP from ages ago that’s a Romeo and Juliet crack fic entitled “Bill! Get the Eye Bleach!” so I don’t think I should be trusted

[shakespearenews]

Imagine “Macbeth,” but with a five-person cast that includes an inebriated actor in the title role. Add a prop dildo, an interpretive dance break and the president’s rousing speech from “Independence Day.” For the witches’ brew, stir together samples from the plentiful cocktails poured for audience members.

[broadway-imagines-for-you]

List of Shows I Write For + Rules

I am sorry it took me so long!! Hope you enjoy!

RULES:

-I will not write for actors

-I will not write smut

-Be nice

-And lets support and love each other in our love for theatre!

Bellow is our show list!!

Shows:

Addams Family

Aladdin

American Idiot

American Psycho

Amiele

An American Victory

Anastasia

As You Like It

AVPM

AVPS

AVPSY

Bare

Be More Chill

Beauty and the Beast

Big Fish

Book of Mormen

Bonnie and Clyde

Bye-Bye Birdie

Cabaret

Carrie

Cats

Catch Me If You Can

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Chicago

Cinderella

Color Purple

Come From Away

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nigtime

Deaf West’s Spring Awakening

Dear Evan Hansen

Death Note

Dogfight

Evita

Finding Neverland

Firebringer

Fun Home

Ghost

Ghost Quartet

Grease

Guys and Dolls

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Hairspray

Hamilton

Hamlet

Hannah and the Dread Gazebo

Heathers

Hercules

Henry IV Part 1 and 2

Henry V

Hunchback of Notre Dame

Into The Woods

In The Heights

Jekyll and Hyde

Julius Caesar

Kinky Boots

La La Land

Les Mis

Lighting Theif

Lion King

Little Mermaid

Little Shop of Horrors

Little Women

Long Days Journey Into Night

Lord of the Rings (the musical)

Love Never Dies

Mary Poppins

Matilda

Miss Saigon

Moulin Rogue

Murder Ballad

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

Newsies

Next to Normal

Once

Phantom of the Opera

Pippin

RENT

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Romeo and Juliet

Secret Garden

Shakespeare In Love

Sound of Music

Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark

Spies Are Forever

Spring Awakening

Starship

Sweeny Todd

The Foreigner

The Last Five Years

Tuck Everlasting

Twelfth Night

Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal

Ultimate Story Time

Urinetown

West Side Story

Waitress

Wicked

Winter’s Tale

AND MORE

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION, PLEASE ASK!

[paperstreetdolls]

Behind the scenes with OPHELIA large tassels  Handmade decor by Paper Street Dolls - Check out our shop to see more!

[husheduphistory]

“All the World's a Stage”: The Revolutionary Repertoire of Ira Aldridge

The work of William Shakespeare is deeply woven into our world. We know the stories, we know the quotes, and if nothing else we know of the countless modern adaptations. The words of Shakespeare were launched into the hearts and minds of people from the stage with performers delivering dialog and introducing characters that remained with the viewers long after departing the theater. In the 19th century the actors and actresses that took on these roles could elevate themselves to performing arts royalty earning enormous amounts of money, being knighted, and indulging in lifestyles that equate them to today’s Hollywood elite. One master of the Shakespearean stage was Ira Aldridge, a man who not only gave stunning performances, but also shattered the glass ceiling for people of color in theater.

Ira Frederick Aldridge was born in New York City on July 24th 1807, the son of free parents in a state where slavery was legal. His father Daniel was a preacher and as a child he was given a classical education at the African Free School where his studies included English grammar, writing, mathematics, geography, and astronomy. His parents may have wanted him to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a preacher, but while still in school the young Aldridge was introduced to the performing arts and it instantly took hold of him. By the time Aldridge was a teenager he was already well acquainted with many of New York City’s most prominent African American actors. They saw his talents and encouraged him to move onto the stage of the African Grove Theater.

Founded by William Alexander Brown as a casual get together where Black actors would gather to perform short skits and readings, the African Grove Theater would grow in the hands of Brown and James Hewlett to become the first African American theater group in the United States, attended by “all types of black New Yorkers - free and slave, middle-class and working-class.” In the early 1820s the company was young, and so was Aldridge, who gained his first experience in theater at age fifteen as an apprentice under Hewlett, the first African American Shakespearean actor.

 Aldridge made his African Grove debut in 1822 playing the role of Rolla in Pizarro and then Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare had a special place in the young actor’s heart and he would often see productions of his work in the Park Theater before the stories were brought to his own stage. The productions at the African Grove were well attended and the performances highly praised, but there were continuous problems from the community surrounding them. At the time slavery was not yet abolished and segregation was firmly in place making the theater company, its actors, and its audiences targets for racist attacks and prejudice. White people were permitted to attend performances at the African Grove, but their often disruptive behavior eventually led to an area in the back of the theater being sectioned off specifically for them. When it was not audience members causing problems it was fellow theater companies. When the Park Theater and the African Grove were both hosting performances of Richard III the owner of the Park, Stephen Price, contacted the police to have the “rival” production shut down. Seeing the constant racial pressure made Aldridge all too aware that his dreams of conquering the stage could not happen on American shores. Inspired by the British Shakespearean actors he watched on stage, he moved to Liverpool at only seventeen years old.

Playbill of the African Grove Company’s first production of Richard III. The figure is the actor James Hewlett. 

 Aldridge was new to England, but the country was familiar with his artistic background for all the wrong reasons. More than a year before his arrival a British comedian named Charles Mathews began performing a new routine, including a character called the “African Tragedian.” The portrayal was wildly popular, but it should have been shameful with Matthew donning blackface and portraying an African American who botched lines, made a fool of himself on stage, and fumbled his way through the works of Shakespeare in New York City. It is believed that the inspiration for this character was James Hewlett, the man that Aldridge apprenticed under at the African Grove.

Rather than let the portrayal destroy him, Aldridge used the name recognition to his advantage. He began billing himself as “American Tragedian from the African Theatre New York City” or simply “The African Tragedian.” On October 10th 1825 Aldridge made his European debut in the lead role of Oroonoko in Revolt of Surinam, a story of an African prince tricked into slavery and sold to British colonists. People recognizing the phrase “The African Tragedian” from the Matthews comedy routine filled the theater seats expecting a good laugh. What they got was a powerful dramatic performance that stunned all in attendance with one member of the British press reporting:

“It is most true that those are ‘blessed who expect nothing’, and from this cause may have proceeded in some degree the satisfaction with which we beheld the performance of the ‘Tragedian of Colour, from the African Theatre, New York’, but we do not hesitate to express our opinion that his acting will gratify many and astonish all.”

Regardless of the reviews, when Aldridge stepped onto the stage he had already made history by becoming the first African American actor to establish himself professionally in a foreign country.

Portrait of Aldridge painted by James Northcote.

Aldridge embraced the rumors and misconceptions swirling around him and created an elaborate backstory for himself, that he was the descendant of a Senegalese prince whose family fled their homeland for the United States to save their lives. It was a story that made him seem even more mysterious and people began to visit the theater purely out of intrigue. Whatever the reasons that people went to see him perform, they all left deeply impressed by the power of his acting. After his portrayal of Oroonoko, Aldridge began touring the United Kingdom and over the course of a few years he successfully built a name for himself with his work in productions of Othello, Macbeth and Richard III. Aldridge did not return to London for several years, and when he did it was under circumstances that were tragic but also hugely important to his career. While performing the lead role of Othello on March 15th 1833 Edmund Kean, the most highly renowned tragedian of the time, collapsed on stage into the arms of his actor son Charles Kean and uttered the words, “O God, I am dying. Speak to them, Charles.” He did in fact die a few weeks later leaving a vacancy in the play’s cast. Aldridge was asked to take over the role and he jumped at the opportunity. He had his start in London, but this was different, he was now performing the lead role of Othello in the prestigious Royal Coburg in Covent Garden alongside some of the great names of his industry. He was only twenty-seven years old but it was the role of a lifetime.

Aldridge as Othello, painted by William Mulready.

Unfortunately, Aldridge taking the highest stage in London was too far for some people and reviews that once praised him began to slowly simmer with racism and critiques on everything from his physical appearance to his pronunciations of certain words. As Aldridge took on other roles in the London region critics became sharply divided with some applauding his abilities and others remarking he should be reduced to a street sweeper outside the theaters where he was performing. One complaint of some lay in his very interaction with white actors, but this may have had much deeper roots in that Aldridge would sometimes portray white characters in greasepaint and wigs leading some people to become angry that he was taking prominent rolls from “their” actors. Another reason for the harsh criticism was that Aldridge often took liberties with his performances, changing characters from villain to hero and vice-versa, erasing entire scenes and adding new ones, and adapting classics as he wished. Additionally, on the closing night of his engagement at a theater Aldridge made the bold addition of directly addressing the audience speaking on the injustices of slavery, some addresses coming before or very shortly after the emancipation of slaves in the British colonies in 1832.

Despite all the criticisms, Aldridge had built himself up to be a bona fide star of the stage taking on complex roles with ease and even resurrecting Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus in 1845, a production not produced in the British Isles since 1724. 

Aldridge as Aaron in his revival of Titus Andronicus.

After touring various theaters in England he made his way to the European continent in 1852 where he performed in wildly successful tours in Germany and was presented to the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He then proceeded to tour Prussia, performing for Frederick William IV who awarded him the Prussian Gold Medal of the First Class for Art and Science. He then moved on through the later 1850s performing in Budapest, Serbia, and then Imperial Russia making him the first actor to perform Shakespeare in the country. His performances in Russia caused a wide array of reactions. They were powerful, highly praised, and he became acquaintances with some of the great poets and artists of the time such as Taras Shevchenko, Count Fyodor Tolstoy, and the Czar of Russia who awarded him with a Golden Cross for his accomplishments. On another hand the performances caused uprisings and resulted in some works of Shakespeare being banned entirely. With his near-constant touring and performing Aldridge became one of the most well-know and acclaimed tragedians of his time and in 1859 with nearly four decades of acting under his belt he returned home to England. It was time to take on another benchmark of Shakespearean acting and tackle the role of King Lear.  

Pastel portrait of Aldridge drawn by Taras Shevchenko in 1858.

After successfully performing the great tragedy and then completing a second tour of Russia Aldridge again returned to England. He was now in his later fifties and after purchasing property in England and applying for British citizenship in 1863 it may have seemed that the actor was finally ready to take root at home. But this was not the case and he was quickly back on the road in Europe and making plans to bring a tour to the post- Civil War United States. Unfortunately, his plans to cross the Atlantic again never had the chance to unfold. In 1867 Aldridge was on tour in Poland when he became very ill with a lung infection. He died in the city of Łódź on August 7th 1867 at the age of sixty.

Aldridge portraying King Lear.

For a man that revolutionized so much in the world of performing arts the news of Aldridge’s death took an unfortunately long time to reverberate through the world. His remains were buried in the Łódź Old Evangelical Cemetery but he would not receive a proper tombstone and memorial for twenty-three years. In the United States Aldridge had become a legend and a role model for African Americans but the news of his death reached the states painfully slowly. Many Black theater groups decided to rename their companies to honor Aldridge, most notably The Ira Aldridge Troupe of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His grave is now maintained by the Society of Polish Artists of Film and Theatre.

The magnitude and influence of Ira Aldridge’s accomplishments cannot be understated. As a young man in the early 1800s he took the steps to travel across the globe in order to not only challenge, but smash the roadblocks placed in front of African American performing artists. Despite mixed reviews and racism that attempted to crush him he thrived, taking on Shakespeare in England and carrying it to other parts of the United Kingdom, all over Europe, and to corners of the globe that had never had access to Shakespeare on stage before. He gave performances that both amazed and infuriated through his renditions of text, his customizations, and his speaking directly against the horrors of slavery in a world where it was still firmly rooted in people’s lives.

Today the honors to Ira Aldridge can be found all over the globe. Howard University in Washington D.C. has a theatre named after him, A bust of Aldridge sits in the foyer of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, in 2014 a memorial plaque was dedicated at the place of his death in Poland, and he is one of thirty-three people granted a bronze plaque at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Memorial plaque for Ira Aldridge at his place of death in Poland.

[dailymotivationalquotesx]

Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be.” ― William Shakespe(1020x850)

[lelimadm]

“Aprendi que deveríamos ser gratos a Deus por não nos dar tudo que lhe pedimos.” William Shakespe https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs3wvqAAbRn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4pr52iez3ew3

[merkurrveben]

Ah kurnaz aşk! Sen beni gözyaşlarıyla kör edince,

Gözler de iyi görüp kusur bulamıyor elbet sende.

(Soneler, William Shakespe)

[serenathelibrarian]

Curiosità su William Shakespeare

Curiosità su William Shakespeare

Salve lettori e bentornati o benvenuti sul blog! Oggi vi svelo tre piccole curiosità su William Shakespeare (fonte: mlaworld.com) [Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images] Probabilmente il suo cognome non si scrive così. Ogni volta firmava in maniera diversa, ad esempio come Shakespe o William Shakp. Sulla sua tomba c’è una maledizione, per evitare che qualcuno la profanasse. Inoltre,…