Shakespeare Plays

[Maydup]

Do you love them or loathe them?

[LyndaB]

Love them, always have done. Ive read loads and enjoyed them all

[Robinia]

We did Romeo and Juliet at school and I loved it. I doubt I'd have passed the exam if we'd had to study any of the others, they go right over my blonde head. :)

[parkie]

Nope. Never could get on with them.
Shakespeare never read any of the plays wot I rote. Why should I read any of his?

[The Builder]

Macbeth at school, is enough to put anybody off Shakespeare for life.

To add to Nox's suggestion.......... My interest was fired up by Trevor Nunn's film version of Twelfth Night. Beautiful film, and a fabulous cast.

Worked for me. Well, that, and Imogen Stubbs stuffing socks down her pants to pass as a soldier............. worked for me ;o)

[Eve]

Depends on the play. I enjoy some of them but wouldn't be fussed on others.

We did Romeo and Juliet and Twelth Night at school. I remember going to see a Romeo & Juliet production and another local school being so vocally rude about Juliet that she apparantly refused to come back on for later scenes and they had to get her understudy on! Boys school if I remember right!

There are so many modern adaptations though, not even as faithful as Baz Lurhman's Romeo and Juliet (fantastic!). Return to the Forbidden Planet, 10 Things I Hate About You, Romeo Must Die, West Side Story, My Own Private Idaho, Cruel Intentions, Clueless, She's All That, O.

[Graham-W]

Henry IV pt 1 is one of the funniest plays I have ever seen.
It helped that we had done that play for my GCEs and understood the prose.

[ladybirder]

Love them. I remember going to see a Midsummer Night's Dream at Stratford with the school and was mesmerised when the curtain went up, leafy glades, fairies with gossamer wings, beautiful. We had a teacher who fired us up and brought them to life for us. Saw a local production a few years back and enjoyed it just as much even though it was amateur. Also seen Hamlet, As You Like it, Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew. All life is there in Shakespeare. My favourite piece of poetry is his 29th Sonnet.

[jno]

the language is a bit difficult these days but all it takes is a good guide - an enthusiastic teacher or a good theatre production - and it's amazing how clear it seems.

That said, some of the language, and the thinking, really is quite knotty and hard to follow in the later plays.

[Svejk]

Agree with LB,'all life is there' (same as Judge Judy)
We haven't changed much in 400yrs.

[Maydup]

I've found a great (student) website which I might bookmark. It summarises the plots, has character descriptions and even translates the text into plain english. If I work at it I might just get past Act1. :-)

If music be the food of love, play on.

[Wharton]

2B or not 2B? - Hamlet wasn't sure which pencil to use.

[horseshoes]

Love Macbeth and The Tempest.

[lcg]

love.....the tempest is my favourite. i've seen it about a dozen times in various forms and it always seems fresh! x