Shakespeare And The End Of The World

Hello Readers, how's it going?  I just finished a very interesting book and then spent the next week trying to figure out how to ramble about it.  The book was recommended by my baby sis and she had a hard time trying to describe to me, but assured me I would enjoy it so I'm glad I wasn't the only one having a hard time trying to define it.  The book is Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and here is my best attempt at talking about this (at least to me) indefinable book.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Ok, here we go.  The structure of this book is fairly non-linear with the story jumping back and forth between numerous times and places so it makes it a bit difficult to sum up in the same style as the book so I'm just gonna do this bare bones and suggest you read it your self to truly get the flavor of it.  We start at one of my favorite places, the theatre, wear the acclaimed movie star Arthur Leander is performing as the title character in Shakespeare's King Lear.  On this night, Arthur dies on stage from a heart attacked, which is witnessed by Kirsten Raymonde, a young child actress.  This night is also what becomes known as the first night of a horrific flu virus dubbed the Georgia Flu that ends up decimating over 99% of the human population.  What we see next is the various stories connecting people both past and present.  The two characters of Arthur Raymonde and Kirsten Raymonde seem to be the center points in which the story revolves, but this does not mean every story features them...this is getting more confusing then it really is.  We read the back and forth story of Arthur and the people he comes in contact with including Miranda, who becomes his first wife.  Miranda is also responsible for writing and illustrating a graphic novel called Station Eleven, about a space station gone wrong and a warring population.  This graphic novel shows up in many places through out the story and is in it's entirety help by Kirsten after the world ends.  We also read about Arthur's other wives and his one son Tyler who is still very young at the time of his father's death and the Georgia Flu pandemic.  The readers get to follow Kirsten after the fall of the world as she lives and works with the Traveling Symphony, a group of survivors who travel in a caravan performing music and Shakespeare plays, attempting to keep the arts and beauty alive in a world that is focused on survival.  The group encounters a man who calls himself a prophet who's violent ways of getting what he wants threatens every survivor his group interacts with.  Another story is the founding of the Museum of Civilization in the airport that was the final landing place of many survivors, stranding them and forcing them to start a new life there.  We also find that Arthur's son Tyler was part of that group and it is he who grew up to be the prophet.  This all comes to some sort of ending when the prophet kidnaps a few members of the Traveling Symphony to use as trade and Kirsten kills him.  They all end up at the airport housing the Museum of Civilization and we assume life continues.

I think what I love best about this book is it's indescribable nature, it is a mix of everyday life, memoir, history, dystopia, end of the world, fine arts, religious, medical, redemption, tragedy, family, and so many more things.  I have mostly seen it classified as science fiction...but I'm not sure why.  I guess the "futuristic" pieces of it could speak to science fiction, and the graphic novel that pops up as a unifying thread in the story is defiantly science fiction...but the story itself is not.  I feel it is one of those wonderful works that does not fit into any one genre, instead giving us a glimpse of a time and place through the use of contrasting the new with the old and showing us in pieces how the characters and the world got to where it was in the book.  Alright, in case you haven't figured it out the only real way you are gonna know anything of substance about this book is to read it.  I will now attempt to convey what spoke to me in this book.  My favorite part was of course the weaving of Shakespeare through out the whole book.  It starts with a wonderful depiction of traditional theatre, with glimpses behind the scenes and continues with the Traveling Symphony using it to help keep people human. My love of theatre was kept to happy levels with this book.  I also very much enjoyed the Station Eleven parts of the book.  I loved the glimpses of the story within a story and the description of the art work makes me wish it was real so I could read it.  The style of the writing was wonderful and easy to follow with the potential to get pretentious or overly sappy, but the author kept a strict hand on the sentiment and ended up with great flow.  Arg...I'm not doing a very good job here.  Hmmm.  Ok think of this as a cake with many layers and the cake itself is the foundation the main story is written about and where the author always goes back to.  The frosting is the main characters who's history and future is touched on, and all then their are the bits and pieces of chocolate, nuts and fruit scattered through out to add texture and flavor and that is probably the closest I can get to describe this book.  I give it 8 out of 10 glass paper weights and recommend it for any body who wants to read something different and thought provoking, but is not to pretentious or esoteric for every day reading. Everybody please, please, please read this and come back and discuss it with me!!!!  Happy Reading Everybody!

The Tempest LIVE!

My amazing Hubbin and a couple of friends took me out the other night to a fabulous dinner, and a killer performance of William Shakespeare's The Tempest.  The Tempest is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays and seeing performed live was the best.  A quick summation (and SPOILERS) of the play is as follows.

Prospero, a magician and his daughter Miranda have been marooned/exiled on a magical isle for years.  Prospero was the Duke of Milan before being exiled by his brother Antonio.  He learns that that his brother and company are on a ship and he raises a tempest to wreck the ship on his island.  Prospero commands the spirit Ariel and tasks it with several jobs concerning the shipwrecked crew.  Antonio's son Ferdinand is separated from the group and put to work by Prospero.  Meanwhile, Caliban, a native of the island, and a slave of Prospero's who falls in with a drunk and a clown from the shipwreck.  The three form a drunken agreement to overthrow Prospero, adding some much needed humor tot the play.  Antonio and his group experience several difficulties and finally end up with Prospero through the machinations of Ariel.  They discover that Ferdinand and Miranda have fallen in love and want to be married.  Prospero forgives all who have wronged him, sets Caliban free and enjoins Ariel to make ready good sailing weather.  Ariel is finally freed after this last task and Prospero renounces magic by breaking his staff.  This is but a brief synopsis if you want more...well go read or watch it :-).

The production of The Tempest I got to see was put on by the Shakespeare Theatre Company and was very well done.  The best part of the whole production had to be the set.  The stage and theatre itself was super cool to begin with, there were no bad seats and it was just awesome.  The sets themselves were extremely well done.  They utilized the entire stage, including the wings, which made for a very dynamic staging.  The main set was an impressive shipwreck on a mound of real sand, with a sun that traveled across the sky.  The casting and costumes were pretty well done,  I really liked how they showed Prospero's magic using actors as spirits that blended into the island background and were almost always present.  They did what Prospero bid but were supposed to be "invisible" to the characters, which was pretty cool.  The only real problem I had was with the

character of Ariel.  This is my favorite character in the play and I have a very definite preference for how the spirit is played.  I like it to be played androgynous, wild and elemental.  This is totally a personal preference.  This Ariel was played a bit to saucy and comical for my taste.  They had her on this really cool rope system to fly around the stage, and they made the rope a part of what tied her to Prospero, which was a great way to incorporate a necessary part of the staging.  The actress felt to practiced in her movements, I could almost see her thinking about each move "place this hand here, extend toes now" and so on and so forth.  Considering the rest of the blocking, this could have been how the director wanted it played as most of the characters moved in a very deliberate and pointed manner, but for me the character lost a lot of it's wildness and elementalness.  I felt like instead of a captured spirit of the wind, I was watching a Christmas angel.  Overall I very much enjoyed the play and cannot wait to go see another one.  Happy Reading Everybody!

It's A Fine October Daye

One of my favorite joys in life is discovering a new author to love.  Recently (this past year) I have discovered Seanan McGuire (who also writes under the pen name Mira Grant).  Most of her work is in the urban fantasy round, straying into horror on occasion.  I like her work because she adds a plausibility element to all of this "make-believe" that a lot of fantasy and horror authors are missing.  For me this is a big deal because if I cannot at least try and believe the premise of the book, it takes me out of the world and makes for a much harder read (I'm looking at you Divergent).  I have read several of Ms. McGuire's books and decided to start on her October Daye series starting with the first one Rosemary and Rue.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

We start with a prologue in which we meet our heroine the changeling (half faerie, half human) private investigator October Daye.  We learn that October (or Toby as most people call her) has a fiance and young daughter at home. Toby is on a case to find the missing wife and daughter of her liege lord in the faerie realm the Duke Sylvester Torquill.  For her trouble Toby ends up being transformed into a koi by the bad guys and spends the next 14 years in a pond.  Flash forward 14 years and 6 months and Toby is trying to put her life back together.  She feels burned by her faerie side, doing her best to avoid all things fae and just focus on holding down a job long enough to pay rent.  Her fiance and daughter want nothing to do with her, having moved on in the 14 years of her absence.  This all changes when the Countess Evening Winterrose is murdered and lays a deadly curse on Toby, compelling her to find her killer or die trying. Toby starts her search by visiting the crime scene and "riding" the blood of Evening, a skill she inherited from her faerie mother.  By tasting the blood, Toby not only makes the binding of the curse stronger, but gets some clues on where to head next. She also finds out that Evening was killed by iron, a cruel and specific way to torture or kill someone with any faerie blood in them.  She starts by telling the Queen, who reacts in what can only be described as an insane way and is ordered to leave with no help.  Next Toby goes Home, a place run by a changeling named Devin who takes in wayward half-bloods and essentially owns them until they find a way to break free.  Toby spent some time there in her youth before being knighted by the Duke and has a

love/hate relationship with Devin. Devin agrees to help her for a future unnamed price and has two of his kids, the siblings Dare and Manuel act as body guards/escorts.  Toby follows the clues and finds a legendary hope chest hidden in Evenings things.  This hope chest supposedly holds wonders that are only spoke about in stories, one of them being the power to transform a changling into a full human or full faerie, just by holding the box, Toby can feel a strange power flowing through her.  Knowing how dangerous this box could be, she leaves it in the possession of Tybalt called King of Cats, the leader of the Cait Sidhe or cat faeries.  Toby knows it will be safe with him 'cause they really don't like each other and he will not want to be in her debt. Toby finally goes to see Sylvester and his court, finding a warm welcome by not only him, but his wife, who was returned to him along with their daughter 10 years after they vanished. Nobody knows what happened to them, Luna (the wife) won't say and Rayseline went a bit cuckoo and is now a bit of a sadistic freak.  More talking and blah blah blahing and we find out that Rayseline's Selkie husband Conner and Toby had a thing back in the day, making it a bit awkward.  Toby continues hunting around despite everybody telling her it is to dangerous, but the curse will kill her if she doesn't find the answer so off she goes.  She gets shot by iron multiple times, gets patched up by various people multiple times and finally figures out that the killer was Devin.  Devin killed Evening to try and procure the hope chest, made bitter by the fact that he feels he deserves the immortality of the fae and it wasn't given to him.  In the ensuing fight Dare is killed, as is the young lover of Julie another Cait Sidhe, causing all sorts of inter faerie court problems.  The curse is lifted and Toby is reinstated as a PI to continue her work as a faerie/human detective/knight.  Also she gets to keep this weird rose thorn cat goblin thingy.

A synopsis will never capture what I really love about this book and that is the complex, yet follow-able world building that is done, especially on the faerie side.  The author spends a lot of time making sure we know that faerie is not just a willowy little creature with wings and rose petal slippers, they come in all shapes and sizes and varieties and they are well represented here.  I love that not only are various types of faeries represented, but different cultures as well.  We have the Japanese Kitsune, the Undine which is a bit more of a Greek concept, Selkies from Irish/Scottish myth, the Persian Manticore, and of course all of your more typical Fair Folk type denizens.  All of this is further enhanced by the author clearly defining the various types of faeries and how the various mixes of blood produce different reactions and abilities.  For one example Toby's ability to "ride" blood comes from her Daoine Sidhe mother, while another character combines the sadisticness of the reclusive Peri (another Persian myth) and the socialness of  the Tuatha de Dannan (Gaelic myth) to make a being who not only enjoys people, but really enjoys inflicting pain on them.  The author has taken artistic liberties with the strictly old school myths, turning them into a world that is both completely new and familiar at the same time.  The hierarchy, politics, rules, traditions and class structure are fairly well explained and add a layer of authenticness and the feeling that these beings have been here for centuries.  The magic is well thought out and has rules and restrictions that feel authentic which again helps with the plausibility factor. I especially love that most magic users have a specific taste and smell that helps identify who the use is, for example Toby's magic manifests as copper and grass cuttings.  There were a couple things that did bug me.  I was not feeling the actual character of October Daye, especially compared to the main character Verity in her one of her other urban fantasy series (InCryptid).  Toby seems a lot more of a reactionary character, a bit of a blank slate for the other characters to act against.  She is a changeling who

has lots of friends (and enemies and frenemies) in convenient places. While I like the idea that she is not
super woman, that she can (and does) get truly injured in a very believable fashion (finally a recovery that takes more then 10 minutes, even with her super faerie healing powers) I feel she too often wanted to prove her self, got hurt, needed rescuing, then promptly went out and did the same thing with the same results several times over...for no real reason.  I understood the whole attraction/maybe love thing with Devin, but then the author tossed in some possible thing between Toby and Conner that felt...hmm...I'm not sure how to describe what bugged my about it.  I guess the fact that the vast majority of Toby's history is given to us in a few vague, moody, wisps, but we yet all of her motivations are based on her past.  I guess it is difficult to empathize or identify with Toby because we don't know why or how or what is really motivating her. So she tells us that her and Conner may at one time in the very distant past have possibly maybe been able to fall in love, but didn't and that is why she is now a zillion years later so attracted to him...even though...well we don't know because that is all we have to go on, some nebulous maybe feeling from her unknown past, we don't even get to know Conner enough to see his appeal.  In the end the world building trumps the story and most definitely outshines the main character.  Any time I want to read about one of the other characters instead of the main one, it throws up a bit of a red flag. Oh one other thing I liked was all of the subtle references to Shakespeare. Ophelia from Hamlet is mentioned in perfect context and Tybalt King of the Cats is such a wonderfully direct reference to my favorite character in Romeo and Juliet that I must admit I squealed out loud.  Overall I enjoyed the world Ms. McGuire has built and will probably be back to visit it again in her further books, but not until I have exhausted the InCryptid novels with my sassy spunky not so vague Verity.  I give this book 6 out of 10 rose goblins.
Do you like your cultural fairy tales all mixed up or do your prefer them separate and pure? Do you love it as much as I do when an author sneaks in some Shakespeare?  What does your magic smell like?  Do people give you funny looks when you squeal out loud when you read?

Snow In A Globe

With all of the snow that has been flying around I feel like I have been stuck in a snow globe.  Here are some of our favorite literary moments that feel the same way.

Time Turner Snow Globe

I guess this is less a snow globe and more a sand clock, but still pretty cool.

Narnia Snow globe

I love how the whole thing is set on a book

Lord of the Rings Snow globe

The giant guardian statues was always one of my favorite parts of the story

Alice in Wonderland Snow Globe Bookends

Snow globe AND bookends, what could be better?

Romeo and Juliet Snow Globe

True love...before all the deadness starts :-)

Well it looks like the sun is starting to peak through, maybe I will get outside for a few minutes and maybe the feeling that I am trapped inside a snow globe will go away :-)  Happy reading

True Love

I am not really a Valentines person, I have never been the sappy, star-struck romantic type and think a good book and a cup of coffee is better than roses and jewelry any day...I'll take the box of chocolates though :-)  This got me thinking about my favorite love stories, usually the relationship part of books is my least favorite part, mostly because almost always falls into a trope of love e.g. insta-love, I am a bad boy/girl who is mean and awful to you and yet we are still destined to be together love, realizing the best friend is the love of my life love after I have done horrible things to him, but he still loves me anyways because I am irresistible love etc.  Every once in a while, I do read of a love story that I actually enjoy.  Here are a few of my favorite (and yes some of these fall into the above tropes, but hey it's my blog so pbllttt!) romances that seem to make some sort of sense to me.

Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy-This is probably my favorite relationship ever.  Pride and Prejudice takes the trope of "loving against ones will" and dumps it on it's head.  One of my favorite parts is when Darcy proposes to Elizabeth in what may be one of the most insulting manners ever, instead of swooning over the fact that he loves her against all odds, this is her reply “I might as well enquire,” replied she, “why with so evident a design of offending and insulting me, you chose to tell me that you liked me against your will, against your reason, and even against your character?” It is not until much later, when both parties have actually gotten to know each other and discuss their feeling AND their future AND clearing up all misunderstandings that they both actually decide to proceed with a relationship.  This is a great example of a person valuing themselves enough to want an equal partnership, not one were she would be resented for the love she receives.

Nick Bottom and Titania-This is my favorite Shakespearean couple ever, you can keep Romeo and Juliet give me an Ass-headed buffoon and an enchanted fairy queen any day. A Midsummer Night's Dream is my favorite of Shakespeare's comedies and takes every form of love and puts it on display.  There is true love, implied love, told by your father who you are going to marry love, enchanted love, comical love, stage love, fairy love, parental love, friend love, all wrapped up in a deliciously magical package for all to see and hear.  If there is one time I am ok with love being forced on people by enchantment, it is in this story...mostly 'cause there is fairy's and a guy gets a donkey head and the beautiful and powerful queen of the fairies makes a fool of herself, which makes a little enchanted false love, endurable.

Sorcha and Red -This founding couple from Daughter of the Forest have what I consider one of the most believable long term relationships from the books I have read.  Even though Sorcha can't speak or write, they find ways to communicate with each other.  They fall in love at different rates over a long period of time and still love each other after many trial and separations.  When Sorcha gives him up because she thinks he has been spelled to love her, and knows that no matter how much she may love him, it would never be real if he did not have the choice to love her back...aw it made me sad 'cause I knew how much that had to hurt.  I mean that is real love if you are willing to make sure your partner has a free will in his/her decision to be with you.  Of course Red returns this love by giving up his throne to become part of her life (a far different ending from the usual, girl gives up her life to go live in the palace with the prince/king). This mutual respect for the other person is what makes this relationship work in the long term.

Ella and Char- Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books in the whole wide world.  Part of the reason is that this Cinderella story is less about the poor orphan maid being saved by the dashing prince, and more about Ella figuring out how to fend for herself.  The fact that Ella is independent and self-sufficient is one of the things that Prince Char likes about Ella, in fact in one part of the book Ella actually saves the Prince. When the Prince declares his love for Ella (in a good old fashioned letter), she realizes two things, one that yes she is in love with Char, and two that her curse would be bad for the kingdom (finally a bit thought for the world outside of just two people).  Ella tells Char that she is married and breaks his heart.  I love the thought process behind her going to the ball (lends a sense of realism, I don't think I could stay away either) and in the end when she breaks the curse and insists and asking Char to marry her, instead of the other way around just makes me happy.

Menolly and Sebell- The Harper Hall Trilogy is not about a love story at all, in fact the character of Sebell does not even appear until the second book.  This is one of the most subtle love stories I have ever read, it is a slow gradual realization between two people who are busy living their lives that life is better when they are together.  I love love love that both the characters of Menolly and Sebell are quiet, gentle, strong people.  Neither of these two are overly outgoing, loud, sassy or any of the other "opposites attract" qualities that are so prevalent in books and movies.  These are just two smart, music loving people who work well together and just happened to be very attracted to each other as well.  Also I may still have a major book crush on Sebell, something about that quiet strength is just so attractive...reminds me of my Hubbin :-)

So that is a short list of a few of my favorite literary couples.  As you can see, I usually prefer my love stories to be a part of a bigger story and not the focal point.  I like believable love, I like love that results in an equal partnership, I like love that does not end a story because their is not where else to go, but rather starts a new journey of adventuring with your partner.  I like it when (as my Mamma would say) love is recognized as not a feeling, but rather a commitment.  There are other couples in stories that I like, and I may do another post on those later, but I think for the moment these best sum up feelings on reading about True Love!

Do you celebrate Valentines Day?  What is your favorite literary couple?  Do you think that unrealistic love is ok in books because it is supposed to be fantasy?  Do you prefer your couples to take center stage, or do you like the love story to be part of a larger whole?  Who is your literary crush?

When Loves Collide

I love it when two of my favorites come together and Eyes Like Stars does just that.  This book beautifully combines my love of books and my love of theatre, and as an added bonus Shakespearean drama is featured heavily in this story. 

This book is set at the Theatre Illuminata (isn't that the most wonderful name...happy sigh) and tells the story of Betrice Shakespeare Smith, or as most people know her, Bertie.  For as long as she can remember Bertie has lived in the theatre, but this isn't just any theatre, this is a magic theatre (though I would argue ANY theatre is magic).  In this theatre all of the characters from any play ever written
are actual living, breathing beings and the plays that are put on are not by actors but the characters
themselves.  Bertie is the only member of the theatre who is not a character from a play, but this does not stop her from having many many friends within the theatre.  The centerpiece of this magical theatre is The Book, which contains any and every play ever written, this is also the source of the theatre and all the characters.  Bertie is informed by the Theatre Manager that she will be forced to leave if she does not find some way to make herself an integral part of the theatre.  Bertie decides to re stage one of Shakespeare's great plays Hamlet, but place it in Ancient Egypt.  If Bertie can pull of a successful show she will be considered a Director (the first in the theatre, because usually the characters do not need to be directed, they just do their thing.) Throughout all this Bertie is being wooed by Nate, a pirate from the play A Little Mermaid, and seduced by the wild and mysterious Ariel
from The Tempest.  Ok I have to stop right here and admit I am a little bit in love with this version of Ariel, he is fey, dangerous, roguish and oh so mysterious, he has that pull that all of us geek girls can't resist...Ok girly moment over, moving on.  This love triangle is a tad more seductive then I thought to find in a novel like this, but it was all in theatrical tradition.  Near the end the play gets put on, but with a twist that Bertie was not expecting.  I have to say, it took me a page or two to catch on to what was going on, but when I figured it out it was pretty cool, I won't spoil it for you, but it explains Berties origins beautifully.  After this major revelation Bertie sets out to further her quest and Ariel finds a way to go with her, oh yeah and somehow Nate got disappeared by a Sea Witch so that is part of her quest is to find him again.
I really loved 99.9% of this book, it combined so much of what I love and used magic to tie it all together.  I love books that are set in a world that does not have to follow the real world rules, it makes it much easier to suspend belief and just dive right into the middle of the world (it also gives me a chance to say world like 19 times in one sentence).  The descriptions were beautiful without being over the top, there were pieces of dialog that were written as script which made me very happy, but the style was used sparingly so it didn't get annoying.  The love story was theatrical and melodramatic just like any good play, and like I said earlier I want to carve my initials in a tree with Ariel's.  The only major problem I really had with this book is when I picked it up I did not realize it was going to be a series.  The book had a beginning, middle, and fairly wrapped up end, the story was amazing, the setting magical and then BAM the last couple pages opens everything back up again.  I have not had a chance to read the second one yet, mostly 'cause I'm scared it can not live up to the first book, on the other hand even if it sucks the first one holds up as a standalone story so I will always have that to hold on to.   Over all I give this book 8 out of 10 standing ovations and strongly encourage anybody with a theatre, literature, or Shakespearean background to get there hands on this book.  If you just really like a magical world and awesome quirky characters you should also read this.

What books combine your loves?  Who do you prefer the Dashing, Heroic, Kind, Solid Pirate Nate, or the Wild, Arrogant, Self-Serving, Mysterious Spirit Ariel?  Are you ever disappointed when a book is a series?

My New Pretty!

Oooh look what I got!!!

The Tempest

It is actually printed on a page from Shakespeare's The Tempest.  How bad do you all want this?!?

The Bard

One of my other passions besides reading (and coffee) is the theatre.  I usually consider my love of the stage an extension of my love of reading.  It gives me the ability not only to read some amazing works, but to take part in the story as well.  Plus I'm kind of an attention freak so that helps as well :-)  William Shakespeare to me is one of those perfect combinations of fine literature and stagecraft. 

I know, I know EVERYBODY supposedly loves the Great Bard, but to me for good reason.  His works cover several genre's, history, tragedy, comedy, a little something for everyone.  My favorites are his comedies, especially Midsummer's Night Dream, which covers the range of myth and fairytale elements, The Merchant of Venice which incorporates some tragic pieces, and Much Ado About Nothing which may be one of the original mistaken identity capers out there.  Taming of the Shrew is a give or take for me depending on what mood I'm in.

Macbeth is by far my favorite over all Shakespeare work, it's so dark and has all the element of a good ghost story, nobles going crazy, ghosts of the slain walking around, witches that have led to a plethora (what a fun word) of modern witchy movies and books, and even a little comedy brought to us by the guard at the gate. 
Of course you can't mention Shakespeare without mentioning Romeo and Juliet, which I like ok, but have seen it so many times I'm a little bored of it. It does however provide a great canvas for some fabulous retellings.

Another thing I like about Shakespeare is the language lends itself to some amazing illustrations, there are so many beautiful children's books based on Midsummer's Night Dream, and there is a creative version in one of Neil Gaiman's Sandman stories Dream Country that I have read on numerous occasions.
It's been really nice lately because all of his works are available electronically for free, so now instead of hauling my giant book O the bard around, i can whip out my phone or ereader and quote aloud whenever I feel the situation warrants it, much to the annoyance of others I'm sure :-)
Do you also love Shakespeare, or do you think he is overrated?  What is your favorite type of Shakespeare, which part would you love to play?