Falstaff and the Making of an Opera Fan
In the bright and fearless days before COVID-19 shut everything down, I considered watching my first real opera. I thought I’d first try one of Verdi’s operas based on a Shakespeare play, Macbeth or Otello…
Category: characters
Macbeth at Coronado Playhouse
I took the family to see Macbeth at Coronado Playhouse, a wonderful community theatre on the water. Coronado Playhouse puts on one free classic show every year, usually Shakespeare since it’s in the public domain,…
Romeo and Juliet at The Old Globe
The Old Globe, in partnership with University of San Diego, offers the Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, a two-year MFA course in classical theatre. It admits only seven students per year, selected from applicants nationwide. This…
The Importance of Being Exton
I’ve seen a half-dozen productions of Richard II both live and (mostly) on DVD, and in most the knight Piers Exton, Richard’s killer, is swapped out for or combined with another character, most often Aumerle….
The hero of The Merchant of Venice
I actively dislike The Merchant of Venice. That it provokes in me such a strong reaction is a testament to Shakespeare’s brilliance as a playwright. Thing is, I find the characters repulsive and the way…
Joseph Conrad’s Typhoon as a Zen parable
I love Joseph Conrad’s work, but came to his novella Typhoon only about a dozen years ago. I instantly recognized it as an extended Zen parable, which just as instantly struck me as an odd…
International Women’s Day: Favorite female characters from Shakespeare
On Twitter today, Shakespeare’s Globe (@The_Globe) asked users to name their favorite women from Shakespeare’s plays. I answered there (follow me at @MidLifeLit), but wanted to expand on my answers a bit. The first fictional…