The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 20.0013  Thursday, 8 January 2009

From:        Aaron Azlant <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:        Tuesday, 6 Jan 2009 15:46:01 -0500
Subject: 20.003 All-Male Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare 
Comment:     Re: SHK 20.003 All-Male Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare 
Theatre

Just a quick point: while there is definitely some thematic overlap 
between _Romeo and Juliet_ and _Midsummer Night's Dream_ (compare 
Mercutio's "Queen Mab" speech to the plot of the play-within-a-play in 
_MSD_), one could make the argument that many of Shakespeare's plays are 
pre- and re-workings of _Hamlet_.

Full confession: one of the things that I try to do when watching 
Shakespeare plays is try to match which actor might have played which 
part(s). Certainly no guarantee that Burbage would have played all of 
the following, but in their way, Antonio, Richard II, Brutus, Jacques, 
Malvolio, and Romeo all have similar character traits along with Hamlet; 
in their way, Iago and Edmund do as well.

I also think that there are structural similarities between _Hamlet_ and 
a lot of the earlier plays as well, especially _Merchant of Venice_, 
_Henry V_ and _Julius Caesar_.

--Aaron

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