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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 20.0028  Wednesday, 14 January 2009

[1]  From:   Mari Bonomi <
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      Date:   Thursday, 8 Jan 2009 13:43:46 -0500
      Subj:   Re: SHK 20.0013 All-Male Romeo and Juliet at the 
Shakespeare Theatre

[2]  From:   John Briggs <
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      Date:   Monday, 12 Jan 2009 23:56:21 -0000
      Subj:   Re: SHK 20.0013 All-Male Romeo and Juliet at the 
Shakespeare Theatre


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:      Mari Bonomi <
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Date:      Thursday, 8 Jan 2009 13:43:46 -0500
Subject: 20.0013 All-Male Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare 
Comment:   Re: SHK 20.0013 All-Male Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare 
Theatre

Aaron Azlant says "compare Mercutio's "Queen Mab" speech to the plot of 
the play-within-a-play in _MSD_"

I have done so . . . but find very few points of comparison.  R&J's plot 
and the rustics' play certainly have elements in common (but then the 
R&J plot is a commonplace one in any event).  But Queen Mab is about 
dreams and their source, and is intended in any event to point out that 
dreams are "children of an idle brain/Begot of nothing but vain fantasy 
. . . ."

I'd be grateful for some elucidation.

Mari Bonomi

[2]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:      John Briggs <
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Date:      Monday, 12 Jan 2009 23:56:21 -0000
Subject: 20.0013 All-Male Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare 
Comment:   Re: SHK 20.0013 All-Male Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare 
Theatre

Aaron Azlant wrote:

 >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_.

As Keir Elam points out, "Twelfth Night" also has a dead father, a 
supposed madman, a duel scene and a letter read aloud.

 >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.

Burbage would have played Orsino in "Twelfth Night".

John Briggs

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