The Actress Who Wouldn’t Get Coffee

Lady Dame Ladysmith had won the part of Hamlet’s mother… and why not? She’d been on the stage for forty-five years, had hundreds of favorable reviews and legions of fans. And, this production had action-star Vin Diesel in the title roll, so it was BOUND to be a Broadway hit. The actress was stoked. But, […]

The Tempest: Shakespeare’s Deus Ex Machina

A sudden storm comes upon the ship of Alonso, the King of Naples; his brother, Sebastian; Alonso’s son, Ferdinand; Antonio, the current Duke of Milan; and Gonzalo, a counselor of Naples; and, Alleco, the guy who always seems to forget his wallet. The ship is torn asunder, cleft in twain and best in show. The […]

Literature Bits

I read Goethe’s Faust in the original German. I don’t speak a word of German so that makes my accomplishment even more impressive. ֍ I told my English teacher that I was a fatalist. She recommended I read The Oresteian Trilogy. I shrugged and went home and read it because, what choice did I have? […]

Bard to the Bone

[I have tried and tried to find work as a director; but, after years of failure, no one will hire me. I thought the best way to find work would be to produce my own “out-of-the-box” unusual versions of Shakespearean plays…] I directed Hamlet with box turtle cast. Most agreed that the acting was good…as […]

Thoughts on Hamlet

Hamlet is a play about a young man who finds out his father was murdered so he kills nearly everyone he’s ever known. It’s called a “tragedy” because snuff-films had yet to be invented. The Lion King is the first and probably the last Disney cartoon to be based on Hamlet. There were a few […]