A Literary Odyssey is hosting a Shakespeare month and I've decided to join her. My love of Shakespeare began with this:
In sixth grade my class read Romeo & Juliet. It was a struggle. I was fascinated by the history of the Globe Theater and Shakespeare's life but the play just didn't engage me. It especially didn't help that our teacher had us read portions out loud, leading to endless eye rolling and giggling from the entire class. Then midway through our reading our class went on a field trip. We went to the theater and saw Franco Zeffirelli's version of this timeless romance. From the first scene I was entranced. All the lessons from our teacher, the endless readings all came together to create a wonderful experience. I hung on every word, felt my heart swell with emotions. Our entire class was riveted and midway thru the movie all chatter and giggling had ceased, even from the boys in our class!
Since that day I've sought out live action and celluloid expressions of Shakespeare's works. I've seen Glenn Close give a chilling performance of Lady Macbeth, A Midsummer's Night Dream preformed by the drama department at Yale college, and a staging of Twelfth Night with 5 actors and a coat rack! I credit these plays and movies for lighting a passionate love for Shakespeare that continue to this day. If you've never been able to really connect with Shakespeare's works I heartily suggest seeing a live play or theatrical rendition of one of his works.
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