Come see literature’s most famous fat slob, Falstaff, abused by The Merry Wives of Windsor on Monday Oct. 7th on ZOOM. 

We will begin by watching scenes from the play on video, about 7:00pm, Japan time. Leave a reply below if you want an invitation to the Zoom meeting.

For more information about the play, go to the Files Page of this site

shakespearetokyo.news.blog/the-merry-wives-of-windsor/

and click on the file marked “Merry Wives”. You can see the summary and some background information on the play.

In 1594 William Shakespeare, who had begun to establish himself as a dramatist, suddenly took a hiatus from playwriting to publish The Rape of Lucrece. This gamble at writing narrative poetry paid off for young Shakespeare; the pamphlets were a publishing sensation, going through several printings and making him a household name among the intelligentsia of London.

On July 22nd we will read The Rape of Lucrece for ourselves on ZOOM. We will begin the reading about 7:30pm, Japan time. Leave a reply below if you want an invitation to the Zoom meeting.

For more information about the play, go to the Files Page of https://shakespearetokyo.news.blog/lucrece-1594/

and click on the file marked “Lucrece”.

For our spring reading, we will re-examine what is probably the greatest paradox in all of Shakespeare: is it the history of two Trojan figures Homer never even mentioned? The tragedy in which both lovers are (gasp!) still alive as the curtain falls? Or the romance between two title characters who have barely four scenes together?

Normally you would never expect an English teacher to promote the use of a cheatsheet, but I have posted on the Files page of this site an in-depth study guide for our next reading, Troilus and Cressida. On Monday, June 10th, we will finish reading this most opaque of Shakespeare’s works, and quite frankly you will have to do your homework on this one. In addition to the usual Elizabethan vocabulary pitfalls, this one is also replete with references to classical Greek and Roman mythology, and pretty much assumes that the reader knows the legends of Troy by heart.

(I AM familiar with all those things, and I’ve read the play before, but I still had trouble understanding it well enough to write the summary!)

Even if you have never made use of these summaries before, Troilus and Cressida is especially challenging, and I urge you to study it for the next reading, June 10th on Zoom.

We watch scenes from a professional production of the play on video starting at 7pm, then begin reading about 7:30pm, Japan time. Leave a reply below if you want an invitation to the Zoom meeting.

But first, go to the Files Page of this site, and click on the file marked “Troilus and Cressida”.

You can’t pass the test if you don’t study!

We left Romeo and Juliet on a real cliffhanger last week. Come see if they live happily ever after (Hint: don’t get your hopes up) when we read the final act of Romeo and Juliet on April 8. You can have a ringside (well, Zoom-side) seat by replying to this message and asking for an invitation. We meet at 7pm to watch scenes from the play on video, then start reading ourselves from 7:30pm.

Go to the Files page of this site for more information about the play. Hover on, then click on Romeo and Juliet.

That’s Romeo and Juliet on April 8, on ZOOM.

It’s the tale as old as Love itself: Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, etc.

Except Times Four!

We are completing Love’s Labours Lost on ZOOM, starting 7pm on February 5th. Witness the flirtation of Berowne and his buddies by replying to this message and asking for an invitation. We meet at 7pm to watch scenes from the play on video, then start reading ourselves from 7:30pm.

Go to the Files page of this site for more information about the play. Hover on, then click on Love’s Labours Lost.

Last time, Brutus and Cassius killed Julius Caesar. Now what?

Civil war! We are completing The Tragedy of Julius Caesar on ZOOM, starting 7pm on December 4th. You can be a witness to history by replying to this message and asking for an invitation. We meet at 7pm to watch scenes from the play on video, then start reading ourselves from 7:30pm.

Go to the Files Page for more information about the play. Hover on, then click on Julius Caesar.

Join us when we finish reading Julius Caesar, December 4th, on Zoom.

What could be funnier than identical twins being mistaken for each other?

How about TWO sets of twins?

Watch Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus and Dromio of Ephesus in the original (well, not really, since our Bard recycled the plot from Plautus) case of mistaken identity, as we finish The Comedy of Errors on ZOOM, 7pm on October 9th.

You can join in the confusion by replying to this message and asking for an invitation. We meet at 7pm to watch scenes from the play on video, then start reading ourselves from 7:30pm.

Go to the the Files tab for more information about the play. Hover on, then click on Comedy of Errors.

Be a part of the fun when we read The Comedy of Errors, October 9th, on Zoom.

No, Coriolanus doesn’t rhyme with … well, let me put it this way:

Say “CORE”.

Now say “EYE”.

Now imagine that Alanis Morissette spells her first name with an O, and say “Olanis”.

Anyway, we’re finishing it on Zoom, reading Act V on September 4th. You can be a part of the fun, by replying to this message and asking for an invitation. We meet at 7pm to watch scenes from the play on video, then start reading ourselves from 7:30pm.

Go to the Files tab for more information about the play. Hover on, then click on Coriolanus.

Then join us in reading Act V of Coriolanus, September 4th, on Zoom.

“A goddess on a mountain top was burning like a silver flame”, the minstrels teach us. Adonis, offered the chance to ascend “the summit of beauty and love”, chose to go hunting instead, and got eviscerated by a boar. Venus in her disappointment uses his blood to color flowers in his memory.

Meanwhile, every man on earth is screaming at the page, “Dude, she is not only the goddess of love, she’s the most beautiful being in the universe! Go hunting some other time!” William Shakespeare, taking a break from his theatrical duties, attempts to make all this make sense, while still getting it to rhyme.

Join us on Monday, July 3rd, as we read Venus and Adonis on Zoom.

This reading will not include watching a video, so we will begin at 7:30pm. Leave a message below if you want an invitation.

Go to shakespearetokyo.news.blog/venus-and-adonis/ for more information about the play. Hover on the Files tab, then click on Venus and Adonis. Then join us for the reading at 7:30 pm, July 3rd, on Zoom.

Henry VIII had six wives. Too many for Shakespeare to write about in just one play, so he just covers the first two.

Bet you didn’t know Shakespeare wrote about Henry VIII, did you? But as the subtitle suggests, “All is True!” Join us on Monday, June 5th, and see for yourself.

We meet on Zoom at 7pm to watch scenes from the play on video, then start reading ourselves from 7:30pm. Leave a message below if you want an invitation.

Go to https://shakespearetokyo.news.blog/…/07/henry-the-eighth/ for more information about the play. Hover on the Files tab, then click on Henry VIII. Then join us for the reading, at 7pm June 5, on Zoom.