“A horse, a horse…!”
On Monday March 6th we see off King Richard III. We meet 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 shakespearetokyo.news.blog/richard3/ for more information about the play. Hover on the Files tab, then click on Richard 3.
Shakespeare lovers can join us on Monday, March 6th, on Zoom, to finish reading the Tragedy of King Richard III.
My father, whose knowledge of literature is even more abstruse than mine, once posed this riddle: What would be the result of a collaboration between Shakespeare, American playwright Arthur Miller and German novelist Thomas Mann?
Answer: Death of a Salesman in Venice (Now you see where I get my sense of humor from.)
A somewhat easier riddle is at the center of our current play, The Merchant of Venice. For the hand of the lovely Portia, the suitor has only to choose between a box made of silver, gold, or lead.
Not obvious which one to pick? Then join us for our reading on Monday, Dec. 19th, on Zoom. We meet 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://wordpress.com/view/shakespearetokyo.news.blog for more information about the play. Hover on the Files tab, then click on Merchant of Venice.
Then join us for The Merchant of Venice, December 19th on Zoom.
Fun fact: Henry VI was not intended to be a trilogy. Part 2 was originally titled The First Part of the Contention Between the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster, and Part 3 The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of Yorke, and the death of good King Henrie the Sixt. At the time, Parts 2 and 3 were collectively known as The Whole Contention Between …. What we now know as Part One of Henry VI was written and included with the other plays later — possibly years later.
But now … let’s finish Part 3!
It’s Nov. 14 at 7pm on Zoom. We will watch scenes from the play on video, then start reading ourselves from 7:30pm. Leave a message below if you want an invitation to see the brutal end of the Henry VI trilogy.
Go to https://wordpress.com/view/shakespearetokyo.news.blog for more information about the play. Hover on the Files tab, then click on 3 Henry VI.
Then join us for the finale of Henry VI Part 3 November 14th on Zoom.
After so many months of the dysfunctional Plantagenet family, it’s time for a romantic comedy, albeit one with the odd coupling of Helena and Bertram. While not physical antagonists the match of Kate and Petruchio, nor verbal sparring partners like Beatrice and Benedick, they are separated by the barrier of class: he is a nobleman, and she is — gasp! — a commoner.
Have the servants fetch my smelling salts!
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://wordpress.com/view/shakespearetokyo.news.blog for more information about the play. Hover on the Files tab, then click on All’s Well.
Then join us for the conclusion of All’s Well That Ends Well September 5th on Zoom.
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
Yes! Shakespeare with his most penetrating observation of all! It’s all there in our next serving of history, Henry VI Part 2.
Join us for the finale, on July 25th. I can’t promise that it’s all true, but where it’s not entirely historically accurate, it’s better!
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://wordpress.com/view/shakespearetokyo.news.blog for more information about the play. Hover on the Files tab, then click HENRY 6 2.
Then be there for the fun as we conclude Henry VI Part 2 on July 25th on Zoom.
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Come see the evil Don John get his comeuppance, and Beatrice and Benedick also get what they deserve (each other, of course). That’s the thrilling conclusion of Much Ado About Nothing, on May 23rd.
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.
You can see the summary and some background information on the files page of this site. Hover on the Files tab, then click MUCH ADO.
Then join us on May 23rd for Much Ado About Nothing.
Spring means cherry blossoms, warmer weather, sleepwalking out of guilt over killing your king … actually, that last one only applies to the dysfunctional Macbeth family. Join us in reading Shakespeare’s classic tragedy on April 4th.
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. You can see the summary and some background information on the files page of this site. Hover on the Files tab, then click MACBETH.
As if to taunt me for my observations about Spring, it just started snowing here in Ibaraki. Oh well. We can still enjoy Macbeth April 4th on Zoom.
Poor Pericles just can’t catch a break. He’s been chased across the Mediterranean by an incestuous king, lost his wife (literally — she’s not dead, just lost) and his daughter just got kidnapped by pirates! Will he have a happy White Day after all? Find out Monday, February 28th, when we continue reading Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
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, or on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TokyoShakespeareGroup if you want an invitation.
You can see the summary and some background information on the files page of this site. Hover on the Files tab, then click PERICLES.
Will Pericles ever find happiness? Will he at least get a haircut? Learn the answer Monday, February 28th, when we continue reading Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
There’s a wonderful exchange in the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. During the play-within-a-play Guildenstern asks “Wasn’t that the end?” The Player King responds “You call that an ending? With practically everyone still on his feet? My goodness, no — over your dead body!” That’s how you know when a Shakespeare play is over: by the body count!
We’ll be stacking them like cordwood for the new year, when we first watch the BBC version of the tragedy of Titus Andronicus on January 3rd beginning at 7:30pm, and then finish reading on January 10th at 7pm. Both will be on Zoom.
As another character once said, “When the players are all dead, there needs none to be blamed.” Leave a message below if you want an invitation to the Zoom meeting. All nationalities welcome, and no experience necessary!
Hope you survived the Tokyo typhoons. It’s time to dust off the (Shakespeare!) history books, as we finish reading Part 1 of the Bard’s Henry VI on Zoom. It’s an extravaganza that takes us deep into the Hundred Years War, and includes a depiction of Joan of Arc that will have you rubbing your eyes in disbelief.
To the French, Joan of Arc is a military hero and national treasure. To Shakespeare, she was a heretic and whore. See how she fits into the Bard’s history of the Henries on October 11th, starting with video at 7pm and then reading it ourselves.
Want an invitation? Leave a message below.
Shakespeare-sama, Tokyo 