From long-time group member Roger Barnard: he’s hosting an art exhibition. Of course, in this plague year we can’t be there in person. Let’s try to be there in spirit, shall we?

Gallery Q website: http://galleryq.info/index.html

Roger provided his own exhibition video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRrz9GBGHuw&t=4s

Happy Golden Week. Stay safe.
Shakespeare readings are now online, 5/11 and 5/25 on ZOOM to read Antony and Cleopatra. If you want to be a part of the fun, just leave a note below or message me for the details.
That’s Act II of Antony & Cleopatra on May 11 at 7:30pm. Please procure your own script. We’ll provide the Nile barge!

A kind message from our friend Nobuko:

This is just a short message to inform you that while the National Theatre is closed, a live performance of Twelfth Night will be shown free on Youtube on April 23rd 7pm UK time.

As you might already know, April 23rd is Shakespeare’s Day.

Details: Twelfth Night is streaming for free from 7pm UK time on Thursday 23 April. Available on demand until 7pm UK time on Thursday 30 April. It is subtitled and the running time is 2 hours 42 minutes with a very short interval
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home/…

The Youtube site details are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aig5ObghHS4

Take care,
Best regards,
Nobuko

Our ZOOM readings have been a modest success. If you want to be a part of the fun, next on the docket is Antony and Cleopatra! Next Monday at 7:30pm we’re assembling again to read Act I of Antony & Cleopatra. Just leave a note below or on our Facebook page for the details.
That’s on 4/27 at 7:30pm. Please procure your own script. We’ll provide the Nile barge!
Following Golden Week, the plan is now to meet bi-weekly, probably on 5/11 and 5/25

We live in an age of zeroes and ones, and that’s what will be powering our next meeting: Monday, April 20th at 7:30pm. We will be meeting then, and for the foreseeable future, online. We are slowly working out the kinks, but for now it’s a viable option.

If you want to be a part of the fun, please go to https://www.facebook.com/TokyoShakespeareGroup/ and leave a message for me, and we will include you in the guest list.

IMPORTANT NOTE: many people are worried about violations of privacy on websites such as ZOOM. We promise to protect your privacy to the utmost, and we will work with you to keep your information safe.

In the face of the Corona Plague, Shakespeare in Tokyo is attempting to split the difference between Social Distancing and the need to maintain our standards of civility. For the first time ever, we’re going to try our reading via videoconference.

After a dry run on April 6th, we will attempt to finish reading Winter’s Tale entirely online. How successful we will be? We’ll never know until we try.

If you want to be part of this experiment, please go to the website https://www.facebook.com/TokyoShakespeareGroup/ and click on “Leave Message”. If you leave your name and contact information, we can include you in the fun.

N.B. Some have warned that ZOOM and other videoconferencing websites are not secure. It might be a good idea to create a new email address devoted exclusively for this purpose in order to preserve your privacy and confidential information.

Reminder: due to the current medical concerns, the March reading of Shakespeare in Tokyo has been cancelled. We will meet to conclude Winter’s Tale, and we hope to conclude our battle with CoVid19, on April 13.

To tide you over, here is a timely article on our Bard’s own experience with the epidemics of his day, and how, one author believes, they influenced his career. https://slate.com/culture/2020/03/shakespeare-plague-influence-hot-hand-ben-cohen.html

For only the second time in its history (the other was during a typhoon) Shakespeare in Tokyo will cancel a meeting. There will be no reading in March. Our next gathering will be April 13.

It was a difficult decision to make. After consultation with school officials and the membership, we believe it will be better to err on the side of caution. Many of us are willing to brave the forces of nature to meet, but others are not; frankly, it just wouldn’t be as much fun without them.

So stay home, and stay safe. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. We’ll meet again after the virus has run its course.

In light of the current health scare, we should decide how we want to proceed in March.
We had planned to meet again to finish reading Winter’s Tale on March 16th. I would like to know how many people plan on attending, even though activities in Japan are being curtailed by the COVID virus. Temple University will be open during this time, so we could meet for our regular reading if that is the desire of the group. In the comments below, please indicate if you will be there, or if you recommend we wait until the virus has run its course. Based on your replies, we will consult with the University as to whether to continue.

Thank you, and stay safe.