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.

Watch Titus Andronicus on January 3rd, and finish reading on January 10th

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.

According to theater legend, Queen Elizabeth was so taken with the comic characters of Henry IV that she conveyed a message to her favorite company of actors: “I want to see Falstaff in love.”

Obviously, this was more than a request from an avid fan. This was a royal command performance. Shakespeare complied, by taking Falstaff out of his venue of comic relief in a historical epic, and placing him front and center in a bawdy sex romp, The Merry Wives of Windsor . At least, that’s the story. But since our only source for the quote is John Dennis, who produced a revival of the play in 1702, one hundred years later, we are forced to conclude that he may have been indulging in promoter’s hyperbole. (His version flopped, by the way.)

Join us on Monday, August 9th, as we see literature’s most famous fat slob, Falstaff, abused by those very Merry Wives. We meet on Zoom at 7pm to watch scenes from the play on video, then start reading ourselves at 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.

We will finish reading the history of Henry V on Zoom on June 14th. You can watch segments of a BBC production beginning at 7pm, then we start reading about 7:30. Leave a message below if you want an invitation to the Zoom meeting. All nationalities welcome, and no experience necessary!

Also, see the Files Page of this site for notes and background information to help you understand the play. Hover over the Files tab, then click on the title you want to see.

We will continue reading The Tempest on April 5th and 26th. We will watch scenes on video from 7pm, then read beginning around 7:30. Please leave a message below if you’d like a ZOOM invitation.

For notes and background information, go to the Files menu above and click on Tempest.

2020 is over at last; the vaccine is on its way; but Shakespeare will never die.

On March 1st and 22nd we will finish reading Henry IV Part Two, and start a new play (A COMEDY WE WILL VOTE ON). Join us on Zoom at 7pm Tokyo time to watch part of a BBC production on video first, then jump into the reading at 7:30. Leave a message below if you want an invitation.

Britain has begun inoculating its citizens, including a man named William Shakespeare. Be warned: puns ahoy!

Join us to read Cymbeline on December 14th and 28th, vaccinated or not. We watch part of a BBC production on video first, then jump into the reading. See the notes on the Files page to brush up, then join us on Zoom at 7pm Tokyo time. Leave a message here or on our Facebook page if you would like a Zoom invitation. https://www.facebook.com/TokyoShakespeareGroup

Enjoying Halloween? For more spooky action, join Hamlet in the graveyard on November 9 for our Zoom reading of Hamlet, who discourses on corpses, then goes on to make more.

Act Five of Hamlet, the exciting conclusion, on Monday November 9 on Zoom!
Leave a message below if you want an invitation.

No virus can stop the Bard! In September we begin reading Hamlet on Zoom. You can be part of it by leaving a request below for the access information. Act Two is September 28th. We watch a professional group on video at 7pm, then read the scenes ourselves starting at 7:30.
A new feature: notes and background on our current play. Check out the intimate details on the Files page of this site.

Edit: previously the date was in error. 9/28 is correct.