Free streaming of Verdi’s “Otello” on 6/6


The NY Metropolitan Opera has been offering free streams of past
performances on their website. They will feature Verdi’s “Otello” on 6/6
(Sunday morning in Tokyo, for approximately 24 hours)
https://www.metopera.org/season/on-demand/opera/?upc=811357018026

Maybe not exactly Shakespeare, but close.

PS If the above link doesn’t work, go to this link and click on the
corresponding title:
https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/

They usually make the opera of the day around 8:30 AM Tokyo time, and
can be free-streamed for about 24 hours. Before and after that, you’ll
pay $4.99 for the Opera on Demand.

Free performance of Twelfth Night on Youtube April 23rd

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

Antony and Cleopatra on 4/27

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

Society may be on its knees, but the Shakespeare readings will continue


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.

Shakespeare joins the Digital Age

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.

When Shakespeare stared Death in the face

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