Friday, May 24, 2013

Oh wait, you mean I have to actually read or watch the plays for this Shakespeare project to work?
I did actually start reading Romeo and Juliette...like three whole pages. I'll have to work on that.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Much Ado

Much Ado About Nothing was April's play. I didn't ever watch it but it's my favorite Shakespeare play and the Kenneth Branagh version is a beloved favorite. I've seen the movie so many times that I see scenes in my head as I read them and I can tell where the movie deviates from the script. I can't really imagine a better version though the Branagh version does skip or simplify some lines and scenes, I feel like the edits make the movie and play go smoother for the modern audience watching without informative foot notes.
I love Much Ado for mostly for the fun and the wit, I love Benedick and Beatrice's exchanges, I love Dogberry's confused way of talking (Michael Keaton play's him wonderfully). Mostly I love Benedick and Beatrice, for me they are Branagh and Emma Thompson, I was first introduced to this play in middle school and we read and then watched the movie. Thompson's Beatrice has been the sort of person I've wanted to be like ever since. In my college Shakespeare class, my professor claimed that Hero and Claudio are the main characters in Much Ado, I will never believe that. Claudio is a whiny boy, Hero we hardly know or care about, Much Ado is about Beatrice and Benedick for me.
Anyway, the point of all these disjointed ramblings are that I love this play and wholeheartedly recommend it. I believe the next play for me is Romeo and Juliette. If you look for a version to watch, I'd go with this one.