Getting to Know Shakespeare
Now that my e/book Truth in Action is away to the printers, my attention turns back to my original book Approaching Shakespeare. Shakespeare is something special to me, not just because we’re supposed to love him, but because he is truly a man for all times. His thoughts and poetry stretch out in time to touch us even now, there is barely a situation you can experience, that Shakespeare has not covered in his plays or poetry. And on the topic of love, (today is Valentine’s Day after all) then he is a master. Go one further and we have the whole Shakespeare authorship debate. (Please note the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust were invited to take part in this debate on my blog, but while anti-Stratfordians were happy to comment, the SBT were… absent. Oh well, why would they want to reach an extra 22,000 people?)
At the moment on Sky Arts 2, we’re getting In Love with Shakespeare, a short 5-minute piece where an actor does their favourite bit of Shakespeare. It’s a neat idea, not too long, snappy and impressive. Worth a watch if you have Sky Arts.
But actually, regardless of their lack of interaction (they were again invited to talk more about their course via this blog, but they ignored the email) the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust have produced TWO really wonderful things. So if you love Shakespeare, or if he’s a mystery and you’d love to get to know him properly, then I would STRONGLY recommend these resources.
The first is Shakespeare Bites Back – a totally FREE PDF eBook about the Shakespeare Authorship debate, written by Stanley Wells and Paul Edmondson. It’s written by two world renowned experts on Shakespeare and will enlighten about the authorship debate. Didn’t you know that some bonkers folk think Shakespeare didn’t write Shakespeare? Well, it’s a fascinating and engaging read, so ahead and give it a blast, you’ll enjoy it.
But for a much more comprehensive love affair with Shakespeare, you can take a free course on Shakespeare online via the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust. They’ve called itGetting to Know Shakespeare and it’s a set of documents, videos, pictures and audio files that you can actually work your way through. It’s full of fascinating stuff for actors, not just stuffy facts of academic debates, but the stuff of actually loving to PERFORM Shakespeare and includes many interviews with actors. One by Abigail Rokison, an actress and academic is absolutely wonderful and I’m proud to say that I worked with Abigail long ago when she was just out of Drama School and before she was a Cambridge scholar. You could sit and go through all of it in one sitting if you wanted to, but it’s much better to take your time and enjoy it. But it’s completely free, carefully thought out and well constructed. I hope you’ll sign up for free and join me in learning more about this truly inspiring person, William Shakespeare, the swan of Avon.