A Shakespeare's Birthday Tag!

Movies Meet Their Match tagged me with this last week.  Shakespeare's birthday is past now, but you know what?  I don't care.  I'm going to do this anyway!

(Mine from my Instagramming adventures)

The Rules: 

1. Answer truthfully, and then "Thou canst not then be false to any man." (I'll try!)

2. Tag at least three people and let them know that they've been tagged. "For he today who does this tag with me shall be my brother..."  (We'll see...)

3.Link back to the person who tagged you (done!) and post a link to your post in the comments of this original post at The Tearoom blog, where the tag started.  (Will do!)

The Questions: 

1. What was the first exposure you ever had to Shakespeare?

Watching West Side Story with my mom -- does that count?

If not, then this: when I was about 16, our homeschool group went to see a presentation by some traveling theater troupe that was all about how Shakespeare affects and informs storytelling today, basically.  I discovered that afternoon that a LOT of Classic Star Trek episodes got their titles from Shakespeare, and I decided to read all his plays and figure out all the episode titles that referenced his works.  This was before Google, I couldn't just look it up -- this was the dark ages of the mid-'90s.  So I got this giant volume of his works from the library and just began at the beginning.  Which I think was Two Gentlemen from Verona.  I only got partway through that tome, maybe read 6 or 7 plays, before I got to Hamlet and sort of got stuck.  Read it twice, bought my own chunkster volume of his works when I was 17, memorized a soliloquy or two... and didn't read any others of his plays until I got to college a year or so later.  Just sort of dwelt on that one.

2. How many of Shakespeare's plays have you seen?

A lot.  No, seriously.  A lot.

(I'm including some retellings, and I've linked titles to my reviews where applicable.)

Watched live on stage:

Antony and Cleopatra
Otello (opera version of Othello)
The Tempest
Twelfth Night
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing 
Hamlet (2009 -- Law)
Hamlet (2018 -- Innerst)

Watched on film:

Antony and Cleopatra (1972)
The Banquet (2006 retelling of Hamlet)
Hamlet (1948 -- Olivier)
Hamlet (1964 -- Burton)
Hamlet (1969 -- Williamson)
Hamlet (1980 -- Jacobi)
Hamlet (1990 -- Gibson)
Hamlet (1990 -- Kline)
Hamlet (1996 -- Branagh)
Hamlet (2000 -- Hawke)
Hamlet (2000 -- Scott)
Hamlet (2002 -- Lester)
Hamlet (2004 opera based on Alexandre Dumas' adaptation of the play)
Hamlet (2009 -- Tennant)
Hamlet (2011 -- Ramsey)
Hamlet (2015 -- Cumberbatch)
Henry V (1989)
Julius Caesar (1953)
Kiss Me, Kate (1953 retelling of The Taming of the Shrew)
Love's Labours Lost (2000)
Macbeth (2015)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (2020 live-stream production)
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Ophelia (2018 retelling of Hamlet)
Richard III (1995)
Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990 sort-of retelling of Hamlet)
10 Things I Hate About You (1999 retelling of The Taming of the Shrew)
A Thousand Acres (1997 retelling of King Lear)
Titus (1999 movie version of Titus Andronicus)
West Side Story (1961 retelling of Romeo and Juliet)
The Wild and the Dirty (1968 retelling of Hamlet)

3. What is your favorite Shakespeare play?

In case you couldn't guess from the name of this blog and the lists above, it's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.


4. What is your favorite non-Shakespearean play? {musicals are permissible}

Hmm.  Probably The Odd Couple by Neil Simon.  He's my other favorite playwright.


5. What is an adaptation of one of Shakespeare's plays that you like? Why?

You think I can choose ONE?  ONE???  Hahaha.  Inconceivable.

How about my top five filmed versions:

Hamlet (2011 -- Bruce Ramsay)
Hamlet (2000 -- Ethan Hawke)
Hamlet (2015 -- Benedict Cumberbatch)
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Ten Things I Hate About You (1999)

6. Who is your favorite Shakespearean character?

Take a wild guess ;-)


7. What is your favorite Shakespeare quote?

"The readiness is all." -- Hamlet

(Also mine from my Instagramming adventures)

8. If you were in a Shakespearean production, which play would you want to be in, and which character?

Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing would be really fun.

9. Have you read any of Shakespeare's sonnets and, if so, which is your favorite?

I have read quite a few, but I don't have a favorite.

10. Have you ever written/tried to write a play?

I've written several short plays and some radio dramas, none shareable ;-)  That was long ago.  I stick to novels and short stories these days.

11. Cast one of the big five {Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Richard III, or Much Ado About Nothing} with modern actors from either the stage or the screen. {you only have to do main characters.}

I will, shock of all shocks, share an ideal modern Hamlet casting:

Hamlet -- Michael Fassbender
Horatio -- Armie Hammer
Laertes -- Chris Evans
Ophelia -- Rosamund Pike
Claudius -- Brian Cox
Gertrude -- Helen Mirren
Polonius -- Ian McKellen

(They're all almost a bit old for these roles now, so probably we should have filmed this 10 years ago.)

(Oh man, now I just WANT THIS to be a real movie.)

If you're curious, I did an ideal 1940s casting for a film noir version of Hamlet a few years ago.  I've wanted to see Alan Ladd as Hamlet since a decade before I was obsessed with him, isn't that funny?  Ever since I saw him in This Gun for Hire the first time somewhere around 2005.  I still want it.  Sigh.  Where's my time machine?

Anyway, this was such a fun tag!  Thank you for nominating me, MovieCritic!

I'm not actually going to tag anyone because... I don't feel like it.  And Shakespeare's birthday is past for the year anyway.  But if you want to snurch this and do it yourself, go for it!