Category Archives: History

Dissolutions of ancient amities

As we near April, my dramaturgical duties have been evolving from collecting ideas and images into more concrete, production-related responsibilities. These include: observing rehearsals and going over notes with my director; running lines with actors and discussing character choices; shamelessly … Continue reading

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Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown, when thou gavest thy golden one away

Speaking of crowns…I saw this artifact while visiting the British Museum over winter break, but I couldn’t get a good picture. I found one while revisiting Iron Age England research just now, and I found out that this crown was … Continue reading

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The art of our necessities is strange

Shakespeare drew on a handful of sources to write King Lear (Holinshed’s Chronicles, Edmund Spencer’s the Faerie Queen, Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia), but to trace Lear’s roots all the way back to the beginning, you have to start in 700 BC. … Continue reading

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To plainness honour’s bound

Time Magazine’s venerated Man of the Year award was renamed Person of the Year in 1999. Since then, only two women have been honored with the title (“The Whistleblowers” — Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley, and Sherron Watkins in 2002 –and Melinda … Continue reading

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Love, and be silent

I love watching film adaptations of Shakespeare plays; even if they’re bad, they’re almost always entertaining. Most of the notable Lear films — Peter Brooks’ groundbreaking version in 1962, James Earl Jones in 1974, Laurence Olivier in 1983, Ian McKellen in … Continue reading

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Thou wouldst make a good fool

So we finally have a rough cast list together (we’re waiting on confirmation of schedules from actors, hence the “rough”). Auditions, while exhilarating and surreal, also brought up some really important and seemingly obvious logistical questions. How do we double cast minor … Continue reading

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