A stick-figure Shakespeare comic by Mya Lixian Gosling
It’s spooky season, so here’s a blast from the past with some very lazy, last-minute costume ideas for the Shakespearean nerd in your live! And, since you’re voluntarily reading this, that means YOU.
Disclaimer: I have not tested any of these in person. Don’t blame me.
I will never stop going the well of Shakespearean musical parodies. Here are some excerpts of songs I didn't want to write full parodies for (yet!) but were too much fun to keep solely in the confines of my brain.
Credit to the Folger Shakespeare Library for the number of words in all of Shakespeare's plays. I did not measure the ground.
There’s a Shakespeare quote for almost every occasion! This is one I’ve been using a lot for some reason. NO IDEA WHY.
I've been mildly obsessed with this line ever since hearing Ben Carlson as the King of France punch it out with every fiber of his being in the 2022 Stratford Festival production of All's Well That Ends Well. You can stream that production on Stratfest@Home, if you’re interested. You can also hear me shout it out at the end of my interview with the lovely ladies of the Shakespeare Anyone? podcast.
Happy Pride Month! Let’s take a look at one of the big questions people always ask about Shakespeare.
Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt
If you want to learn more about Shakespeare’s queerness I recommend Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare, by Will Tosh. I’ve just started it but so far it’s doing a great job examining what queerness looked like in Shakespeare’s time.
I will be at the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival this weekend, June 13-14, at the Downtown Ann Arbor District Library. I will also be running a “how to draw stick-figures” workshop on Saturday, June 13 at 11:30am. I realize that (a) this is very late notice, and (b) most of you aren’t in the Ann Arbor area, but if you are… stop by and say hello! I will have printed mini-comic versions of the above comic available!
I had the pleasure of talking with Elyse and Kourtney of the Shakespeare Anyone? podcast a few weeks ago and the episode featuring me is up now! Give it a listen if you have time; it was a fun conversation and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
It’s (allegedly, possibly, vaguely) Shakespeare’s birthday!
I hate living through times that would make a good history play.
Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night! 6-7 the meme, too famous to live long.
Today’s comic is dedicated to all theatre and classroom educators who have weathered the last year of unrelenting 6-7s with grace, patience, and probably just a little bit of murder in their hearts. You are the true heroes.
It’s no secret that I love Shakespeare’s history plays. When I was a kid I loved them for their numerous sword fights and battle scenes. Now I love them for everything else. And also the sword fights.
This scene is from Henry IV, part 2, which is admittedly my least favorite part of Henry IV. This deathbed scene between Henry IV and his son, Prince Hal, however, is pure gold. Henry IV’s reign has been overshadowed by the fact that he usurped the throne from his predecessor, Richard II, and was directly or indirectly responsible for his death. As a result, Henry IV’s reign has been plagued by political discontent and outright rebellion. Fortunately he has a really solid plan to fix everything:
Anyways, Prince Hal becomes Henry V and invades France and distracts everybody from his domestic troubles and everything is fine forever.
Just don’t look at what happens in the three parts of Henry VI… 😬
