Challenge Post! A Year of Shakespeare
Jan. 22nd, 2025 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trace_by_echoYes, I did not stop myself from signing up for this one. It does help with the re-reading challenge (I've read at least a third of the plays before) and potentially with the Classics challenge. The list of plays by month follows below the cut! I'm starting late as I received the list around 1/20.
January
Week 1: Twelfth Night (Own, re-read) [completed 1/25] RATING: 4/5. Better seen than read, but I have seen it several times for a reason.
Week 2: King John [completed 1/31] RATING: 3/5, on the strength of the titular character's deeply weird personality. I have no trouble seeing how fiction drew a line between this and the King John of Disney's Robin Hood.
Week 3: The Comedy of Errors [completed 2/3] RATING: 3.5/5. It has a lot in common with Twelfth Night, and it was an enjoyable comedy of mistaken identities, but it does feel like the lesser of the two. Plus, there's a lot of beating-as-slapstick.
Week 4: Break/catch up [used for the above]
February
Week 1: Richard II [completed 2/10] RATING: 3/5. Similar to King John, it's interesting to see yet another way that someone could get twisted into being a terrible monarch (in this case, he seems to be trying to get deposed and look like a victim simultaneously). However, it also seems like the Histories would benefit greatly from being seen performed, rather than read. I'm now planning on watching a miniseries (see below section) of all the Histories to get a better grasp of how they hang together.
Week 2: Romeo and Juliet (Own, re-read) [completed 2/12] RATING: 3.5/5. I saw this performed last summer, and was surprised at how much better I liked it as an adult. It helps to know about the different layers of interpretation, because as a romantic exemplar it is somewhat lacking, yet that wasn't really what it was meant to portray.
Week 3: Henry IV, Part I (re-read) [completed 2/22] RATING: 3.5/5. I know I read this many years ago, but at the time I don't think I paid attention to much other than the Hal-Falstaff scenes. Having read Richard II beforehand adds context to the king, in that he went from usurper to defending himself from the next rebellion, in reality within ten years. He's a different kind of bad king than Richard, but in this play he's simply not the star even though it's ostensibly about him. I ended up respecting Richard more, and looking forward to Henry V.
Week 4: Break/catch up (I may sneak a early look at Henry IV Part II, as Part I ended on a cliffhanger) EDIT: I thwarted temptation by watching "Chimes at Midnight" instead, which turned out to cover both Henry IV plays with a Falstaff focus.
March
Week 1: Henry IV, Part II (re-read) [completed 3/3] RATING: 3.5/5. Watching "Chimes at Midnight" certainly helped to put faces and personalities on the people of the lower city, but once again a Henry IV play is not really about him.
Week 2: Julius Caesar (Own) [Completed 3/15] RATING: 3.5/5. I think this one will be terrific to view, just based on some monologues. I'm a bit disappointed that the titular character dies at the beginning of Act 3, but I respect that it would have been a great fake-out protagonist setup in 1600.
Week 3: Antony and Cleopatra (Own) [completed 3/19] RATING: 4/5. I'm giving it an edge over Julius Caesar, because the lead characters are much more balanced and each are interesting in different ways. The pacing is not great, especially if compared to reality (Antony was married to Octavia long enough for two pregnancies at a minimum, but the play makes it seem like a month tops).
Week 4: Break/catch up
April
Week 1: The Merry Wives of Windsor [completed 4/11 - the library delivered all three April volumes on 4/10]. RATING: 3/5. I can see why Welles left this out of "Chimes at Midnight" even though it's a Falstaff play; there's very little of substance here other than the jokes. It's probably fun to watch, but Falstaff overshadows the other characters exponentially.
Week 2: Henry V (re-read) [completed 4/13]. RATING: 3.5/5. I speed-read this one, but it does hit well if you've recently experienced the rest of the Henriad. I'm not convinced that it works as a standalone, though, or I might rate it higher.
Week 3: Measure for Measure [completed 4/19]. RATING: 3/5. I might change my mind later, given how good Isabella's character is, but this is mostly a story about men trying not to be held accountable for getting women pregnant/abandoning them/etc., so the majority of the characters are pretty unlikeable.
Week 4: Break/catch up - I'll need this for the Classics challenge as I need to read Little Women. May's plays are on library order anyway.
May
Week 1: The Merchant of Venice (Own, re-read) [completed 5/7]. RATING: 4/5. I love Portia's Quality of Mercy speech, and overall this one strikes me as the comedy equivalent to Romeo and Juliet - compact but powerful in its limits. A reader does need to differentiate between the characters being antisemitic and the author being so, to enjoy this one.
Week 2: Titus Andronicus [completed 5/10]. RATING: 3/5. It is a gore-fest, so be told. I feel like this has potential to be a great production, but it's a weird reading experience. Having the only two female characters play out the Madonna-whore complex is off-putting, and Aaron the Moor is the polar opposite of Othello (he's basically Iago, actually!).
Week 3: Cymbeline [completed 5/20]. RATING: 3.5/5. I waffled on this one. It's unreasonably long for what it is, and some of the main characters are flat and unrelatable. On the other hand, I'll remember some of the background characters for a long time (ah, Cloten, you were great at being the epitome of the self-centered narcissistic villain, and I loved your confidence about talking to yourself in a mirror), and that puts it above some technically better plays.
Week 4: Break/catch up - I need this for my Classics challenge, again.
June
Week 1: Henry VI, Part I [completed 6/6]. RATING: 3/5, and it might go down more (edit - down to 2.5/5 per below). It works as an example of Murphy's Law wreaking havoc on the English crown, but I just don't respect these characters and their bad decisions, and I dread having two more long volumes ahead of me.
Week 2: Henry VI, Part II [completed 6/8]. RATING: 3/5, and because it's better than Part 1, that has to go down a notch. The action finally picks up in this one, but I'm still left frustrated and with a cliffhanger to boot.
Week 3: Henry VI, Part III [completed 6/16]. RATING: 3/5, roughly equal to Part 2. There's plenty of action, and lots of foreboding foreshadowing, but what can I say, the constant betrayals bored me. It probably works much better in the theatre.
Week 4: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Own, re-read) [completed 6/22]. RATING: 3.5/5. This was a refreshing change from the Henriad plays, and that surprised me a little as I've previously been lukewarm on this play. I appreciate that it doesn't waste any time getting started, although the end can drag in some performances.
July
Week 1: Break/catch up
Week 2: Richard III (Own) [completed 7/9] RATING: 3.5/5. Richard is an interesting character, and there are some compelling passages - mostly his. On the other hand, it drags in characters and continuations from the Henry VI plays, and is very long. I would probably like a performance better than a re-read.
Week 3: The Taming of the Shrew (Own, re-read)
Week 4: Coriolanus
August
Week 1: As You Like It (Own, re-read)
Week 2: Much Ado about Nothing (Own, re-read)
Week 3: Pericles
Week 4: Break/catch up
September
Week 1: Othello (Own, re-read)
Week 2: Troilus and Cressida
Week 3: Timon of Athens
Week 4: Break/catch up
October
Week 1: Two Gentlemen of Verona
Week 2: Henry VIII
Week 3: All's Well That Ends Well
Week 4: Macbeth (Own, re-read)
November
Week 1: The Two Noble Kinsmen
Week 2: Love's Labour's Lost
Week 3: Break/catch up
Week 4: King Lear (Own, re-read)
December
Week 1: Hamlet (Own, re-read)
Week 2: Break/catch up
Week 3: A Winter's Tale
Week 4: The Tempest (Own, re-read)
For my own benefit, I also want to note movie adaptations for every play below. Some plays are certainly more popular in cinematic adaptations than others, and I won't include any that I've heard were terrible... but I live in hope that I will be able to find a good one for them all. Some of these are simply recordings of theatrical performances. If the title is unchanged, I will label the director/theatre company.
In alphabetical order, divided into type:
COMEDIES
All's Well That Ends Well: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1981
As You Like It: Royal Shakespeare Company, 1963
The Comedy of Errors: The Boys From Syracuse, 1940
Love's Labour's Lost: Kenneth Branagh, 2000
Measure for Measure: Paul Ireland, 2019
The Merchant of Venice: Trevor Nunn, 2001
The Merry Wives of Windsor: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1982
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Michael Hoffman, 1999
Much Ado About Nothing: Kenneth Branagh, 1993 [COMPLETED]
The Taming of the Shrew: Kiss Me Kate, 1953 [COMPLETED] OR 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999 [COMPLETED]
Twelfth Night: Trevor Nunn, 1996 [COMPLETED]
The Two Gentlemen of Verona: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1983
TRAGEDIES
Antony and Cleopatra: Charlton Heston, 1972
Coriolanus: Ralph Fiennes, 2012
Hamlet: Hamlet at Elsinore, 1964 AND Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, 1990
Julius Caesar: Joseph Mankiewicz, 1953
King Lear: Ran, 1985 [COMPLETED]
Macbeth: Throne of Blood, 1957
Othello: Oliver Parker, 1995
Romeo & Juliet: Franco Zeffirelli, 1968
Timon of Athens: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1981
Titus Andronicus: Titus, 1999
Troilus and Cressida: The Face of Love, 1954
HISTORIES
Henry IV Parts 1 & 2: Chimes at Midnight, 1966 [COMPLETED]
Henry V: The Hollow Crown*, 2012
Henry VI Parts 1-3: The Wars of the Roses, 1965
Henry VIII: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1979
King John: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1984
Richard II: see * [COMPLETED]
Richard III: Laurence Olivier, 1955
LATE WORKS:
Cymbeline: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1982
Pericles: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1984
The Tempest: Julie Taymor, 2010
The Winter's Tale: Shakespeare the Animated Tales, 1994
January
Week 1: Twelfth Night (Own, re-read) [completed 1/25] RATING: 4/5. Better seen than read, but I have seen it several times for a reason.
Week 2: King John [completed 1/31] RATING: 3/5, on the strength of the titular character's deeply weird personality. I have no trouble seeing how fiction drew a line between this and the King John of Disney's Robin Hood.
Week 3: The Comedy of Errors [completed 2/3] RATING: 3.5/5. It has a lot in common with Twelfth Night, and it was an enjoyable comedy of mistaken identities, but it does feel like the lesser of the two. Plus, there's a lot of beating-as-slapstick.
Week 4: Break/catch up [used for the above]
February
Week 1: Richard II [completed 2/10] RATING: 3/5. Similar to King John, it's interesting to see yet another way that someone could get twisted into being a terrible monarch (in this case, he seems to be trying to get deposed and look like a victim simultaneously). However, it also seems like the Histories would benefit greatly from being seen performed, rather than read. I'm now planning on watching a miniseries (see below section) of all the Histories to get a better grasp of how they hang together.
Week 2: Romeo and Juliet (Own, re-read) [completed 2/12] RATING: 3.5/5. I saw this performed last summer, and was surprised at how much better I liked it as an adult. It helps to know about the different layers of interpretation, because as a romantic exemplar it is somewhat lacking, yet that wasn't really what it was meant to portray.
Week 3: Henry IV, Part I (re-read) [completed 2/22] RATING: 3.5/5. I know I read this many years ago, but at the time I don't think I paid attention to much other than the Hal-Falstaff scenes. Having read Richard II beforehand adds context to the king, in that he went from usurper to defending himself from the next rebellion, in reality within ten years. He's a different kind of bad king than Richard, but in this play he's simply not the star even though it's ostensibly about him. I ended up respecting Richard more, and looking forward to Henry V.
Week 4: Break/catch up (I may sneak a early look at Henry IV Part II, as Part I ended on a cliffhanger) EDIT: I thwarted temptation by watching "Chimes at Midnight" instead, which turned out to cover both Henry IV plays with a Falstaff focus.
March
Week 1: Henry IV, Part II (re-read) [completed 3/3] RATING: 3.5/5. Watching "Chimes at Midnight" certainly helped to put faces and personalities on the people of the lower city, but once again a Henry IV play is not really about him.
Week 2: Julius Caesar (Own) [Completed 3/15] RATING: 3.5/5. I think this one will be terrific to view, just based on some monologues. I'm a bit disappointed that the titular character dies at the beginning of Act 3, but I respect that it would have been a great fake-out protagonist setup in 1600.
Week 3: Antony and Cleopatra (Own) [completed 3/19] RATING: 4/5. I'm giving it an edge over Julius Caesar, because the lead characters are much more balanced and each are interesting in different ways. The pacing is not great, especially if compared to reality (Antony was married to Octavia long enough for two pregnancies at a minimum, but the play makes it seem like a month tops).
Week 4: Break/catch up
April
Week 1: The Merry Wives of Windsor [completed 4/11 - the library delivered all three April volumes on 4/10]. RATING: 3/5. I can see why Welles left this out of "Chimes at Midnight" even though it's a Falstaff play; there's very little of substance here other than the jokes. It's probably fun to watch, but Falstaff overshadows the other characters exponentially.
Week 2: Henry V (re-read) [completed 4/13]. RATING: 3.5/5. I speed-read this one, but it does hit well if you've recently experienced the rest of the Henriad. I'm not convinced that it works as a standalone, though, or I might rate it higher.
Week 3: Measure for Measure [completed 4/19]. RATING: 3/5. I might change my mind later, given how good Isabella's character is, but this is mostly a story about men trying not to be held accountable for getting women pregnant/abandoning them/etc., so the majority of the characters are pretty unlikeable.
Week 4: Break/catch up - I'll need this for the Classics challenge as I need to read Little Women. May's plays are on library order anyway.
May
Week 1: The Merchant of Venice (Own, re-read) [completed 5/7]. RATING: 4/5. I love Portia's Quality of Mercy speech, and overall this one strikes me as the comedy equivalent to Romeo and Juliet - compact but powerful in its limits. A reader does need to differentiate between the characters being antisemitic and the author being so, to enjoy this one.
Week 2: Titus Andronicus [completed 5/10]. RATING: 3/5. It is a gore-fest, so be told. I feel like this has potential to be a great production, but it's a weird reading experience. Having the only two female characters play out the Madonna-whore complex is off-putting, and Aaron the Moor is the polar opposite of Othello (he's basically Iago, actually!).
Week 3: Cymbeline [completed 5/20]. RATING: 3.5/5. I waffled on this one. It's unreasonably long for what it is, and some of the main characters are flat and unrelatable. On the other hand, I'll remember some of the background characters for a long time (ah, Cloten, you were great at being the epitome of the self-centered narcissistic villain, and I loved your confidence about talking to yourself in a mirror), and that puts it above some technically better plays.
Week 4: Break/catch up - I need this for my Classics challenge, again.
June
Week 1: Henry VI, Part I [completed 6/6]. RATING: 3/5, and it might go down more (edit - down to 2.5/5 per below). It works as an example of Murphy's Law wreaking havoc on the English crown, but I just don't respect these characters and their bad decisions, and I dread having two more long volumes ahead of me.
Week 2: Henry VI, Part II [completed 6/8]. RATING: 3/5, and because it's better than Part 1, that has to go down a notch. The action finally picks up in this one, but I'm still left frustrated and with a cliffhanger to boot.
Week 3: Henry VI, Part III [completed 6/16]. RATING: 3/5, roughly equal to Part 2. There's plenty of action, and lots of foreboding foreshadowing, but what can I say, the constant betrayals bored me. It probably works much better in the theatre.
Week 4: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Own, re-read) [completed 6/22]. RATING: 3.5/5. This was a refreshing change from the Henriad plays, and that surprised me a little as I've previously been lukewarm on this play. I appreciate that it doesn't waste any time getting started, although the end can drag in some performances.
July
Week 1: Break/catch up
Week 2: Richard III (Own) [completed 7/9] RATING: 3.5/5. Richard is an interesting character, and there are some compelling passages - mostly his. On the other hand, it drags in characters and continuations from the Henry VI plays, and is very long. I would probably like a performance better than a re-read.
Week 3: The Taming of the Shrew (Own, re-read)
Week 4: Coriolanus
August
Week 1: As You Like It (Own, re-read)
Week 2: Much Ado about Nothing (Own, re-read)
Week 3: Pericles
Week 4: Break/catch up
September
Week 1: Othello (Own, re-read)
Week 2: Troilus and Cressida
Week 3: Timon of Athens
Week 4: Break/catch up
October
Week 1: Two Gentlemen of Verona
Week 2: Henry VIII
Week 3: All's Well That Ends Well
Week 4: Macbeth (Own, re-read)
November
Week 1: The Two Noble Kinsmen
Week 2: Love's Labour's Lost
Week 3: Break/catch up
Week 4: King Lear (Own, re-read)
December
Week 1: Hamlet (Own, re-read)
Week 2: Break/catch up
Week 3: A Winter's Tale
Week 4: The Tempest (Own, re-read)
For my own benefit, I also want to note movie adaptations for every play below. Some plays are certainly more popular in cinematic adaptations than others, and I won't include any that I've heard were terrible... but I live in hope that I will be able to find a good one for them all. Some of these are simply recordings of theatrical performances. If the title is unchanged, I will label the director/theatre company.
In alphabetical order, divided into type:
COMEDIES
All's Well That Ends Well: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1981
As You Like It: Royal Shakespeare Company, 1963
The Comedy of Errors: The Boys From Syracuse, 1940
Love's Labour's Lost: Kenneth Branagh, 2000
Measure for Measure: Paul Ireland, 2019
The Merchant of Venice: Trevor Nunn, 2001
The Merry Wives of Windsor: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1982
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Michael Hoffman, 1999
Much Ado About Nothing: Kenneth Branagh, 1993 [COMPLETED]
The Taming of the Shrew: Kiss Me Kate, 1953 [COMPLETED] OR 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999 [COMPLETED]
Twelfth Night: Trevor Nunn, 1996 [COMPLETED]
The Two Gentlemen of Verona: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1983
TRAGEDIES
Antony and Cleopatra: Charlton Heston, 1972
Coriolanus: Ralph Fiennes, 2012
Hamlet: Hamlet at Elsinore, 1964 AND Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, 1990
Julius Caesar: Joseph Mankiewicz, 1953
King Lear: Ran, 1985 [COMPLETED]
Macbeth: Throne of Blood, 1957
Othello: Oliver Parker, 1995
Romeo & Juliet: Franco Zeffirelli, 1968
Timon of Athens: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1981
Titus Andronicus: Titus, 1999
Troilus and Cressida: The Face of Love, 1954
HISTORIES
Henry IV Parts 1 & 2: Chimes at Midnight, 1966 [COMPLETED]
Henry V: The Hollow Crown*, 2012
Henry VI Parts 1-3: The Wars of the Roses, 1965
Henry VIII: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1979
King John: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1984
Richard II: see * [COMPLETED]
Richard III: Laurence Olivier, 1955
LATE WORKS:
Cymbeline: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1982
Pericles: BBC Television Shakespeare, 1984
The Tempest: Julie Taymor, 2010
The Winter's Tale: Shakespeare the Animated Tales, 1994