#theat

[its-your-girl-geekerella]

Teagan Earley literally just being me for 20 seconds

[fangfic]

As a neurodivergent queer with plenty of trauma I can honestly say that theater classes have healed me more than therapy ever could.

[lionfloss]

REBECCA SCHEINBERG

[incorrect-life-of-me]

me listening to thrill of first love: bestie vibes only bestie vibes only 

[shakespearenews]

12 Musicals on Broadway and Beyond That Came From Shakespeare Plays | Playbill

From All Shook Up to West Side Story to Kiss Me, Kate, do you know all these Bard-influenced musicals?

10. Play On!

Like All Shook Up, Play On! was a jukebox musical that used Twelfth Night as its inspiration. Director Sheldon Epps had the idea of mixing Shakespeare’s story with the music of legendary jazz musician Duke Ellington. He recruited book writer Cheryl L. West to transport the story to 1940s Harlem, telling the story of a female musician named Vy who disguises herself as a man so that she can be taken more seriously as a songwriter. The score included such standards as “Take the A Train,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing),” “I Got it Bad and That Ain’t Good,” and more.

[gosherlocked]

Sherlock and The Merchant of Venice

Yesterday I watched a production of “The Merchant of Venice” at a German Shakespeare festival. It was the first time I saw the play after watching Sherlock and I think there are some interesting parallels. Today many scholars see a homoerotic element in the story and I agree. 

The story basically is this: Antonio, a Venetian merchant, borrows money so that his friend Bassanio can court a woman. In doing so, Antonio risks his own money and status and, in the end, also his life. Of course there is much more to the play but this is where I see the Sherlock parallels. Because throughout the performance I kept thinking of Sherlock in TRF sacrificing his reputation, his home, his work, and even his life to keep John Watson safe. And in TSoT he goes out of his way to ensure that John can have a happy wedding with the woman he has chosen. 

At the end of the play we get three happy couples - while Antonio remains alone. Remember, this is a Shakespearean comedy where usually all the heroes get a wife or a husband. But not here. On the outside for Antonio nothing has changed: he is still wealthy and successful, he does not have to fear for his reputation or life anymore. 

To me, the strongest proof that Antonio is in love with Bassanio is the very beginning of the play. Antonio starts by declaring:

In sooth, I know not why I am so sad: It wearies me; you say it wearies you; But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself.

The classic embodiment of melancholy. He is asked if he is worrying about his ships carrying valuable freight the loss of which might endanger his business. Which he clearly denies:

Believe me, no: I thank my fortune for it, My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate Upon the fortune of this present year: Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad.

Upon which clever Salarino draws a conclusion:

Why, then you are in love. 

Which Antonio counters with a short:

Fie, fie!

The Shakespeare Dictionary says about this expression: “to express annoyance or disapproval – ‘shame on you!’, ‘rubbish!’ etc.

Well, methinks the lord doth protest too much. Because then Bassanio enters the scene and after some comic exchanges with other characters Antonio quickly comes to the point:

Well, tell me now what lady is the same To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage, That you to-day promised to tell me of?

Now this is quite logical: Antonio is sad. He denies that he worries for his business. He gets angry when someone alludes to love. Then it becomes clear that he has been thinking about Bassanio who is in love with a woman. 

While in Hamlet right from the beginning there is an explanation for the melancholy, Antonio’s disposition is never clarified. He is not in love with a woman, he does not fear for his ships, but he is willing to sacrifice everything including his own life to the happiness of his bosom friend Bassanio. Portia calls Antonio “the bosom lover of my lord”, i.e. Bassanio. And these are Antonio’s words while expecting to be killed on the spot:

Give me your hand, Bassanio: fare you well! Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you; (…)

Commend me to your honourable wife: Tell her the process of Antonio's end; Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death; And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge Whether Bassanio had not once a love.

Tagging some people and anyone who is interested please feel free to discuss. 

@sherlocks-salty-blog, @ebaeschnbliah, @sagestreet, @sarahthecoat, @tendergingergirl, @tjlcisthenewsexy, @possiblyimbiassed, @raggedyblue, @someovermind, @the-7-percent-solution, @shylockgnomes, @sherlockshadow, @221bloodnun

[weepingwillowyangel]

I once had a dream that I was in a stage production of Lockwood and co. I walked into the the theatre and was told I would be playing Lucy, I wasn't even given a script. I don't remember the play at all but I do remember eating rainbow drops during the interval. We got a standing ovation.            

[national-theatre-scotland-blog]

Adam

If you are born in a country where being yourself can get you killed, exile is your only choice.  Adam is the remarkable, true story of a young trans man having to make that choice and begin his journey.  From Egypt to Scotland, it charts Adam's fight across borders and genders to find a place to call home.

Written by Frances Poet Directed by Cora Bissett

Photography by Sally Jubb