I decided to try some recreational Shakespeare recently. It's been much more rewarding then my abortive Joyce dalliance,
I'm starting with the lesser plays in order to become proficient in the language before moving on to the more lauded ones. So far I've gone through Comedy of Errors, Loves Labor Lost, and King John.
As was recommended to me, I start with a scene breakdown of action (Charles Boyce's Critical Companion to Shakespeare (the 'free' version) also known as Shakespeare A to Z is perfect for this), then I read the scene with footnotes immediately beside the text (best digital source I've found is Shakespearewords.com, free and better than any paid kindle book http://www.shakespeareswords.com/The-Comedy-of-Errors). Once I've read the entire play this way, I watch the bbc version with subs on—thanks to the nice seeders of the 37 BBC Shakespeare plays, btw. Thinking that only Patrick Stewart types performed in BBC Shakespeare, I was surprised to see Roger Daltrey (rock star) in Comedy and Leonard Lassiter (sit com actor) in King John; both were amazingly good.
I think I'm becoming an enthusiast. Any others here?
I'm starting with the lesser plays in order to become proficient in the language before moving on to the more lauded ones. So far I've gone through Comedy of Errors, Loves Labor Lost, and King John.
As was recommended to me, I start with a scene breakdown of action (Charles Boyce's Critical Companion to Shakespeare (the 'free' version) also known as Shakespeare A to Z is perfect for this), then I read the scene with footnotes immediately beside the text (best digital source I've found is Shakespearewords.com, free and better than any paid kindle book http://www.shakespeareswords.com/The-Comedy-of-Errors). Once I've read the entire play this way, I watch the bbc version with subs on—thanks to the nice seeders of the 37 BBC Shakespeare plays, btw. Thinking that only Patrick Stewart types performed in BBC Shakespeare, I was surprised to see Roger Daltrey (rock star) in Comedy and Leonard Lassiter (sit com actor) in King John; both were amazingly good.
I think I'm becoming an enthusiast. Any others here?