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One of my ambitions was to visit the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford upon Avon to watch a play by the Bard himself. I watched a performance of Romeo and Juliet who some say is a tragedy about two star struck lovers, but that is so far from the truth in my opinion. In fact its more like a stupid story about a serial killer called Romeo and his untimely demise.
Here begins a very brief overview of a very overrated and turgid piece of utter nonsense. Hey, everyone is entitled to be a critic so heres what I think!
The play begins with Romeo murdering someone from a neighbouring village in revenge for the killing of his cousin (yeah, real nice mate!). He was summarily banished and in the meantime Juliets parents had arranged for a rich duke to marry her. She rebelled saying she only had eyes for Romeo. She managed to obtain some poison which she drank on the eve of her wedding.
Next morning her parents were distraught to find her dead so a funeral was hastily carried out and she was interred in the family tomb.
Romeo finds out and visits the cemetery to pay his respects only to find the duke paying his respects also. A fight ensues and Romeo kills him as well (another nice move from our serial killer!). Romeo then opens the tomb pulls out Juliets body and hugs her.
He says he can't live without her and drinks some poison which he happened to have. He dies, but incredibly Juliet wakes up, it appears she wasn't dead at all. But when she finds Romeo dead she picks up a knife and stabs herself and dies again (oh god the stupidity of the woman!).
Oh, the sheer tedium of it all and having to sit with an audience full of overblown stuck up snobs made the event almost too much to bear. If youre planning to watch one of these plays for the first time, FORGET IT. Go visit the movies instead - even Titanic was a cut above this rubbish!
By: Phil
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How come he didn't write plays on Genghis Khan? Or William the Conqueror? Or Alfred the Great?
Pyramis and Thisbe has to be poem for lispers.
Is this a dagger?
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene.
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star cross’d lovers take their life.
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death, bury their parent’s strife.
The fatal passage of their death marked love,
And the continuance of their parent’s rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours traffic of our stage.
Which those of you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
How can you not think this is amazing? Romeo and Juliet is a beautiful, tragic story with basis in ancient greek stories such as Pyramus and Thisbe. Shame on you.
Anyway, take a class, or brush up on the historical context and it becomes totally worth it.
Besides that - where would we be without these common phrases (and I bet you have used quite a few):-
A fool's paradise
A sea change
A sorry sight
All corners of the world
As dead as a doornail
As good luck would have it
As pure as the driven snow
But, for my own part, it was Greek to me
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war
Eaten out of house and home
Fair play
Fancy free
Foul play
Good riddance
I have not slept one wink
Love is blind
Make your hair stand on end
Send him packing
Too much of a good thing
Wear your heart on your sleeve
Wild goose chase
And that's just a fraction of the common phrases which we use in everyday English from Shakespeare. A load of old tosh? Really?
Oh, and Spug - many of us who are laughing at Shakespeare are not doing so as sheep - it is because we understand what is being said. That is why we go to see it.
Repetition is essential to undertanding. Shakespeare doesn't do it.
I found that so funny!
I like this comment. Well said, and it's a good analogy and explains why so many of us find it utterly mindless.
Why Phil? I have little knowledge of Shakespeare's works but, if they are as bad as you describe, would it not be a more convincing argument if audiences were to see that for themselves?
ahforfoulkessake
Funny, thats the name of my road as the estate where I live has streets named for famous people like Dickens, whose writings I rate as far more relevant to life than the bard, the Brontes, Wordsworth, Attlee, former PM, Richard Trevithick, an engineer, Florence Nightingale, there's several more worthy names there but all of whom are far more deserving than shakespeare.
He's probably put more children off reading through being forced to study him at secondary school and thinking that reading is dull.
I doubt anyone who lives on my road would ever have read the plays unless they were at school and while Im on the subject, why did we have to do Shakespeare in English when he's a dramatist. Should be left to drama teachers.