The play's the thing!

Harry has been rehearsing for his upcoming play, All's Well That End's Well, for the past several weeks. The theater group putting it on is relatively new in the city, calling itself Classical Actors Ensemble, and the production is funded in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (yes, yet another organization the Republicans want eliminated). The play opens Friday, May 6th at the Walker Community Church in Minneapolis, and runs the following three weekends. The last Shakespeare play Harry did was Henry V at Theatre in the Round, and before that, Measure for Measure. His part in that as the Duke is the second longest in all the Shakespeare plays, and the memorization nearly killed the old geezer. In this performance he has a less strenuous role as the old lord Pepe Lafew. and will be using his comedic wit rather than taxing his failing memory. (Details at www.classicalactorsensenble.org.)

I personally have had a rather strained relationship with Shakespeare in my life. I broke it off with him back in college. I was actually enjoying a Shakespeare course with an excellent English professor when I chose to drop out of school and get married. (I eventually broke it off with that man too, but mistakenly gave him another chance.) I never gave Shakespeare another chance, deciding the language was exasperatingly difficult. Then I met Harry, who doesn't believe in God but does believe in Shakespeare (though not in the Stratford man), and I became curious as to just what inspired this great worship. Over the past ten years of our marriage, I have slowly done a complete 360 on the great Bard. Indeed, I have learned there is a lot to make much ado about when it comes to Shakespeare. I worship him now as well

It began with Harry insisting I had to see one of his favorite films, Shakespeare in Love. Then we both read a couple of books about the mystery of the authorship of the plays. Both these experiences made me want to see the plays even though I knew my frustration with the language would be as great as I remembered it. I always remember my mother taking me to see The Tempest at the Guthrie when I was in my early twenties and we both fell asleep. I had no idea what the hell was going on.

The teacher in me had an idea, and I bought and read the Cliff Notes for the two Shakespeare plays Harry was in at Theatre in the Round, and it helped a bit. I found that after reading these streamlined versions for idiots, I could at least get the gist of what was going on. A few years back, I watched the movie of Midsummer's Night Dream three times with three different St. Louis Park high school English classes and, lo and behold, by the third time through, I was really into it. I was laughing at the jokes and following the plot.

The big moment, however, came when I saw the film of Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino. I found my tears began to drop as the gentle rain from heaven. The language pierced my soul. Then I saw Hamlet at Theatre in the Round last month and I felt bolted to my seat, even though the production was not the greatest. Harry was embarrassed that a wife of his had waited until her seventh decade to see what some call the greatest of all plays (though my daughter and my husband hold out for Lear, which I still have to look forward to). All I can say is, Hamlet was worth the wait.

If I had not met Harry, I probably would have allowed my fear of Shakespeare to keep me from appreciating the genius of this playwright (whoever he was) from four centuries back. Come see Harry in his latest venture, which he says will be a Shakespeare comedy which will actually be funny. Meanwhile, I have to pick up my Cliff Notes at Barnes and Noble this weekend: a fan of Shakespeare I am; an academic scholar like my husband, I am not.