John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

Hamlet

We went to Signal Hill last night to see the final Shakespeare By The Sea production of Hamlet. As you can see, the set is the backdrop of the area; apart from a couple of benches and a modest amount of props (goblets and sharp pointy things that are mentioned in the script, for instance), the actors were basically out there with their imaginations. 

This is the view of the action from the blanket where I sat. (Martha and Nick had the chairs we toted along, while I made a mental note to buy a third.) 

You can see Dave Sullivan as Hamlet - he was terrific - and Janet Edmonds as the luxurious sinner, Gertrude. 

Shakespeare By The Sea has had a rough season this year because of miserable weather; there was a full crowd on Saturday night, and we watched Twelfth Night last week in Conception Bay South with another large audience. It shows that there's an audience there, as long as the weather plays along. You can hear an interview here that I did with artistic director Jennifer Deon for the St. John's Morning Show; as she says, things are not so certain following a season everyone would prefer to forget. 

David Tennant, Catherine Tate and the Shakespeare speed-round

A clip from the latest Graham Norton show on the BBC:

Daily Dot: William Shakespeare

On April 23, 1564 - at least according to legend - William Shakespeare was born. Given that there are some prepared to believe that Shakespeare did not even exist or, at best, could not have authored his own plays, celebrating a birthdate with no verifiable proof seems a little suspect, but that's what traditions are all about. A timeline of Shakespeare's life is here (including his death, also on April 23, in 1616). If you're going to be in the Stratford area this spring, summer or fall, here's the festival program. Here's a site arguing the authorship question in favour of Shakespeare himself.