I’m just back from seeing Portland Center Stage’s tremendous three-person, all-female production of Macbeth. In the program, a quote from the show’s director Adriana Baer caught my eye: “I had a wonderful teacher in 7th grade who believed that in order to understand Shakespeare, it should be read aloud. She helped us see that the plays were meant to be performed, not just read silently on a page…”
This is, of course, is a familiar sentiment about Shakespeare. Shakespeare is meant to be performed, not just read. I was thinking about this topic last week—before I read saw the show and read the program note—so it was funny to have the issue so quickly brought up.
Yes, of course, Shakespeare is meant to be performed. So why would I (WE, my friends!) take on the project of reading Shakespeare’s works in a year? Although I agree Shakespeare is best in performance (the poems aside), it’s not always possible to see his plays—and certainly not his complete works—on stage. Theater is expensive, and good luck finding a local production of King John in most communities. Reading Shakespeare off the page may not be ideal, but it is possible—an important start.
Along the way in our reading adventure, I hope you will read passages aloud, maybe even with friends. I certainly will. And I’ll try to post as many videos as I can of Shakespeare in performance. (Speaking of which, for a limited time PBS has an all-black production of Much Ado About Nothing available for streaming!)
Excited to be reading with you all in a little over a month!
(Also, in case you were wondering, the show was EXCELLENT. Three amazing performances, fast-paced, and well staged.)