Young Fortinbras...gives this warlike volley

[Incongruous]

Henry V is too bawdy for me.
I prefer Macbeth. Oh the horror!

[Tiberius of the Drake]

I like Titus Andronicus. full of blood, gore, violence, and murder. just like modern television!

[KARTLOS]

does anyone know wher you might get audio versions of shakespeare plays for free on the internet?

[Didz]

The Merchant of Venice, the film made of it was also brilliant.

[King Kurt]

At the risk of being slapped I would say Romeo and Juliet

I studied it for O level and really got into the play at that time. It has a great story and is most certainly not some form of 16th century chick flick. It has a superb set of characters including my all time favourite Mercutio who gives my favorite speech - the Queen Mab speech

"O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men’s noses as they lie asleep;"

This sweeping speech starts with a beautiful discription of this fairy figure, but as the speech continues, the mood becomes darker as the evil side of Queen Mab emerges. By the end the romantic illusion is shattered as she is described as:

"Sometime she driveth o’er a soldier’s neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plaits the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes:
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage:
This is she—"


The play has all aspects of life - comedy, tradegy, life, love, death - plenty of death with many characters being killed during the course of the play.

As for a good version - there are many - I quite liked Franco Zeffirelli's version, even if it did leave a few bits out. My favourite is Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet which captures the passion of the whole play excellently.

So, why not put preconceptions aside and give it a look - I'm sure you will enjoy it - but then I love most of the Bard's work, probably loving Macbeth and Hamlet nearly as much as Romeo and Juliet.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

At the risk of being slapped I would say Romeo and Juliet

I studied it for O level and really got into the play at that time. It has a great story and is most certainly not some form of 16th century chick flick. It has a superb set of characters including my all time favourite Mercutio who gives my favorite speech - the Queen Mab speech

"O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men’s noses as they lie asleep;"

This sweeping speech starts with a beautiful discription of this fairy figure, but as the speech continues, the mood becomes darker as the evil side of Queen Mab emerges. By the end the romantic illusion is shattered as she is described as:

"Sometime she driveth o’er a soldier’s neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plaits the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes:
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage:
This is she—"


The play has all aspects of life - comedy, tradegy, life, love, death - plenty of death with many characters being killed during the course of the play.

As for a good version - there are many - I quite liked Franco Zeffirelli's version, even if it did leave a few bits out. My favourite is Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet which captures the passion of the whole play excellently.

So, why not put preconceptions aside and give it a look - I'm sure you will enjoy it - but then I love most of the Bard's work, probably loving Macbeth and Hamlet nearly as much as Romeo and Juliet.

I hated reading about that play *grabs a knife and kills meself*

[Kralizec]

I've only read Hamlet, so that makes for an easy choice.

I did watch a movie based on Titus Adronicus though. It was good, but very...odd.

[Adrian II]

I hated reading about that play *grabs a knife and kills meself*

Now now, young man, you are clearly under the influence of that gory playwright. Why don't you turn to something wholesome and educational and play a video game instead, hm?

Oh, and it's Da Moichant a Veniss for me.

On a side-note, the Synthetic Worlds Initiative (a think tank started by games author Edward Castronova) is developing an online world called Arden based on the life and times (and more specifically the works) of said William. Have a looksee.

[Veho Nex]

Well technically its not shakespeare but it is based off two of his best characters

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

[King Jan III Sobieski]

Well technically its not shakespeare but it is based off two of his best characters

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

???


Speaking of Hamlet, I love Kenneth Branagh's version. Does anyone else have any feelings about his literary license of taking it from the 12th century to the 19th century? I personally have no qualms about it since I think it was so well produced; just wondering if anyone else had feelings on this?

[Justiciar]

12th? I though hamlet was set in the 4th-5th century? Meh. I don't mind people playing with Shakespeare's work. It's ultimately about the stories, rather than facts. They all seem to translate pretty well.

[_Tristan_]

Speaking of Brannagh, I have a liking to his "Much Ado about Nothing"...

[King Jan III Sobieski]

Speaking of Brannagh, I have a liking to his "Much Ado about Nothing"...

It's been a while since I saw that; that's pretty good too!

[Martok]

Speaking of Hamlet, I love Kenneth Branagh's version. Does anyone else have any feelings about his literary license of taking it from the 12th century to the 19th century? I personally have no qualms about it since I think it was so well produced; just wondering if anyone else had feelings on this?

I don't mind at all. But then, I'm an unabashed fan of all of Branagh's Shakespeare film adaptations -- he has a knack for bringing the Bard's works to life like no one else. Much Ado About Nothing is my personal favorite, but I also have Hamlet (which is a close second for me), Othello, and Henry V.

[King Jan III Sobieski]

I don't mind at all. But then, I'm an unabashed fan of all of Branagh's Shakespeare film adaptations -- he has a knack for bringing the Bard's works to life like no one else. Much Ado About Nothing is my personal favorite, but I also have Hamlet (which is a close second for me), Othello, and Henry V.

I agree; I also like Henry V and I had seen Much Ado About Nothing in bits and pieces on TV in the past, but I finally bought it and began watching it yesterday; it's good, too. Branagh's a great actor - and his skill seems magnified when he enacts Shakespeare.

[Beirut]

Henry V

Far and away my favorite. All sorts of wonderful insights into the human condition in that play. I can't imagine how many times I've read it. Finally got my hands on the DVD movie from Amazon just last winter. Great play. Never get tired of it.