Part 1: 19 plays in 59 days.
As you may remember I had a long list of Shakespeare plays to see this summer. Now as summer draws to an end I think it’s time that I reflect on what the experience was. But first, the plays in the order that I saw them:
- King Lear – Antaeus
- Twelfth Night – Theatre Unleashed
- Comedy of Errors – Kingsmen Shakespeare Company
- As You Like It – Mira Costa College
- Othello – Independent Shakespeare Company
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble
- Measure for Measure – Coeurage Theatre Company
- Love’s Labour’s Lost – Shakespeare Santa Monica
- Julius Caesar – Shakespeare by the Sea
- Winter’s Tale – Theatre 150
- Merry Wives of Windsor – Culver City Public Theatre
- Winter’s Tale – Kingsmen Shakespeare Company
- Twelfth Night – Shakespeare by the Sea
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Classical Theatre Lab
- King Lear – Old Globe Theatre
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream – La Jolla Playhouse
- Much Ado About Nothing – Independent Shakespeare Company
- Hamlet – Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum
In a span of 2 months (June 22-August 19), I saw 19 productions of The Bard’s works. Yes, I saw 4 productions of Midsummer. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t need to see another one of those for a while.
If you think that 19 plays in 59 days is a lot, I saw plenty more shows in that time that weren’t shakespeare. At the time of writing this I’ve seen around 70 live performing arts events so far this year, but that’s a blog post for another time.
I’ve seen plenty of Shakespeare before and will see more soon, but I’ll try to reflect as much as I can on my experiences in the past two months seeing these plays. Stay tuned for Part 2.