Bardcore Summer, Part 1

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:

  1. King Lear – Antaeus
  2. Twelfth Night – Theatre Unleashed
  3. Comedy of Errors – Kingsmen Shakespeare Company
  4. As You Like It – Mira Costa College
  5. Othello – Independent Shakespeare Company
  6. A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble
  7. Measure for Measure – Coeurage Theatre Company
  8. Love’s Labour’s Lost – Shakespeare Santa Monica
  9. Julius Caesar – Shakespeare by the Sea
  10. Winter’s Tale – Theatre 150
  11. Merry Wives of Windsor – Culver City Public Theatre
  12. Winter’s Tale – Kingsmen Shakespeare Company
  13. Twelfth Night – Shakespeare by the Sea
  14. A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Classical Theatre Lab
  15. King Lear – Old Globe Theatre
  16. A Midsummer Night’s Dream – La Jolla Playhouse
  17. Much Ado About Nothing – Independent Shakespeare Company
  18. Hamlet – Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum
  19. 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.