No, Shakespeare’s not alive again. Here’s a riddle: What would Shakespeare say if he rose from the dead?
Brains…
If you’re not familiar with the term, Second Life is basically an online virtual world in which you can have an alternate life. If you’re still confused head over to Wikipedia to learn more about Second Life.
As it turns out, some people have put together a performance of Hamlet in second life. You can see a YouTube video of Act 1, Scene 1 of Hamlet. I read that this video isn’t really how the performance actually looked, but it’ll give you a vague idea of a new way that Shakespeare is being performed.
So what does this mean for Shakespeare in performance? I don’t know… I’m asking you. Please feel free to comment with your thoughts.
I think it’s a cool new way to perform the plays. It kind of goes to show that society needs live performance. Even in a virtual life, people are still motivated to put on and attend theatrical performances of Shakespeare’s work. I think I might sign up for a second life just so I can see what one of these shows is really like.