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Old Billy Shakes In Ken Branagh's Hamlet

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Hag-seed

The thought I had almost immediately was that those who convert to a religion or find their faith are usually the most devout, the most outspoken, the quickest to claim something is sacrilegious. When you grow up in something, it gives you a bit of leeway, a touch of humour about it all. You can joke about Jesus’ obsession with washing people’s feet(foot fetish much?)or the streaker at the arrest of Christ (Mark 14:52.)For some of us, Shakespeare is our faith. He’s a voice for the masses not just for the upper classes. Shakespeare was never meant to be a punishment or a requirement for those who love going to the theatre. If you go to see Shakespeare and no one laughs, no one gasps, no one is drawn in, get out. Go to a Festival, go to Bard on The Beach in Vancouver, go find my people. Shakespeare was never meant to be taken so dry and dull, it can be serious stuff but with a light ever present. There’s a reason we still talk about Old Billy Shakes. His plays have been used as a stepping stone throughout modern films and television, it all still works. Instead of requiring that every word be spoken and nothing changed(Looking at you, Ken Branagh’s Uncut 4 hours of Hamlet) , there are some of my favorites, my people, …show more content…

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