Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

Hi all, Some of you may recognize the title of this post as a paraphrase of a line spoken by Angelo in Act II, scene 2 of Measure for Measure . The actual quotation begins "The law hath not been dead". I think that the title is apt, since (for various reasons) there have been no posts to this blog since October 30 and I didn't want anyone to think that there is any problem with the Oberon group. In fact, we are very much alive! We are having our Annual Holiday Party this Saturday, January 5, 2013 at Hogan's Restaurant in Bloomfield Hills and then have our first group meeting on January 28, 2013 at the Bloomfield Township Library. There will be more details on these events in a later post. We should all be looking forward to a new year with several expected events and opportunities to further our knowledge of Shakespeare and his times and to promote interest in the Authorship Question. I am already looking forward to the next Annual Joint Confer...

Thanks so much, Oberoners, for making my birthday so memorable and such fun. I didn't even realize that anyone knew the date of my birthday, so I was taken by surprise. I was given some lovely gifts and a perfectly delicious cake, guaranteed to put at least five pounds on anyone who tasted it. While we were in Stratford, Michael and I watched The Tempest , which is a must see for anyone able to visit. Christopher Plummer is the best Prospero either of us have seen, although his sails lost a little wind near the end. Julyana Soelistyo, as Ariel, was extrordinary, and the three revellers, Bruce Dow, Geraint Wyn Davies, and Dion Johnstone (Caliban) were hysterically funny. The scene with Ferdinand, Miranda, and the logs had the audience rolling in the aisles--or should that be isles? --but I don't think I should say why as it would spoil the surprise. The masque appeared to be truncated--what would a modern audience make of it, after all?--but the special effects for it were incre...

Even though the Oberon group has yet to make its annual trip to Stratford, Ontario to attend the 2010 season (we're going in August), the 2011 season has just been announced (only about three hours ago, I think). Maybe some planning for our 2011 trip can begin now. The 2011 season will include four plays by Shakespeare (that mysterious playwright we all love). There will be Twelfth Night (with Brian Dennehy returning to play Sir Toby Belch), Richard III (with an interesting casting choice of Seana McKenna as Richard), The Merry Wives of Windsor , and Titus Andronicus . There will be two musicals: Camelot (which has been done there before) and Jesus Christ, Superstar . Other plays on offer will be an adaptation of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath , The Misanthrope by Molliere (with Brian Bedford directing and appearing), Harold Pinter's The Homecoming , and two Canadian plays ( Hosana by Michel Tremblay and The Little Years by John Mighton). Other casting choices have al...

I came across an interesting article about Stratford, Ontario in the Toronto Star. The article, which appeared on June 19, 2010, is entitled "Arts meets high-tech in the new Stratford" The article is about how Stratford is trying to diversify its economy by welcoming "high-tech". This involves creating a satellite campus for the University of Waterloo, rigging the entire city for wi-fi (although it may not actually be free) and setting up "a 60-acre section of land with services to meet the needs of upstart technology companies". The mayor, Dan Mathieson, recognizes that Stratford cannot survive solely on its tourist industry (the theater) since restaurants, hotels, and stores don't do much business in the wintertime. Mathieson is quoted as saying, "We have to be grounded in three or four camps really to survive as a community" He also feels that if the new school and new industry brings in younger people the stores and restaurants will adap...