To Celebrate or not to Celebrate? What a silly question.

 

Hello again my favorite Groundling,

Did you know that April 23 is Shakespeare’s Birthday! Or at least this is the day we celebrate his birth. We don’t know the exact date, but typically in the Elizabethan era a child would have been baptized three days after birth. The official baptismal record says he was baptized on April 26, 1564. Therefore, we assume he was born on April 23, 1564.

So, how do we Bard lovers celebrate? I’m so glad you asked! There are several ways to get into the spirit of the day.

Obviously, the best way to honor our beloved poet is by reading his work. Pull your favorite play, poem, or sonnet from the shelf and enjoy. Better, yet, share the joy. Read some of his work aloud to a friend. Bonus points if you jump up and start reciting a sonnet on your bus ride to school or work.

Spend the evening watching a play. Try to find one you haven’t seen yet. Amazon Prime has a varity to choose from. Pick a romance or comedy. Remember we are celebrating. There is no reason to bring your self down  with a tragedy on such a grand holiday.

Do what I did last year; quote his line through out the workday. Some of your co-workers may look at you funny, but I found this was a great way to get others into the spirit of the day. We ended up making a game out of this. My friends would randomly ask me to share a quote about a subject and I had to quickly come up with one that fit a certain situation. Trust me, meetings are much more fun when you in add a dash of Shakespeare.

Do what I am doing this year. I warned my co-workers that I shall be speaking in iambic pentameter all day. This is a great way to annoy the heck out of people, I mean, learn to be comfortable with Shakespeare’s style. As a groundling, it is important to understand Shakespeare’s poetic style of writing. If you are a young inspiring actor, this will be a wonderful skill to learn. Here is a useful link to the style and how to master it. An Introduction to Iambic Pentameter

Plant some Rosemary for remembrance. Triple points if you wear Rosemary for remembrance. To truly have some fun, act crazy and give Rosemary out to everyone you meet.

Just because ShakespeareSunday is over, you can still get on Twitter and Tweet out your favorite lines. You will be amazed by just how many people will send you kind regards. Twitter loves Shakespeare.

Whatever you do, have fun and enjoy the fine April day. In fact, please enjoy all of your days for remember,

We are such stuff. As dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

Anon!