Demystfying Shakespeare

I remember when I was a college student- I was awestruck with our literature professor for her wisdom, Dr. Espina – I forgot her first name—but like J.K. Rowling’s experience with the classics corridor  (from her professor—she mentioned  her name in her Harvard speech) –  I did not understand much of Shakespeare  save Romeo and Juliet and the famous line of Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be…” upon his contemplation of killing King Claudius. 

Thank God for the PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association) play “William.” It was Shakespeare’s works de-mystified to young audiences through the characters’ own experiences themselves. 

The play was launched at the Star Theater, Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, on June 28, this year. It will have its official run in the same venue come January 31, 2014, February 1, 2, 7, 9 and 14 and 16 (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.)

The rap made the play more enjoying to watch. The style fit the young viewers generation--   made contemporary and fun by the comedic lines and perfectly choreographed dances. It must be hard to write a script as witty as that of William’s.

Shakespeare’s poems are life itself, but his work requires careful reading and introspection.

Shylock’s “Hath not a Jew eyes…” –   and Juliet’s line: “What’s in a name that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…”  In these lines, you see and feel the genius at his most brilliant.

PETA did just that-- (I was, at the moment--  while watching, was carried back to the Elizabethan time)  and translated one of the hardest classic authors for ordinary people like me.

Hat off.