Episode
Wacky as Richard III
- Published
- Apr 10, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 575
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- https://javiertruben.substack.com/p/wacky-as-richard-iii
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Summary
The plays of William Shakespeare serve as an encyclopedia of human nature, and their characters are complex and rich, portrayed always with contradictions and nuances like real people. Some of these portraits are delightful and full of life, such as the character Puck, who appears in the comedy of Athenian wild fantasy called A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I believe the first tragedy I read was Antony and Cleopatra . Shakespeare’s ingenious use of blank verses, which are unrhymed iambic pentameter, is more eloquent than any historical account of the actual Cleopatra. But I must acknowledge that popular audiences became somewhat ensnared in the peplum genre, shot in technicolor, which is ideal for napping during the next Easter holidays after indulging in a plate of deep-fried doughnuts, called nun's fart , a sweet treat similar to the beignets of New Orleans. We call them " bunyols " in the Catalan language, closer to the French Quarter than you might think. Reading Shakespeare is akin to witnessing the breathtaking beauty of the Rings of Saturn through the lens of a telescope. I feel a pang of regret for not attending any of his plays in theaters. However, the experience was challenging when the director insisted that the characters wear elaborate costumes resembling drag. I guess that's the price of fame. Too many people trying to make an original version or to cover genius with mediocrity. The real deal would be traveling in time to the Globe playhouse and sit in a two-penny room to see Richard III . I would love that. In the meantime, and since time travel is just a fiction genre, as a form of consolation, I have thought up about Laurence Olivier 's movie from 1955. It helped me a lot this April's Fool to cope with the unfolding events of the present Tariff War. On the…