Well now that I've brought it up, perhaps it really is time to revamp Project Shakespeare, which started way back in 2007 and wasn't even thought about in 2008. Did I really leta whole year go by without reading a single play? I have wonderful ideas, but following through isn't always my strong suit. So I've been thinking maybe this can be my new Sunday reading activity. Read a little Shakespeare, or something about Shakespeare, or his times and then write about it. It's only an idea at this point, and I'll see how it goes. I'm in no rush, so writing about it may only involve sharing a chapter I've read in a book or an essay, or whatever crosses my path.
I would like to read a couple of his plays, however. I had all along planned on reading Twelth Night next, so I'll start there. I never quite know how to approach Shakespeare. Read the play first, watch the play (or a film of it in my case), read the play again? Yes, that's the Cliff's Notes you see to help me, because I will freely admit, Shakespeare is a huge challenge to me, even with footnotes or sidenotes. I also have Marjorie Garber's Shakespeare After All, which is a critical guide to Shakespeare's plays (and has been a constant bedside companion since Ifirst came up with this idea, even if I haven't cracked open the bookonce in a year!). I'll read Garber's detailed essay on the play at some point (maybe it would be best to do so after reading the play).
And then for some additional material I still have Bill Bryson's Shakespeare: The World as Stage from the library, which I've heard is well done, and Germaine Greer's Shakespeare's Wife. Plus my library must have just about every major (and no doubt many minor) film adaptation of his plays as well. Anyone up for a read of Twelfth Night? I might be more apt to stick with it, if I had company.