I've been thinking about what makes Shakespeare different on the page vs. the stage, and part of it, of course, is the pace. I have a vague memory that I have posted recently about how much deeper a reader can dive into a metaphor -- in the theater it zooms past and is gone. But a reader, who can go back over a line as many times as she might like, can get bogged down in a way that's just not an option for a viewer. The actors will be moving on, no matter how much you might like to ruminate.
I have decided that I'd rather see Shakespeare's more lyrical stuff on the stage, because there's just too much parsing to do as a reader. (This insight occurred to me in a conversation about the merits and failings of Richard II, which I found to be rather a painful read.) That might be why I hated the sonnets when I read them all in a row. But it also pops up in comedies: there's lots of rhyme, which is always harder to untangle, and so a person with a certain bent (determined, let's say, instead of obsessive), can slow down too far.
So I am moving slowly through Comedy of Errors despite its brevity, thinking that I might like to watch it when I'm done. Any favorite productions you can recommend? Any Shakespeare in your reading pile this week?
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