Sunday July 3rd, 2011 Lesser Known Shakespearean Comedies

When many people think of Shakespeare, they think of the plays they were taught in high school. Most commonly these are Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear or Romeo and Juliet. While they are all good plays in their own rights, many people may not be ready for Shakespeare at that time in their life and end up disliking the Bard’s work. But his drama definitely deserves a second chance, especially some of his lesser known comedies.

For a light-hearted romp in the forest, give As You Like It a try. The old Duke is removed from power, so he spends his time hanging out in the forest of Arden with those still loyal to him. His daughter, Rosalind, is banished after this, but her best friend Celia decides to accompany her, along with the court fool Touchstone. Rosalind decides to disguise herself as a man for protection. Together they also find themselves in the forest. While in hiding, Rosalind and Celia encounter Orlando, a young man who wants to marry the real Rosalind. He is madly in love with her and is leaving badly-written poetry all over Arden. The disguised Rosalind sets out to “cure” Orlando of his love sickness; she ends up training Orlando to be a good husband. Meanwhile, a shepherdess has also fallen in love with the disguised Rosalind. As You Like It is full of love triangles and other ridiculousness, but it is great fun!

Cymbeline is one of the most entertaining Shakespearean plays I have encountered. The action takes place during the reign of Augustus in Rome. The title character is the king of Briton, who has refused to pay tribute to Rome, resulting in war between the two nations. This, however, is the background story to the play. The real tale is about Princess Imogen and her husband, Posthumus Leonatus. Posthumus is exiled from both his wife and Briton, so he goes to Rome. While there, a Roman, Iachimo, bets that Imogen will not remain faithful to her husband while he is exiled. Cheating to win the bet, Iachimo convinces Posthumus that Imogen has been unfaithful, and so Posthumus sends word to one of his servants to have his wife killed. The servant knows that Imogen has been true to Posthumus, so he devises a plan: she is to disguise herself as a man and flee to Italy. Much like As You Like It, hilarious hijinks occur in the woods. The many twists and turns will keep you entertained through the whole play. From kings, knaves and Jupiter himself showing up, Cymbeline is crazy but well worth the read!

The Tempest reminded me a lot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as it is also full of magic. The play opens with a storm stranding the King of Naples’ ship. Marooned and scattered across an island, the passengers believe that everyone else has died in the storm. The tempest was summoned by Prospero, the ex-duke of Milan. With the help of his spirit servant Ariel, Prospero has brought the court of Naples here to teach everyone a lesson and win back his dukedom. This is a magical, fun story that is a quick and easy read.

While I have been talking about reading these plays, they are first and foremost made to be performed. So if you’d rather watch them, the Thunder Bay Public Library has As You Like It and The Tempest on dvd. Both productions were adapted for television by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Whichever way you would prefer, I hope you will give the work of Shakespeare a second chance – I’m sure you’ll enjoy it much more than in high school!

Shauna Kosoris, Supply Staff