Right now I’m in full Shakespearean mode, so it’s hard not to break into blank verse. Or maybe I’ve done so and you didn’t twig? St Albans is the perfect place to host a celebration of the Bard, so among many other interesting Shakespearean events, we have a city-wide performance of famous scenes on April 23rd (400th anniversary of his death). So catch one if you can!
Being a lover and practitioner of Shakespeare, I’m keen to preach his merits, but not always with success. My own son is a Shakespeare agnostic. “What a stupid story!” he will say, when sweet-talked into watching one of my productions, “What was that guy on!” No appeal to the beauty of the verse or the brilliance of the drama works with him, and getting him to come and experience his true greatness for himself, gets harder and harder. And so the chance of converting him diminishes.
Does this sound familiar? It would to traditional Christians who struggle to convince their children that church-going is a worthwhile use of their time. Rather than bend in a pew and reflect on their short-comings, the young go out virtuously to exercise their way to goodness. And the traditional churches slowly decline. Telegraph article
But Shakespeariana not in decline; quite the reverse, as the St Albans festival and audiences everywhere show. What’s the difference? Could it be that theatre people have always had to work for their audience, while Christians, with an infinitely better story to tell, have imagined it would sell itself.
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