Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

From various feeds, think I pulled this from the “general news,” which, for me, is tailored to include notable Shakespeare work and recent developments, but from the daily feeds?

The Folger’s “Shakespeare’s Julius Casaer”

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

It’s just a digital copy of the text itself. However, as a commentary I recall re-listening to this a time or two, just a few months back, and then, thought, this would be perfect for this next few weeks.

In looking at my current order for the plays — Julius Caesar comes on the heels of the, to me, highly patriotic Henry V.

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

I tend to use a single line from the play as an example of the original Globe Theatre and its proscenium stage, the platform that inserted the action into the audience, the groundlings, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears…“ (Act 3, scene 2, &c.)

There was always a three-way address what was going on, playing to all sides available instead of just speaking to one fourth wall.

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

There’s a universal sentiment that run through The Bard’s canon of work. Politically, especially in these times when certain terms are bantered about by the press — media — whatever it’s called, when terms like “fascist,” “totalitarian,” and “supreme commander” — these very terms suggest a hard look at the play.

Seeing the Folger Folio text pop up in the news feed, and it wasn’t a Shakespeare-specific news feed, was cool. Always worth a look. Or a listen (again).

I clipped intro quotes out of the play, for use in late March of this year, because I was listening, one more time, looking for clues about current events.

#Shakespeare