‘Fear no more the heat o’ the sun’
The Summer of Shakespeare has kicked off in Houston. In addition to the annual Houston Shakespeare Festival, Brazos Bookstore is offering free performances and book groups.
At the store’s recent kickoff, I browsed the table loaded with “Macbeth” and “The Merchant of Venice,” both of which will be presented by the University of Houston at Miller Outdoor Theatre. The selection of “Mac- beth” seems perfectly timed, considering the hype about the film starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month.
In addition to the usual suspects, such as “No Fear Shakespeare,” I saw well-respected biographies of the Bard, such as Stephen Greenblatt’s “Will in the World,” as well as some novelizations such as Erica Jong’s
“Shylock’s Daughter,” and the intriguing “Dark Aemilia,” by Sally O’Reilly, which contains an origin story of “Macbeth” embedded in the narrative as well as a re-imagining of the “Dark Lady” of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
Amusingly, Barry Kraft’s “Shakespeare Insult Generator” would be good in case you need a literary comeback that packs a punch.
All these books were reminders Shakespeare remains an important cultural frame of reference, both highbrow and low, the last bastion of the literary canon, the guy who can bring us to our knees or make us laugh out loud, even in the diction of the long-gone Renaissance.
Actors from the Houston Shakespeare Festival, directed by associate UH theater professor Jim Johnson, performed sonnets and songs to a full house at the kickoff. Suzelle Palacios, who recently graduated from the university’s acting program, started by asking if we could be compared to a summer’s day. Soon, she will head off to more studies at the University of San Diego’s Old Globe Program.
Johnson and his wife, actress Carolyn Johnson, presented sonnets on procreation and aging, and I had a moment when I realized how Shakespeare really is timeless: He calls wrinkles “trenches,” and thinks “forty winters” means you are old, but he can be funny about it.
Carolyn Johnson reminded us “there is nothing outdated about what is going on here”
Carolyn Johnson reminded us “there is nothing outdated about what is going on here” when she read a sonnet about love, and she was correct.
when she read a sonnet about love, and she was correct. Kat Cortez delivered a sonnet on the immortalizing power of the sonnet itself, Shakespeare protesting that not even marble could compete with the lasting power of the poem.
Liz Wright, who works at Brazos, performed as well as the actors as she recited sonnet No. 23, which was her Shakespeare society “family” sonnet when she attended Wellesley College, nearly by heart. She wears a ring with “23” engraved in Roman numerals to commemorate that particular poem.
Jim Johnson reminded the audience about the sonnet’s structure and the power of rhyme. The meter might be in iambic pentameter on the page, but if you are an actor on the stage, “you need to mess with it,” he said. Otherwise, you might be a little too predictable. He performed my favorite, Sonnet 29, and if you are in disgrace with “fortune” or “men’s eyes,” you don’t feel quite so bad about it. You can always think about your beloved and bounce back. He reminded the crowd that sonnets are “problem, solution, summary,” and you cannot help but marvel at the efficiency of the form.
Some of the actors sang Shakespearean lyrics — a capella no less — and the audience learned that long before Sting sang “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” Shakespeare had put that line into a poem. Johnson treated us with the confession that he “speaks sarcasm fluently” and then presented Sonnet 57. It begins, “Being your slave, what should I do but tend/Upon the hours and times of your desire?” and he delivered it in the most pouting way possible. I can’t wait to translate that into contemporary English and try it out on someone.
If the engaging kickoff was any indication of what is to come, then “fear no more the heat o’ the sun” and see the performers again later this summer at the 41st Houston Shakespeare Festival. I am not sure about getting thee to a nunnery, but you might want to get to the rotating repertory of free performances that will run July 31-Aug. 9.
Meanwhile, the same actors will perform soliloquies at the Brazos on July 24, as well as scenes for kids on Aug. 8. Book groups on “Macbeth,” “The Merchant of Venice,” and “The Tempest” will also be offered this summer. Details: brazosbookstore. com.
Doni M. Wilson, a frequent contributor to Gray Matters, is a professor of English at Houston Baptist University and has a middle schooler named Christopher. Her interests include 20th-century literature, classical music and creative nonfiction.