This weekend marks the anniversary of Macbeth’s legendary defeat by the Earl of Northumbria in 1054. The Earl, uncle to Malcolm, was trying to return Malcolm to the throne held by Macbeth ever since his defeat of Duncan in battle 14 years earlier. Confused? Truth is stranger than fiction, and Macbeth’s real story isn’t quite the same as the one Shakespeare made famous. But we love the Bard anyways, and summer’s a great time to remind ourselves why.
Whether you like your Shakespeare in the park or on the stage, with traditional costuming or something more modern, with or without musical accompaniment?or even fused with hip hop?chances are you’ll find it here. The Shakespeare Fellowship keeps a current list of plays and festivals going on all over the world; check out what’s happening in your community this summer!
No witches required; theatre tradition suggests that performances of the play Macbeth have always been accompanied by a lurking curse. Say the name ?Macbeth? in the theatre, and you risk incurring disaster. Fact or fiction? Hard to say, but I’ll keep referring to it as the ?Scottish play? when I’m in the building.
Maybe the play’s not the thing?or your thing. But It’s impossible to deny the far-reaching influence Shakespeare’s had on the development of the English language. From words like ?addiction? and ?archenemy? to household phrases like, well, ?household phrase,? we use Shakespeare-created language every day. For a more irreverent look at Shakespeare’s influence, see the Cracked article.
