My first true brush with Shakespeare came when I was thirteen years old and my mother took my siblings and I to see As You Like It performed at the Festival Theatre in Stratford, Ontario. I was going into high school and my mother wanted me to have an understanding of Shakespeare, and she had always been a firm believer that seeing the plays was the best way to learn how to understand the language. That was her first year going to the Stratford Festival and now we go every single summer as a family tradition.
One of the many things about Shakespeare’s works that has left an impression on me, is the way in which he writes people. In being a writer myself, there does come a struggle with creating realistic characters within a fictional setting, particularly when attempting to portray them as a hero with faults. I found that Shakespeare had a beautiful way of creating an assortment of interesting, diverse and realistic characters, all the while keeping them in service of the plot and setting of his works. Shakespeare is one of my greatest influences, as a writer, to the point where I constantly carry a copy of Henry V with me at all times, so that, if I happen to suffer from a sudden block, I can look over one of my major influences, and seek a way to get around it.
Now, I do have a lot of Shakespeare related memories, but I do have a favourite. I was in a specialized drama program in my high school, and my teacher knew of my love of Shakespeare and had told me that I would get my opportunity to perform at the very least, a scene from a Shakespeare play before my high school experience ended. When the time came my teacher allowed for me to perform one monologue and a romantic scene from any Shakespeare play of my choosing. In being a girl and knowing that I may never get the chance to play this character again, I opted to choose my favourite play, Henry V, and took the role of Henry for myself.
For the monologue my teacher allowed me to dress as a boy, seeing that I was by myself on stage. I performed the “Upon the King…” speech from Act 4 Scene 1, followed by, in a gender-bent performance, playing “Queen Katherine” as opposed to “King Henry” for the Act 5, Scene 2 “Wooing scene” as I do not believe the poor boy I was partnered with would have been up to dressing as a woman, nor did my teacher believe him capable of memorizing all of Henry’s speeches throughout that scene. Both works were murder for me, one of the greatest challenges I had ever had to face as an actor. When I was done my teacher told me that I reminded her of Laurence Olivier, and that I had the ability to recite Shakespeare as if it were nothing more than the common tongue. It was, and still is one of the best compliments I have ever received and my far, my favourite performance to date. Thus, it is one of my favourite Shakespeare related memories.
Lastly, the reason that I adore Shakespeare, beyond most of my peers comprehension, is due to the fact that it is, truly, for everyone. There has been a misconception that Shakespeare was intended for the elite, and thus, only the elite or highly trained would be able to perform or understand his works and I do not believe this is the case. I have always had a firmer grasp on Shakespeare than most of the people I know, but I was also exposed to it at a younger age, and I also take to reading and seeing the plays for pleasure as opposed to being forced to within a classroom setting. To date I have either read or seen twenty-one (If I haven’t missed any) of Shakespeare’s plays, and I am looking forward to seeing and reading a great deal more in-between the writing and travelling of the summer months. I have always been an advocate for Shakespeare, even the plays I did not particularly enjoy. It was written for a common people, and I do believe if more people had the ability to see the plays the way they were meant to be seen, than more people would enjoy them, and the stigma of the elite would not frighten so many people away. Shakespeare is difficult to learn if you approach it only from an educational perspective. However, if you are merely approaching it as a spectator in a theater, I do believe the pressure is removed, and you are able to enjoy stories that, in truth, still hold importance in our modern day.
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