November 2022

 Hover through the fog... November is upon us and today it’s foggy in Stockholm. Fog can be beautiful, or gloomy. There is much to be gloomy about in the world today, but I wish you a cosy fog wherever you are, with a nice cup of tea, or whatever you prefer, and a Shakespeare play in your hands, or on your TV, to give you inspiration.

In the meantime, I repeat what I have repeated for far too long:

 ‘O war! thou son of hell’ O Putin! Thou son of hell! Our thoughts and support are still needed to the people of Ukraine, and the people of Russian who hate this war. Protest in any way you can! And don’t give up hope. ‘True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings.’

In this time of turmoil and hope I give you this familiar promo for the book Shakespeare calling – the book. Indie authors like myself always need support, even now when book signings and lectures can again be scheduled. Only on the Internet can I reach people like you, who are interested in Shakespeare would like to support the Shakespeare Calling project. I do so hope you will help me by ordering the book online. Any sales I make of this book will go directly to Doctors without Borders for their work in Ukraine as long as the war lasts. Just let me know and I’ll send the money forthwith. You can also order directly from me. Just write me an email. Thank you.

Anyone from Ukraine – send me an email and I will send you the book free of charge.

The book is available for those of you in Great Britain and parts of Europe on this site:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/9163782626/ref=tmm_hrd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1514378301&sr=8-1

 

Also available on http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Calling-book-Ruby-Jand/dp/9163782626/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436073737&sr=1-1&keywords=Ruby+Jand+shakespeare+calling

Or in Sweden

http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163782626/shakespeare-calling-the-book/

or Adlibris. Or contact the publisher info@vulkan.se

 

I would be thrilled to get an email from you if you bought the book. rubyjandshakespearecalling@gmail.com 

 

Shakespeare sightings:

• Howard Zinn, in his play Marx in Soho refers repeatedly to Shakespeare, as Marx was an avid admirer of the Bard.
• In the film Saints and Soldiers the British soldier Oberon informs hi comrades that he was named after the one in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
• Marge Piercy, in her novel Small Changes, while preparing for her wedding Beth remembered wanting to a lawyer like Portia. Later, in Boston, she attends open lectures about Shakespeare.

 

Films with a Shakespeare connection seen this month - see reviews on https://rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com/

• X-Men films collectively - Richard E Grant is in Twelfth Night. James McAvoy is in Macbeth Re-Told. Michael Fassbender is in Macbeth. Liev Schreiber is in Hamlet. Lynn Collins is in The Merchant of Venice. Jessica Castain is in Coriolanus. Patrick Stewart is in The Hollow Crown Richard II, Hamlet x 2. Ian McKellen is in Macbeth, Richard III.
• 6 Souls/Shelter - Jonathan Rhys Meyers is in Titus.
• The Power of Few - Christian Slater is in Star Trek the Undiscovered Country, in which among other things, the Klingons claim Shakespeare as their own.
• Under the Cherry Moon - Kristin Scott Thomas is in Richard III. Victor Spinetti is in The Taming of the Shrew.
• Fierce People - Diane Lane is in The Glass House, a spin-off of Hamlet. Anton Yelchin is in Cymbeline.
• Chicago - Dominic West is in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard III.
• How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - Bill Patterson is in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Re-Told and Richard III.
• Red Riding 1980 - Shakespeare connection: Paddy Considine is in Macbeth, Maxine Peake is in A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream and The Hollow Crown. Ron Cook is in The Merchant of Venice, Richard III, Henry VI Parts 1,2,3, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Shaun Harris is in Macbeth
• Red Riding 1983 - David Morrisey is in The Hollow Crown, Shakespeare in Love, Richard III, Michelle Dockery is in The Hollow Crown. Shaun Harris is in Macbeth
• Catch that Kid - John Carroll Lynch is in A Thousand Acres, a spin-off of King Lear.
• Hidalgo - Zuleikha Robinson is in The Merchant of Venice.
• In Secret - Jessica Lange is in Titus, and A Thousand Acres. Shirley Henderson is The Taming of the Shrew Re-Told. Mackenzie Crook is in The Merchant of Venice
• Needful Things - Ed Harris is in Cymbeline
• Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - Shakespeare connection: Steven Mackintosh is in Twelfth Night.
• Superman - Marlon Brando is in Julius Caesar
• Big Business - It’s sort of a spin-off of The Comedy of Errors, whether they’re aware of it or not.
• Amistad - Djimon Hounsou is in The Tempest. Nigel Hawthorne is in Twelfth Night, Richard III, The Madness of King George, The Tempest. Pete Postlethwaite is in Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet. Stellan Skarsgård is in Hamlet.

Further since last time: not much

 

Posted this month:

• This report

 

Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by http://shakespearesallskapet.se/

 

Read more about my alter ego’s books, in one of which Shakespeare appears live and in person, on:

• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/shakespeare-calling-the-book/
• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/spoiler-merlin-and-shakespeare/

 

 

October 2022

 

The skies look grimly and threaten present blusters. It is October and though it is a lovely month in the Northern Hemisphere with glowing leaves and bright blue skies on some days, cosy rains and fogs on others, it finds us this year under grim threats. You know which threats face you and I can only wish us all the forbearance to carry on and shape a better future, defeating the oppressors and warmongers.

I repeat what I wrote last time, and several times before:

 ‘O war! thou son of hell’ O Putin! Thou son of hell! Our thoughts and support are still needed to the people of Ukraine, and the people of Russian who hate this war. Protest in any way you can! And don’t give up hope. ‘True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings.’

In this time of turmoil and hope I give you this familiar promo for the book Shakespeare calling – the book. Indie authors like myself always need support, even now when book signings and lectures can again be scheduled. Only on the Internet can I reach people like you, who are interested in Shakespeare would like to support the Shakespeare Calling project. I do so hope you will help me by ordering the book online. Any sales I make of this book will go directly to Doctors without Borders for their work in Ukraine as long as the war lasts. Just let me know and I’ll send the money forthwith. You can also order directly from me. Just write me an email. Thank you.

Anyone from Ukraine – send me an email and I will send you the book free of charge.

The book is available for those of you in Great Britain and parts of Europe on this site:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/9163782626/ref=tmm_hrd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1514378301&sr=8-1

 

Also available on http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Calling-book-Ruby-Jand/dp/9163782626/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436073737&sr=1-1&keywords=Ruby+Jand+shakespeare+calling

Or in Sweden

http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163782626/shakespeare-calling-the-book/

or Adlibris. Or contact the publisher info@vulkan.se

 

I would be thrilled to get an email from you if you bought the book. rubyjandshakespearecalling@gmail.com 

 

Shakespeare sightings:

• My friend Jenny Bristle reviewed a production of Macbeth which made me want to see it.
• In the latest issue of the humanist journal Sans there is a fascinating article about anthropologist Laura Bohannan who was doing her field research in Nigeria in the 60s when she talked to the elders in a village about Hamlet. As she told the story, the elders had views on how everything was wrong. It was completely right that Claudius married Gertrude, Hamlet could have given Polonius many gifts so that he could marry Ophelia, Hamlet was possessed by witches, it was grievously wrong for Hamlet to kill Claudius. But they liked the story very much. And we believed Shakespeare was universal! 

Films with a Shakespeare connection seen this month - see reviews on https://rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com/ 

• Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot – Gus Van Sant directed My Own Private Idaho, a spin-off of Henry IV Part II.  Udo Kier is in it too.
• Save the Last Dance - Julia Stiles is in O, a spin-off of Othello, Hamlet and 10 Things I Hate About You a spin-off of The Taming of the Shrew. 
• Jurassic Park - Richard Attenborough is in Hamlet. Bob Peck is in Macbeth.
• Layer Cake - Michael Gambon and Sally Hawkins are in The Hollow Crown Ben Whishaw is in Richard II and The Tempest.
• Mary Shelley - Stephen Dillane is in Hamlet. Derek Riddell is in Much Ado about Nothing Re-Told.
• Margot at the Wedding - Jennifer Jason Leigh is in A Thousand Acres, a spin-off of King Lear.
• Johnny English Strikes Again - Emma Thompson is in Much Ado about Nothing and Henry V. Adam James is in a different Much Ado about Nothing.
• Two Hands - Heath Ledger is in 10 Things I Hate about You, a spin-off of The Taming of the Shrew.  
• Cleaner - Ed Harris is in Cymbeline.
• The Conspirator - James McAvoy is in Macbeth Re-Told. Tom Wilkinson is in Shakespeare in Love and Prince of Jutland, a spin-off prequel to Hamlet. Kevin Kline is in As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet. John Wilkes Booth was a renowned Shakespearean actor.
• Certain Women - Michelle Williams is in the spin-off of Lear, A Thousand Acres
• Citizen Kane - Orson Welles directed and was in Chimes at Midnight. He has been in several other Shakespeare films, but I haven’t seen them.
• The Secret Life of Bees - Sophie Okonedo is in The Hollow Crown
• Quartet - Maggie Smith is in Richard III. Trevor Peacock is in Hamlet, Titus Andronicus, Pericles, Henry VI Part Two, Henry VI Part One, Twelfth Night

Further since last time:

• I wrote: ‘Why Not Shakespeare?’ 

Posted this month:

• ‘Why Not Shakespeare?’
• This report 

Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by http://shakespearesallskapet.se/

 

Read more about my alter ego’s books, in one of which Shakespeare appears live and in person, on:

• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/shakespeare-calling-the-book/
• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/spoiler-merlin-and-shakespeare/

 

 

 

Why Not Shakespeare?

 

 

   

Why Not Shakespeare?

 

It’s been two years since I analysed a Shakespeare play. I’ve re-read Hamlet since then but didn’t re-analyse it. My hand has hovered over several of the plays I’ve yet to re-analyse but so far I’ve chosen something non-Shakespeare to read.

Why? Have I gone off him? Definitely not. Is there nothing left to analyse? Stupid question. Will I ever finish the folder ‘Play analyses 2’? I don’t know. I certainly hope so.  But why, seemingly, no longer Shakespeare?

There are no doubt several reasons, one being that even the most passionate obsessions cool down with time. Some even disappear, although never completely. But my Shakespeare obsession, I’m sure, is still firmly in place, but resting.

Yes, resting. It takes a lot of energy to obsess, and I have had so little energy these past years. What I have, has mostly been spent on Hal.

A big part of the obsession was shared with Hal, reading the plays aloud together, watching films together, his comments on my analyses, going to the Globe together in London, reading the same books about Shakespeare. But as Hal’s illness has progressed these things have fallen away. When he could no longer read aloud because his vision worsened and his voice weakened, I read to him but after reading Hamlet most recently he said he could no longer follow along. His concentration was gone, his confusion increasing.

I was still eager to continue on my own, but more and more time and energy were needed to take care of Hal. Then came Covid and like many others I found myself on hold. Couldn’t concentrate on anything. Couldn’t take in deeper books or films.

In March Hal moved to a care home nearby. The physical burden of caring for him has been lifted from me but much of the practical and all the emotional ties are still there. I cherish living alone but I have not yet regained my energy and concentration. At the moment, I even have Covid and though it is not a serious case, it is slow to let me go.

When it does…

When it does and I learn to use my time and energy more wisely, Shakespeare, I will be back.

I miss you.

September 2022

Summer's lease hath all too short a date… and we find ourselves in September. The teeming Autumn big with rich increase…

Now, once again, a monthly report. Which sadly, must begin like the last few:

I repeat what I wrote last time, and several times before:

 ‘O war! thou son of hell’ O Putin! Thou son of hell! Our thoughts and support are still needed to the people of Ukraine, and the people of Russian who hate this war. Protest in any way you can! And don’t give up hope. ‘True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings.’

In this time of turmoil and hope I give you this familiar promo for the book Shakespeare calling – the book. Indie authors like myself always need support, even now when book signings and lectures can again be scheduled. Only on the Internet can I reach people like you, who are interested in Shakespeare would like to support the Shakespeare Calling project. I do so hope you will help me by ordering the book online. Any sales I make of this book will go directly to Doctors without Borders for their work in Ukraine as long as the war lasts. Just let me know and I’ll send the money forthwith. You can also order directly from me. Just write me an email. Thank you.

Anyone from Ukraine – send me an email and I will send you the book free of charge.

The book is available for those of you in Great Britain and parts of Europe on this site:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/9163782626/ref=tmm_hrd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1514378301&sr=8-1

 

Also available on http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Calling-book-Ruby-Jand/dp/9163782626/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436073737&sr=1-1&keywords=Ruby+Jand+shakespeare+calling

Or in Sweden

http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163782626/shakespeare-calling-the-book/

or Adlibris. Or contact the publisher info@vulkan.se

 

I would be thrilled to get an email from you if you bought the book. rubyjandshakespearecalling@gmail.com 

 

Shakespeare sightings:

• Believe it or not, I have not noted a single sighting this month.

 Films with a Shakespeare connection seen this month - see reviews on https://rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com/ 

• Clouds of Sils Maria – Johnny Flynn is in Twelfth Night.
• Out of the Furnace - Christian Bale is in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Prince of Jutland (a prequel to Hamlet) and Henry V. Casey Affleck is in Hamlet.
• Good Morning, Vietnam - Robin Williams is in Hamlet.
• The Phantom of the Opera - Simon Callow is in Shakespeare in Love
• Insomnia 1997 - Shakespeare connection: Stellan Skarsgård is in The Glass House (Hamlet spin-off) and Hamlet.
• Insomnia 2002 - Al Pacino is in The Merchant of Venice. Robin Williams is in Hamlet.
• The 51^st State - Emily Mortimer is in Love Labour’s Lost.
• American Gangster – Denzel Washington is in Much Ado about Nothing.
• Sparkle - Carmen Ejogo is in Love’s Labour’s Lost
• The Iceman - The Tempest and A Midummer Night’s Dream.
• Love’s Labour’s Loss - Natascha McElhorn is in Love’s Labour’s Loss. Bernard Hill is in Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3, Richard III.
• Cemetery Junction - Felicity Jones was in The Tempest at the Globe Theatre where we saw her in 2013. Tom Hughes is in Richard II. Ralph Fiennes is in Coriolanus
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Elizabeth Taylor is in The Taming of the Shrew (perhaps the worst film adaption of Shakespeare ever).
• Dead Fish - Gary Oldman is in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Jimi Mistry is in Hamlet. Frances Barber is in King Lear and Twelfth Night.
• Main Street - Colin Firth is in Shakespeare in Love and A Thousand Acres (a spin-off of Lear.
• The Words - Jeremy Irons is in The Hollow Crown, The Merchant of Venice.
• Orange County - John Lithgow is in Twelfth Night. Kevin Kline is in As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet.
• Jackie Brown - Michael Keaton is in Much Ado about Nothing. 

 

Further since last time:

• It’s been a quiet Shakespeare month.

 Posted this month:

• This report

 Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by http://shakespearesallskapet.se/

 

Read more about my alter ego’s books, in one of which Shakespeare appears live and in person, on:

• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/shakespeare-calling-the-book/
• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/spoiler-merlin-and-shakespeare/

 

 

 

August 2022

I have of late and wherefore I know not lost all my mirth… I’m in a bit of a Hamlet mood these days. Not that I’m going to engage in any sword fights or anything like that but I’m finding more and more that “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.” I could go on, finding countless Shakespeare quotes to talk about my life and life in general but it would be better to fight my lethargy by reading the plays again.

Ah well, for now, this monthly report. Which sadly, must begin like the last few:

I repeat what I wrote last time, and the time before:

 ‘O war! thou son of hell’ O Putin! Thou son of hell! Our thoughts and support are still needed to the people of Ukraine, and the people of Russian who hate this war. Protest in any way you can! And don’t give up hope. ‘True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings.’

In this time of turmoil and hope I give you this familiar promo for the book Shakespeare calling – the book. Indie authors like myself always need support, even now when book signings and lectures can again be scheduled. Only on the Internet can I reach people like you, who are interested in Shakespeare would like to support the Shakespeare Calling project. I do so hope you will help me by ordering the book online. Any sales I make of this book will go directly to Doctors without Borders for their work in Ukraine as long as the war lasts. Just let me know and I’ll send the money forthwith. Thank you.

The book is available for those of you in Great Britain and parts of Europe on this site:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/9163782626/ref=tmm_hrd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1514378301&sr=8-1

 

Also available on http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Calling-book-Ruby-Jand/dp/9163782626/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436073737&sr=1-1&keywords=Ruby+Jand+shakespeare+calling

Or in Sweden

http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163782626/shakespeare-calling-the-book/

or Adlibris. Or contact the publisher info@vulkan.se

 

I would be thrilled to get an email from you if you bought the book. rubyjandshakespearecalling@gmail.com 

 

Shakespeare sightings:

• In Madame Fourcade’s Secret War author Lynn Olson tells us that master spy Kenneth Cohen’s grandfather Meyer Salaman loved Shakespeare.
• On the moon in Andy Weir’s Artemis, super crook Jin grew up loving Star Trek and claims, when scoffed at that the program is over a hundred years old, ‘Quality is quality… Age is irrelevant. No one bitches about Shakespeare fans.’ 

Films with a Shakespeare connection seen this month - see reviews on https://rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com/

 

• To Die For - Gus Van Sant directed My Own Private Idaho, a spin-off of Henry IV. Casey Affleck is in Hamlet.
• Jolene - Jessica Chastain is in Coriolanus
• Time Bandits - John Cleese is in The Taming of the Shrew. Ian Holm is in Hamlet and Henry V. Ralph Richardson is in Richard III.
• Ghost Ship - Gabriel Byrne is in The Prince of Jutland, a spin-off prequel to Hamlet
• Maudie - Sally Hawkins is in The Hollow Crown. Ethan Hawke is in Cymbeline and Hamlet.
• Mary Queen of Scots - Shakespeare connection: Adrian Lester is in As You Like It, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Hamlet. David Tennant is in Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing.  Both have been in other Shakespeare productions, but these are the ones I’ve seen.
• Bobby - Laurence Fishburne is in Othello. Anthony Hopkins is in Titus and Othello. Martin Sheen is in O, spin-off of Othello. Christian Slater is in Star Trek The Undiscovered Country, which is loaded with references to Hamlet. 

Further since last time:

• We are reached by that sad news that David Warner has died. He made over two hundred films including Star Trek the Undiscovered Country, which is filled with Shakespeare, and Love’s Labour’s Lost. He will be missed.
• I see in the statistics for the July that the blog is still being visited by Russian visitors. I still wonder what they think of my contributing the royalties of the sale of the book to Doctors without Borders for Ukraine. I would love to get some comments from them. And perhaps encourage them to protest the war? 

Posted this month:

• This report 

Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by http://shakespearesallskapet.se/

 

Read more about my alter ego’s books, in one of which Shakespeare appears live and in person, on:

• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/shakespeare-calling-the-book/
• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/spoiler-merlin-and-shakespeare/

 

 

  

July 2022

 These are flowers of Middle summer…

Here we are in the middle of summer but sadly, flowers are scarce in many part of Ukraine. I repeat what I wrote last time, and the time before:

 ‘O war! thou son of hell’ O Putin! Thou son of hell! Our thoughts and support are still needed to the people of Ukraine, and the people of Russian who hate this war. Protest in any way you can! And don’t give up hope. ‘True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings.’

In this time of turmoil and hope I give you this familiar promo for the book Shakespeare calling – the book. Indie authors like myself always need support, even now when book signings and lectures can again be scheduled. Only on the Internet can I reach people like you, who are interested in Shakespeare would like to support the Shakespeare Calling project. I do so hope you will help me by ordering the book online. Any sales I make of this book will go directly to Doctors without Borders for their work in Ukraine as long as the war lasts. Just let me know and I’ll send the money forthwith. Thank you.

The book is available for those of you in Great Britain and parts of Europe on this site:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/9163782626/ref=tmm_hrd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1514378301&sr=8-1

 

Also available on http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Calling-book-Ruby-Jand/dp/9163782626/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436073737&sr=1-1&keywords=Ruby+Jand+shakespeare+calling

Or in Sweden

http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163782626/shakespeare-calling-the-book/

or Adlibris. Or contact the publisher info@vulkan.se

 

I would be thrilled to get an email from you if you bought the book. rubyjandshakespearecalling@gmail.com 

 

Shakespeare sightings:

• In her book How to Be a Heroine, Samantha Ellis mentions
• Lavinia, who in Titus Andronicus communicates by writing in the sand with a stick, though her tongue and hands have been cut off,
• Kate, in The Taming of the Shrew, raging across the stage, like the author herself raged against her parents at sixteen,
• Kate, in ditto, choosing to be shrewish in a society that buys and sells women
• Cleopatra, who wants to sleep away the time that Antony is gone
• Dagens Nyheter tells us that Angela Merkel has been reading Shakespeare, especially Macbeth.
• Shakespeare’s tragedies as being for the young, his comedies as being for the mature,
• Shakespeare and Brook as being the subjects of constant discussion at Cambridge, where she studies theatre. 

Films with a Shakespeare connection seen this month - see reviews on https://rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com/ 

• All That Jazz – Jessica Lange is in Titus, A Thousand Acres (Lear). Max Wright is in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
• Get Shorty - Delroy Lindo is in Cymbeline
• Hope and Glory - David Hayman is in Macbeth and The Hollow Crown.
• Impromptu - Emma Thompson is in Much Ado about Nothing and Henry V
• Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - Elizabeth Debicki is in Macbeth.  
• Clockers - Delroy Lindo is in Cymbeline. Mekhi Pfeifer is in O.
• What About Bob? - Bill Murray is in Hamlet. Richard Dreyfuss is in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and The Good-bye Girl, spin-offs of Hamlet and Richard III
• Hacksaw Ridge - Sam Worthington is in Macbeth
• Perrier’s Bounty - Jim Broadbent is in Richard III
• The Handmaiden’s Tale - Aiden Quinn is in Looking for Richard
• Star Trek First Contact - Patrick Stewart is in The Hollow Crown Richard II, Hamlet x 2.
• The Lookout - Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in Ten Things I Hate about You, a spin-off of The Taming of the Shrew 

Further since last time:

·       We in the Shakespeare world are saddened by the death of Peter Brook who has died at the age of 97. I have read his book The Quality of Mercy and seen his filmed productions of Hamlet (with Adrian Lester – brilliant!) and King Lear. He will be sadly missed.

·       I see in the statistics for the June that the blog has been visited 100 times by Russian visitors. I wonder what they think of my contributing the royalties of the sale of the book to Doctors without Borders for Ukraine. I would love to get some comments from them. And perhaps encourage them to protest the war? 

Posted this month:

• This report

 

Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by http://shakespearesallskapet.se/

 

Read more about my alter ego’s books, in one of which Shakespeare appears live and in person, on:

• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/shakespeare-calling-the-book/
• https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/spoiler-merlin-and-shakespeare/