Brief Candles, Memorable performances of Shakespeare

All theater is tragedy, for 'it is the curse of men that they forget.'

On any given night an actor, or ensemble cast, can have its audience rolling or sobbing in the aisles, and rising to cheer at the end of a fantastic performance, but once that performance is over, the memory of it already begins to fade.

The purpose of this site it to compile reminescences of some of the best or most interesting Shakespeare productions that you've seen as an audience member, or that you've created as director, actor, lighting, stage design or other creative person. I'll also include notes on productions from a loooong time ago (i.e. Max Reinhardt). It doesn't have to be a five-thousand word essay, a mere paragraph on a unique bit of lighting or other staging is just as valuable and wanted. I also have a page for want ads for theater and movie memorabilia or information, as well as selected links to other sites. Check out Bottled Spider.

This site is brand new, so the links below contain a preponderance of my own memories. I saw most of my Shakespeare at the Guthrie, in Minneapolis, some at the many community theaters in the city, and a few in London and Stratford. Unfortunately, the performance dates, and the names of some of the actors elude me at the moment - I'm 5,000 miles and 6 months away from my cache of theater programs. And memory has faded. I know that if I could look at the programs, see the photos of the actors, and perhaps browse through a script, the scenes and voices would start to come back to me, but for the next six months I've got to be satisfied with what's here!

Please read, hopefully enjoy, and share your own reminiscences. Numbers in () below indicate how many different productions of the play are discussed.