Shakespeare. - Good fun but over rated.

I was never really into Shakespeare, but last night I sat through three productions of his plays, abbreviated mind you, but plays performed by local schools at Hull Truck Theatre. They were, in no particular order, Much ado about Nothing, The Tempest, and The Taming of the Shrew. If like me you have never really studied Shakespeare you will know little of the plots of these masterpieces, so having had the benefit I will summarise, thus:

Much Ado about Nothing was based in the 1960's, for reasons which didn't really become clear, yet the actors still spoke in Shakespearean English, which sort of put a weird slant on things. And it relied heavily on a 60's soundtrack. Very energetic performance though. I haven't a clue what it was about. Someone people got married at the end.

The Tempest, which starred my daughter Emma as Ariel was strictly old school Shakespeare, with the oldie language and costumes. She was very dynamic in her dancing, but what threw me is that whilst she was Ariel, so were fifteen or so other people. The spirit was omnipresent. I have no idea what it was about. Some people got married at the end.

Which brings me to the taming of the shrew, which was set in the roaring '20's, for reasons which didn't become clear. This included Groucho Marx and a poor mans Sammy Davis Junior, and a leading man who despite being a schoolboy looked about 30. Scenes of Domestic Violence were portrayed without warning. I have no idea what it was about. Some people got married at the end. 

It was thoroughly enjoyable, if you like that sort of thing, which normally I don't. What have I learnt form the experience? Well, I have always maintained that William Shakespeare was over-rated. He was after all nothing more than a soap opera scriptwriter of this day - had he been around today he would have been writing for Eastenders, and penning classic lines like "Get out of my pub," and "Sort it out!"

As it is, so far as I can fathom, he wrote short stories with a romance, usually with some hitch, that ended happily ever after with a wedding. Mills and Boon would have loved him.