“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages.”

William Shakespeare.

As You Like It.

So What about him?

After 500 years, his plays are still being performed across the globe, with daily performances taking place in London’s rebuilt Globe Theatre, the home of Shakespearean performance.

When you really look at his plays, Shakespeare is a lot easier to understand than most people think. His stories have become part of everyday culture. Who hasn’t heard of characters such as Romeo and Juliet, Othello or King Lear. Even more, his mastery of the English language has seen lines of dialogue become part of common speech. Have you ever heard any of these phrases?

•  It’s a foregone conclusion. (Othello)
•  All’s well that ends well. (All’s Well That Ends Well)
•  Every dog will have it’s day. (Hamlet)
•  I must be cruel, if only to be kind. (Hamlet)
•  Love is blind. (The Merchant of Venice)
•  Now is the winter of our discontent. (Richard III)
•  Out of the question. (Love’s Labour’s Lost)
•  Something wicked this way comes. (Macbeth)
•  What’s in a name? (Romeo and Juliet)
•  ‘Tis neither here nor there. (Othello)
•  To be or not to be; that is the question. (Hamlet)
•  As luck would have it. (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
•  Come full circle. (King Lear)
•  Come what may. (Macbeth)
•  Every dog will have it’s day. (Hamlet)
•  Double, double, toil and trouble. (Macbeth)
•  Parting is such sweet sorrow. (Romeo and Juliet)

A master of both comedy and tragedy, Shakespeare never fails to evoke an emotional response to his work. In recent times, a revival of Shakespeare in pop culture has been achieved through the modernization of many of his works. Films such as Ten Things I Hate About You, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story and even The Lion King are all based on Shakespeare’s plays.

10 Things I Hate About You

Based on Shakespeare ‘Taming of the Shrew’

She’s The Man

Based on Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’

‘O’

Based on Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’

And the list goes on. In truth, most of Shakespeare’s plays provide the basis of many films and entertainment today. They have everything a good story needs, comedy, violence, betrayal, love, hate, loyalty, greed, lots of fights, murder….