Method in the Madness

       I could spend quite a lot of time extolling praises for the Royal Shakespeare Company's adaptation of Hamlet. But those words would be lost, because it was much too excellent for idle sentences. I might even deem it too sophisticated for the Awesome-O-Meter.

Na. Never. My O-Meters are still the best way of rating that I've come up with.

It rated a ten on the Awesome-O-Meter for emotion, laughs, and acting (David Tennant plays crazy like he's not faking it), a ten on the Drama-O-Meter for gripping scenes and heart-rending speeches, and a nine on the Everything-Else-That's-Awesome-O-Meter for some wonderful, creepy themes of spying, watching, Hell, and evil. The very set of the play radiated "something rotten in the heart of Denmark."

Sometimes it's frustrating to be the only Shakespearean fan in my family. Can you not see his genius? His speeches and poetry--even his prose--is another language to be pondered over and admired (Even though most of the time I only understand half of what his characters are saying).

Did you know that over half of the sayings like "method to his madness" (Hamlet), "neither here nor there" (Othello), and "sweets to the sweet" (Hamlet) were invented by Shakespeare? Not only this, but when he felt the need he simply made up words to suit his fancy. Think on this the next time you use "rant", "majestic," or "lonely."

Shakespeare's genius wasn't the only thing that contributed to this production. Whoever did the casting should be awarded a medal. David Tennant is the best Hamlet I've ever seen, and Patrick Stewart has yet to play a role that isn't excellent. But then again, I do have a soft-spot for tortured male protagonists....