Linda and Kris Read from Much Ado about Nothing

After quite some time, our video has made a premiere on "Much Ado About Nothing and Everything Else Shakespearean!" Linda and I have been working with the reading for quite some time but the actual "acting" came in a few days before this video was shot.

The scene that we are going over in the video from Much Ado About Nothing takes place at the end of Act 4, Scene 1. I know I'll be going over that part in the video so I won't repeat too much with the introduction of the video itself.

I would really like to compliment Linda for her part in the video, delivering the lines with genuine authenticity as Beatrice would react to Benedick's truth of loving her.

As for me, I felt I was pretty much a "nerdy" Benedick. But then again, Benedick had never encountered a strong willed and sharp tongued lady like Beatrice so reluctance on my part in saying some lines hopefully had some punch for the humor's sake. Even when things were doom ridden towards the end of Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare appeared to keep the tone light. But the tone wholly depends on how the director and actors manage it.

In the end, I am proud to have this video presented on the blog. Can't wait to see what other people were scheming with their performances!

- Kristopher

Ah, betrayal...

King Lear is about backstabbing and placing the wrong trust into the wrong people. Two characters are guilty of this among others, for they are the fathers of the "villains" in the play.

To start, Lear himself asks his love from his two eldest daughters, Gonoreil and Regan. Both are equally vicious and conniving, equally vying for the attention of the Earl of Gloucester's son, Edmund. Lear's downfall is that he is used to so much power, that he would demand the same great amount of respect.

Gloucester suffers more of less of the same fate than the ill-fated title character. Rather than placing his love into his legitimate son, Edgar, he gives it to his iligitimate son Edmund who offers him no love in return. So how is Gloucester awarded for his affections? He has his eyes gouged out, blinded literally as Lear is blinded metaphorically on how his daughters are nothing but two-faced wolves in sheep's clothing.

It is a sad fact that Lear and Gloucester are representatives of parents who place their faith on the "wrong" children, the children with the potential of betraying them. You have Cordelia, who is the one who truly loves her father but he keeps pushing her away. Gloucester is not appreciative of his son Edgar, who shows more valor than what Edmund was ever capable of. It is no wonder that both fathers are kicked out of their own establishment.

- Kristopher