Ello 😁
"All the world's a stage and all the men and women are merely players"- As You Like It Act 2, Scene 7
Now those who know me, I love classic literature, more specifically plays and even more specifically Shakespeare. I'm pretty sure you've all heard of him - a magnificent english writer who influenced much of the language we use today. I know way too many facts and interesting stories about Shakespeare - some are conspiracy theories , which i may talk about in a video blogpost in the future. I've always been invested in Shakespeare plays and have seen quite a few productions over the past few years and i thought why not countdown my top five Shakespeare plays- so without further ado on with the countdown! And No Romeo and Juliet will not be featured in my top five - i genuinely cannot stand that Shakespeare play.
5) A Midsummer's Night Dream - Got to have a comedy featured in this top 5 haven't i?! This is probably one of the most popular Shakespeare plays because it's so obscure. And the production i saw of it last year - well it made me realise how crazy this play is and i love that! It is so magical and mystical - the idea of fairies and spirits and kings and queens and an ass haha, is a fantastic concept. if i could go back in time i would ask William Shakespeare how the hell did he come up with this play it's so random - but it's a good play to watch for those people who are not really into Shakespeare. 
4) Macbeth - I had to study this religiously at school, i was one of the very few lucky ones who never had to study Romeo and Juliet (poor unfortunate souls), and it quickly became one of my favourites - i think i like this play because of the witches it's very supernatural and magical but also very dark and twisted which is a fantastic combination. I was always fascinated with the psychology behind Macbeth and the other characters.
3) Hamlet - I've seen about three productions of this play and it's an absolute classic. It's one of those plays you need to read/watch - everyone knows the plot for Hamlet and everyone knows the most famous line "To Be or Not To Be? That is the question". It is a tragedy - what Shakespeare does best i think. But especially in the most recent production of Hamlet i have watched there is a lot of comedic potential within the play that many actors don't strike upon. It also has a lot of potential to be modernised but still within keeping the core of Shakespearean language. If you want to know what i thought about my recent trip down to london to see Hamlet you can click here.
2) The Tempest - Now I first saw a production of this in 2013 at Shakespeare's Globe starring Roger Allam and Colin Morgan (swoons) and i fell in love with it - although i've read the play many of times I always struggled to picture what it would be like on stage until i saw this production and loved it! I love the use of music and how it's used by the spirits, mainly Ariel. This is a comedy by Shakespeare and probably one of his best - it's very easy to follow and to find the comedy within the play.
1) Titus Andronicus - It had to be! I still have fond memories of studying this play back in GCSEs where my english teacher thought my friend Elli and i were absolute nutters as we were just laughing all the way through it whereas everyone else in the class where either scared, shocked or disgusted by certain scenes. I absolutely love this play because there is so much gore and blood (this makes me sound really odd) and it is a very well written play and diverse play by Shakespeare. It was one of Shakespeare's earlier plays and was based on the Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd. It is a tragedy but unlike the stage version i did end up finding the film version with Anthony Hopkins as Titus quite humourous.
That's it for today!
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