Richard III

I have always been a fan of William Shakespeare and this semester, we were asked to both read Richard III and then went, as a group, to the university's production of the same play. It is interesting to take the same play, read it yourself and interpret it however you may, and then see it performed, which is the interpretation of another person. Without discussing the quality of the production, it was great to be able to experience the play in two different forms and being able to compare the same work in two different arenas. I think it is something that we should consider for future learning opportunities in the center.

After the play was completed, a little later in the semester, the people who attended the play were asked to attend a seminar and discuss what they had read and seen at the production. While I was unable to make it to the seminar itself, I feel that it was a great way to put a cherry on top of the reading and viewing of one of Shakespeare's best and longest works.

William Shakespeare, who is widely considered the greatest playwrite of all, often times gets a bad reputation among the younger generation because of the language gap between our generation and Shakespeare's time. Individuals who write off Shakespeare and his work simply because they cannot make it through the language are missing out on some of the most timeless stories of all time. The viewing of the production allows some help for this. It was much easier to understand the words of the work when it is being acted out and there is actions involved with the words. That is, of course, if the actors do well, which I believe they did in the production we saw this semester.