Euphoria, Puppet Eroticism, and macb*tches
Plus: "What if the Scottish king was actually a 13-year-old child star?"
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NEH not NEA, but it would be great if these folks could get their grants back. (related)
Who blabbed to Amy Poehler? She’s still on the Shakespeare-Boy-I-don’t-know train but now with bonus Michelle Terry hype!2
Production roundup: The Met Macbeth looks real pretty, More McKellen Lear, Othello, Bamlet, both, Butelli as Caesar, backstage at R&J, Kinsmen in a garden, Beyond Bars in Kentucky, Bard in the Bookshop, Bards with Blades, Ophelia: “an immersive audio story thoughtfully designed for sleep”, Pink Ladies of the Sonnets, Measure at The Old Globe, macbitches, and Makenzie:
…what if the Scottish king was actually a 13-year-old child star at the height of early 2000s TV fame?
Interview roundup: Joe Fiennes on Shakespeare in Love,3 Fiennes (t’other) and Hare, Rachel Weisz on Bill Nighy’s Edgar, Greg Doran on puppet eroticism, Sarah Day on APT,4 Joe Murphy on Midsummer via Exeunt and Keiren Hamilton-Amos on Snug, the Mobile Unit’s Rosalind,5 R&J in the Park’s J, Branagh’s Miranda, Lucas Iverson on Cassio (more), and Wendell Pierce on Othello (more).
Leadership roundup: Kaytlin Mclntyre at OSF, Molly Merrihew at Shakes & Co., Trish Santini at The Old Globe + Emily Trask (an excellent Viola) at Renaissance Theaterworks.
History roundup: Did Scrope do it?6 + I don’t care what you do as long as “Billy Snakespeare” is never again A Thing.7
I was already on Team Romeo and Zooliet but the sides are delightful.8 (audition!)
Recommendations
The new “tempest in a teapot.”
“We spent $795.93 on cheese” via Jen Sherman.
© 2026 Kate Pitt. All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.
Like this one.
’Tis hard to reconcile. Not hard? “Titania is kind of like Michelle Obama…” (We’re overdue for an Oscar-studded Midsummer film, cast 👏 her 👏 now 👏)
“[Stoppard] left me with this tiny bit of knowledge: ‘Joe, forget these books…The best way to the truth? Fantasy.’”
The table?! (emphasis mine)
In her inaugural season, she was part of the cast of a set of Anton Chekhov’s one-act plays. As she prepared to make her stage entrance, her brassiere became hooked in the lace of her frilly dress, and as she twirled around, it became unhooked and tumbled to the floor, where one of her fellow actors picked it up and placed it on a table.
Gotta disagree with this: “‘As You Like It’ was never performed for the public…”
I always hear “Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham” in Brian Blessed’s voice. Plus a masterclass in rhythm: PULL-toss, PULL-toss, PULLTOSS-SLAP. (trochees-to-spondees)
