SAN FRANCISCO: A Shakespeare marathon is not just seeing all three Henrys back-to-back. This month, in honor of the 40th anniversary of California Shakespeare Theater, monologist Mike Daisey (whose previous offerings include The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs and How Theater Failed America) will take on the Bard in a four-night event titled The Great Tragedies: Mike Daisey Takes on Shakespeare. Each night will center on a different Shakespearean tragedy—the lineup includes Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear—and the event can be viewed individually or as a four-night, Shakespeare-explication marathon. Great Tragedies will run Oct. 2–12. Don’t expect Daisey to act out famous scenes or brandish a sword, though. Most likely he will be sitting at a desk and ruminating on Shakespeare’s staying power and his far-ranging influence on the theatre. But considering that Shakespeare was famous for his soliloquys and Daisey has made his living as a monologuist, it seems that self-reflection is a timeless practice.
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Mike Daisey (Photo by Ursa Waz)
Mike Daisey Takes on Shakespeare at CalShakes
Mike Daisey puts on a series of new monologues about Shakespeare’s tragedies at California Shakespeare Theater.