"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances," Shakespeare observed centuries ago.
The Bard's combination of fact, fiction, history and explorations of human nature endure because of his insight into the great dramas of their day - and ours. If Shakespeare were alive, he'd have no shortage of kings, dynasties, plots and counter-plots upon which to draw.
Today, when the truth of events can be stranger than fiction, a Shakespearean perspective can help us to understand what's happening in the world. Indeed, "Something is rotten in the state of..." America. So let's turn our attention to a stage that has been set before us, and reconsider events through the Bard's eyes.
A thick, velvety curtain slowly parts. Various dim figures tug at the heavy drape until it begins to reveal what has been hidden. Policemen "detain" those tugging at the resistant curtain, especially the dark-skinned ones. People from the audience keep replacing those hauled off to jail. Muffled sounds from the jailhouse emerge.
Others in the audience remain asleep. Then, the scene changes. The Globe Theatre becomes a magnifying lens that reveals the entire globe; we begin to see what is really happening in the world. The action on the stage and beyond is barely visible and unbelievable. Welcome to a three ring circus.
The Bard's combination of fact, fiction, history and explorations of human nature endure because of his insight into the great dramas of their day - and ours. If Shakespeare were alive, he'd have no shortage of kings, dynasties, plots and counter-plots upon which to draw.
Today, when the truth of events can be stranger than fiction, a Shakespearean perspective can help us to understand what's happening in the world. Indeed, "Something is rotten in the state of..." America. So let's turn our attention to a stage that has been set before us, and reconsider events through the Bard's eyes.
A thick, velvety curtain slowly parts. Various dim figures tug at the heavy drape until it begins to reveal what has been hidden. Policemen "detain" those tugging at the resistant curtain, especially the dark-skinned ones. People from the audience keep replacing those hauled off to jail. Muffled sounds from the jailhouse emerge.
Others in the audience remain asleep. Then, the scene changes. The Globe Theatre becomes a magnifying lens that reveals the entire globe; we begin to see what is really happening in the world. The action on the stage and beyond is barely visible and unbelievable. Welcome to a three ring circus.