The Shakespeare/Marlowe 2012 Bumper Sticker could be the most exciting campaign in Shakespeare’s Den history. This bumper sticker is not just a funny political statement, it is the first in our new line of socially responsible products. A portion of the sale of every Shakespeare/Marlowe 2012 Bumper Sticker will be donated to an organization to help expose youth to Shakespeare and live theatre or promotes theatre education for our nation’s youth. Currently $1.00 from each sale will be donated.
Youth exposure to the performing arts is in grave danger as money is constantly pulled from arts programs around the country. Our belief at Shakespeare’s Den is that the arts promote discussion, enrich communities, and fuel empathy for our fellow human beings.
We could go on and on about how we believe the arts define us as a civilization or how without art, we are nothing more than cogs on a wheel.
And we will go on about it. For the next two years and maybe longer.
Show your support for Shakespeare, performing arts and education by purchasing and displaying the Shakespeare/Marlowe ‘12 Bumper Sticker. Buy several and hand them out as stocking stuffers or cast gifts. Remember, every one that you order is also sends money to promote and nurture the love of the performing arts. It’s a socially responsible purchase.
Why have your politics lean to the left or lean to the right when they could lean “Center Stage” or “Up Left?”
3″ x 10″ rectangular sticker made from the finest synthetic materials.
Finally feels like we have shaken the black plague that struck us here at Shakespeare’s Den two years ago. We are definitely going to start adding some content here and get caught up with posts, our customers, and finding new products for you all to enjoy. Lots of changes have happened/happening with Shakespeare’s Den. Some things in the work are pretty exciting. In 2011, you should expect to see some more Shakespeare Den original products, hopefully hitting Shakespeare Festivals around the country.
Newsletters should start rolling out again in the next couple of weeks. Sign up here if you haven’t already: http://www.shakespearesden.com/shdenne.html
In the meantime, support the store you’ve loved to shop at by checking out our new items: http://www.shakespearesden.com/whatsnew1.html
Oh, and as we are rising like Lazarus, we are changing the name of the Blog. No longer Dogberry’s Dish, that is a new blog elsewhere. We need a new name for our blog, until then The Shakespeare’s Den Blog will have to suffice. Of course we want something much more witty. Our blog button on the website will still say Dogberry’s Dish until we get one of our illustrators to change it for us.
Our Summer Shakespearience
Contest is now closed. We had a lot of great entries and were quite
surprised with the large response we got. We are planning to bring this
contest back next year and have some other contests planned in the near
future so sign
up for contest announcements.
Here are the winners for
the 2008 Summer Shakespearience Photo Contest.
Winners will be receiving
their prizes in the mail in the next week.
1st
Place
1st place winner is Chelsea from Rogers, AK.
Shakespeare’s Den loved the artistic qualities of this
photo. We also appreciate the skill involved in getting a small child
to sit still long enough to get the photo taken.
This is what Chelsea wrote:
(Bonus Fun-Fact, the pictures were taken on the "island"
in the kitchen. Yes, indeed, pun intended.)
O Woe the day babysitting last week
When the air conditioning was broken
be hold the tragic lament of this lass
whose parents’ tribulations and their trial
for years marooned her to a wretched isle.
To be a slave under their spells and rule
as we when air was not circulating
thus from these tragedies combined there came
a photo to tell the tale all the days
The Tempest, one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.
2nd
Place
2nd place winner is Kate from Denver, CO
What a wonderful group shot. You can only imagine the Summer
Shakespearience these folks have. It’s from the No Holds Bard Shakespeare
Company in Denver, CO.
This is what Kate wrote:
This is a photo of our Shakespeare at Civic Center Greek Theater festival
in Downtown Denver. It is from MacBeth. In the first folio text there
are 7 witches in act II. We use cue scripts and first folio technique
as developed by Patrick Tucker and Demi Papadinis. Great fun!
3rd
Place
3rd place winner is Christine from Groveland, MA.
Isn’t Shakespeare and "summer love" forever synonymous?
This kiss between Romeo and Juliet pretty much captures the spirit of
the play for us and we are sure these two actors will never forget their
summer Shakespearience.
This is what Christine wrote:
Attached is a picture of Ross Magnant as Romeo and Emma Behnke as Juliet.
Rebel Shakespeare Company Teen Intensive Program tour 2008 of "Romeo
and Juliet" took place in 10 sites in 6 cities in Eastern Massachusetts,
north of Boston.
Derby Square on the town hall steps was a beautiful and amazing place
to stage this story.
Honorable
Mentions
Here’s a few other entries
we enjoyed:
Amanda from Havertown, PA
This be me dressed most excellently, see?
As a most grave pirate of stormy seas.
But wait, there’s more: that skull in my strong hand
Was giv’n me by a very famous man.
His name be Hamlet, met we upon this:
Attacked his ship did I as he did sail
To England, banishEd by his own mom!
(For sooth, I’m at the RenFaire in P.A.)
MJ from Lander, WY
King John and scheming Queen discuss an evil plan.
Jake from Sparks, GA
I started my Shakespeare sleeve. These are the first few pieces.
Yes, eventually my entire left arm will be covered in Shakespearean
imagery.
Recently, there was an article on LiveScience.com about sarcasm. Evidently, we’ve all got this thing called parahippocampal gyrus located in the right side of the brain. The para…okay, the P.G. is responsible for decoding and scenic memory recognition. People with dementia or intense trauma to that side of the skull might not find the following humorous:
Dogberry is being dangled over a vat of nuclear-green fluid marked ‘Hazardous Material.’ He raises his head and says cheerfully, “This is a party.”
Evidently, if you can’t detest the sarcastic, albeit comic-book humor in that hypothetical situation, there’s something wrong with your parahiccup prius. But what’s fascinating is that evolutionary biologists believe that our sociality is what’s gotten us this far, and what has set us apart from other species. We’ve got “social intelligence” mastered.
Think about it: nowadays, sarcasm is practically a survival trait! Entire sitcoms are crafted to accommodate it. Chandler from the TV Show Friends has gone down in TV history as being one of the most sarcastic characters in television. Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn’t even a sitcom, and yet it’s brimming with sarcasm from virtually every character. But sarcasm isn’t just about entertainment. Consider shows like The Colbert Rapport, or Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. I know I’ve witnessed the embarrassment of politicians and supposed great thinkers because they didn’t understand the host’s sharp sarcasm.
Of course, there are limits. Even stand-up comedians realize that there are some things that you just don’t joke about. Perhaps it’s that sense of knowing when sarcasm is appropriate that has kept us alive this long, and will preserve our species as experts of social interaction. We could all use a little hope.
I ran across this the other day and I really had to share it. It’s an Elizabethan version of the famous Abbott and Costello routine “Who’s on First.” They do the entire routine so it’s not short but it is quite funny.
What is the deal with that Scottish play? Once in high school, I almost witnessed a student get her head hacked off by a very angry director. She only got as far as commenting, “Hey, I saw a production of Mac—” before he shushed her by saying, “Oh no, we never say that in here!”
So, why is it such bad luck? Well, the play, Macbeth, written around 1600, begins with three witches chanting a spell. It’s because of this incantation that saying “Macbeth” inside a theatre is so taboo. Supposedly, you will bring bad luck to whatever play you’re performing, and all those involved in the production. Exception: you can say it if it’s a line in a play.
But if you make the mistake of letting it slip, there is something you can do to reverse the curse. Actually, there’s a lot you can do. I’ve looked around, and I’ve found a few very different, very hilarious ways to combat the scourge…
Leave the theatre immediately, spin around three times while swearing, and then ask for permission to come back inside
Spit over each shoulder
Let out your inner sailor and curse until the captain blushes
Chant “Thrice around the circle bound, Evil sink into the ground”
Negate the curse brought on by Shakespeare by reciting a line from another one of his plays
Do you think this is all a load of frackin’ cow plop? Well, check this out!
1610: the 1st performance of Macbeth ever, Shakespeare himself had to play the role of Lady Macbeth because the original actor suddenly became ill. Okay, maybe it was stage fright. We’ll let this one slide.
1849: the famous riot at Astor Place in which 31 people were trampled on. All right, we’ll call it bad timing.
1937: a 25lb stage weight crashed to the ground inches away from Laurence Olivier. His sword also broke on stage, went boomeranging into the audience, and hit a patron who suffered a heart attack. Both the director and Lady Macduff were in a car accident while en route to the theatre. And the owner of the theatre died of a heart attack during the dress rehearsal.
Irrefutable? A bunch of nonsense? It’s yours to decide. But you might want to warn your fellow theatre buddies before you run any tests. Even if you don’t incur the wrath of the muses of theatre, you might be shoved into a trash can by your director.
Yes, you’ve read that right. Shakespeare’s Den is hosting a photo contest. We want to see what your Summer Shakespearience is like.
Send us your photo and the top winners get awesome prizes including large gift certificates and Shakespeare’s Den schwag! Find out all the details for the contest by clicking here.
We will post our favorite photos here as we get them. And as we have time. We are very busy people!
We had to restart our blog because of some technical issues. Sorry for the emptiness. We will try to get some of the old blogs restored. Check back soon.
