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Melody's avatar

A marvelous interpretation! I like having the 1996 film on while I pack away Christmas ornaments ("Baedeker's Ilyria" never gets old). Your thoughts will inform my viewing--and I might be making some connections with Dante as I'm currently reading Purgatorio.

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Dominika's avatar

That's a delightful tradition! I've taught this play to high school students several times now and every time I go through it, I get so much more out of it. I would love to hear more of the connections you make with Dante!

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Katherine Grimm Bowers's avatar

This will be our third year doing a Twelfth Night reading party on Sunday! We have the children babysat at one house, with babysitters paid lavishly for their labor among our many progeny, and the adults gather at another house for feasting and a read-through of the play. Most of our friends are in no way literary or dramatic (I'm only one of those!), but with Prosecco and silly hats we muddle along.

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Dominika's avatar

Oh Katherine I love this SO much. Twelfth Night reading with prosecco and silly hats? I need to visit you in early January some year!

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Carolyn MK's avatar

brb stealing "festive excess" as my new motto for this week and frankly quite a few other occasions.

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Dominika's avatar

It's a great motto haha!

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Elizabeth Brink's avatar

Wow, this is so compelling. Thank you Dominika! And just as I’ve been reading Shakespeare with renewed vigor. I’ve read this play but now must revisit with all haste. And I love how you tie it to this time of both the Church Year and the secular year.

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Dominika's avatar

Thank you, Elizabeth! "Reading Shakespeare with renewed vigor" sounds like a new year's resolution I need to make. One of my reading resolutions this past year was to alternate a Shakespeare play and a poetry collection each month. I read two Shakespeare plays and three collections of poetry haha. His works are always some of my richest reading experiences from the year, so you'd think it wouldn't even be something to have to make a resolution about.

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Elizabeth Brink's avatar

You’re welcome! Haha that sounds like some of my reading goals of the last year too. 😆 How fleeting time is with all our good intentions… I have both King Lear and Richard II on my top reads of 2024 list!

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Nicole's avatar

This was excellent! We’re also huge fans of the play and the Trevor Nunn film. The most perfect casting!

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Dominika's avatar

Agreed! The film captures the spirit of the play so well. Thanks for your kind comment!

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Regina Doman's avatar

I also love the 1996 film, and I agree with you that it's the perfect film to watch during the Twelve Day, as we call it. If I may, I'd like to link to my 2020 production of the play, which is in many ways an homage to Trevor Nunn's film. We cast and blocked the play, then went into lockdowns, which proved to be a paradoxical blessing as we had months of Zoom practices to work on interpreting the language, and then found an outdoor theatre willing to let us stage a semi-legal performance. The video captures some of the blessings of that production. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB3YSJRbedQ&t=6003s

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Dominika's avatar

This looks delightful! And what a joy that you were finally able to perform it together. Thank you so much for sharing it!

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