As if we didn’t have enough great things going on in April, it is also the birth month for William Shakespeare. So how should we honor the man generally considered the greatest author of the English language? Well, how about a marathon reading of all 154 of all of Shakespeare’s (known) sonnets?
That’s how we are celebrating the occasion here in the Triangle area of NC. Sonorous Road Theatre is hosting a host of professional and amateur readers presenting a two-night extravaganza of poetry. Sunday night, April 23 (his actual birthday), “Fairest Creatures 2017: The Sonnets of William Shakespeare” presented Sonnets 1-77; tonight, from 7:00-10:00 PM, they will read Sonnets 78-154.
Last night’s performers ranged from high school students to white-haired college literature professors (including one of my former literature students, who is the one to introduce me to this event). Most were solo readers, although there were a few who co-read or who had someone up with them to “act out” the sonnet. It was a lovely evening to experience the sonnets as they were meant to be experienced–that is, read aloud.
So if you are interested, head over to Sonorous Road Theatre tonight (near Cameron Village and NC State University) and soak in the beautiful language. The show is free and open to all varieties of Bard lovers.
Here are a selection of yesterday’s readers:
BlissFullU 