instant to-read; the shakespeare edition

People in my life look at me weird when I say I enjoy Shakespeare. I haven’t read a lot of his plays, but what I have read, I’ve enjoyed. But to most people in my life, that is just Peak Geek and Too Much for them.

I embrace the geekiness.

Unfortunately, I will admit, I have not read a lot of adaptations. Loose ones, sure. Seen a few screen adaptations as well. And I have some favourites that I will always watch, and will definitely pick up to at the very least flip through.

Don’t be surprised if there are a few webseries recommendations in here. There have been some really well-done ones recently. (I’ve watched more webseries than read books, I will admit it now.)

• Romeo and Juliet may have been done to the death, almost (pun intended), but there is still something about the classic star-crossed lovers trope that, when done well, can be amazing. I haven’t read Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub, but I have seen some of the episodes of the TV show based on it, and loved the take. Jules & Monty, a webseries on YouTube I stumbled across when it was airing, is the reason I even started enjoying these retellings!
• There is, of course, Much Ado About Nothing. I haven’t read the original play. Yet. But I’ve seen a couple of them put up, and I enjoy the whole bickering aspect of Benedick and Beatrice’s relationship. There is a GREAT webseries called Nothing Much To Do that was put up by a bunch of New Zealanders that is still somewhere up there for me with adaptations. I’m still looking for a good adaptation where we get the story in Hero’s point of view though.
• Again, another play I haven’t read, but The Taming Of The Shrew is interesting to see tackled in adaptations. It’s got the strong characters, a plot that can be subverted in many ways – and I do so love Ten Things I Hate About You, so this had to be on here.
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream might be a little bit difficult to transplant into a modern setting, but let’s be real, it’d be fun. There are a few webseries on YouTube that have adapted it, but I am most fond of the recent BBC First version of the play.
• I almost forgot to add Twelfth Night on here. She’s The Man was a really good on-screen adaptation of this, but I would also love more versions that explore Viola as a genderqueer character, and Olivia and Viola’s relationship more in-depthly.

Of course, as with all re-tellings, it can swing either way, even when I love the original story. Perhaps especially when I love the original story.

But I am willing to check out adaptations, because they almost always bring something new to the table and I can go back to the original having a new perspective on things.

The Literature geek in me loves it so much.

What are some of your favourite adaptations, whether print or otherwise?