I frequently post the musings of my conservative counsin from New York. Now my conservative cousin’s conservative wife (designer of the Deacon icon) weighs in. It seems that Shakespeare in the Park, that great New York institution, has succumbed to Bush-bashing. Here’s the report:
As a native New Yorker [I have] fond memories of the philanthropist Delacorte’s unassuming and charming bequests: the chiming clock of animals in the Central Park zoo, the statue of Alice in Wonderland where children still gather to hear stories and, of course, free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theatre. Many New Yorkers did and still do come of age waiting on line for a free ticket to the summer Shakespeare Festival. Over the years, Shakespeare has undergone a metamorphosis from Shakespeare in Spanish to Shakespeare meets Broadway and now Shakespeare bashes Bush. “The Two Gentleman from Verona” had the Duke expounding against war and sending poor Valentine out to the battlefield. It was definitely an ad against the Iraq war which had the crowd on their feet clapping. The trouble is Shakespeare did not write the scene into his play. This was an attempt by the Producer to “update” the play for a modern audience just like his occasional insertion of “Yo” and those Lucy-Desi comedy routines where Desi curses in Spanish. Shakespeare would understand the pandering to the crowd, but Bush bashing? It was not a shrub he knew.
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