Back when we used to be able to enjoy things like bars and friends, I used to participate in a monthly event held in a bar called Drunken Shakespeare.

Sponsored by the Night Shift Theatre Company, the event invited anybody who wished to participate to come in and sign up for a slot to perform a Shakespeare piece to the crowd. I was a regular since my first attendance in June 2017.

When the pandemic hit, the event was renamed #SequesteredShakespeare and moved to Instagram. We also did a few socially distant meetings in person in Central Park when the weather was nicer.

The most recent Sequestered Shakespeare was held online this past Monday. Here is the video I put together to share with the group.

Enjoy!

Caption: Shakespeare’s Prince Hal envisions his reformation and his future as king.

I don’t have much to say today, but I did want to pop in and wish the website a Happy Birthday.

I started this blog on January 1, 2007. I liked the idea of the beginning of the site starting on the New Year. But, really, there’s no reason to think everything is going to change after the ball drops.

Here it is, 2021. And even though we all (including me) celebrated the passing of the awful year 2020, what’s really different now? We’re still in the middle of a cultural civil war, with seemingly half the country unable or unwilling to acknowledge the dangers of a devastating pandemic, the realities of systemic racism, and the results of a democratically decided election. Happy New Year.

Fear not, because I’m back now. Can a well-timed Shakespeare Anagram provide the necessary perspective to bring our country together on a particular issue? Can a weekly riddle provide distraction and entertainment during a stressful time? Can a… wait, what else do we do here besides riddles and anagrams? I remember there used to be more.

Well, maybe now is the time to bring it all back. Or maybe it’s time to start something new. Got a feeling ’21 is gonna be a good year. And if it’s not, we can just pretend that ’22 will come along and fix it all.

I look forward to our continuing this journey together.