Shavinisms By George Bernard Shaw

"I often quote myself.  It adds spice to my conversation." - George Bernard Shaw

Waiting for my star to shine - a dramatic and (mostly) true story.

Waiting for my star to shine - a dramatic and (mostly) true story. 

Burton and Goulet Wonder Where Camelot Went

Let us now return to the magical musical days of Camelot as Robert “The Lusty Lance” Goulet and Julie “The Ice Queen” Andrews cloak their adulterous natures and avert the gaze of King "Cuckold" Arthur, embodied by Richard “Behold As My Magnificently Overblown Acting Chops Lay Waste To This Pair of Shmos” Burton, as he vows to visit steely vengeance upon the heads of the offending duo before they can reach the hills that  are alive with the Sounds of Music. (He might have done it too if only his sword were not made of cardboard).

Seriously,this is from a 1962 television special, The World of Lerner and Loewe - and it's pretty cool.

The World of Lerner and Loewe

Tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow

Ian McKellen as Macbeth (1976)

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28

Laurence Olivier performs Shakespeare's Richard III

RICHARD III

Gloucester's opening monologue from William Shakespeare's Richard III

 performed by Sir Laurence Olivier (1955)

The Abdication of a King by William Shakespeare

The abdication and surrender of King Richard II to Henry Bolinbroke, with Derek Jacobi as King Richard and John Gielgud as John of Gaunt, Act IV, scene i, in one of the most heart wrenching performances in the Shakespearean canon.

"I'll give my jewels for a set of beads" - Richard II by Derek Jacobi

"Let us tell sad stories of the deaths of ings" - Richard II

"Tell Bolingbroke that every stride he takes upon my land is dangerous treason". - Richard II

KING RICHARD II

Ay, no; no, ay; for I must nothing be;

Therefore no no, for I resign to thee.

Now mark me, how I will undo myself;

I give this heavy weight from off my head

And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand,

The pride of kingly sway from out my heart;

With mine own tears I wash away my balm,

With mine own hands I give away my crown,

With mine own tongue deny my sacred state,

With mine own breath release all duty's rites:

All pomp and majesty I do forswear;

My manors, rents, revenues I forego;

My acts, decrees, and statutes I deny:

God pardon all oaths that are broke to me!

God keep all vows unbroke that swear to thee!

Make me, that nothing have, with nothing grieved,

And thou with all pleased, that hast all achieved!

Long mayst thou live in Richard's seat to sit,

And soon lie Richard in an earthly pit!

God save King Harry, unking'd Richard says,

And send him many years of sunshine days!

What more remains?