Austennnnn!

That exclamation mark is meant to denote general dissatisfaction and rage. Observe, a master:

See title for how you should be hearing this clip.

Yeah, I'm reading Pride and Prejudice. Pity me, it's mandatory.

I knew Mr Darcy was an asshole; I was not expecting just how much of an asshole he was going to be. Elizabeth Bennet is supposed to be strong-willed and clever. I find her sort of idiotic in general. The only character I really like is Mr Bennet, who makes me smile wide every time he opens his mouth to spout good-natured abuse about his daughters.

And though one of my favourite bloggers and best friends (who read the entire Austen canon and blogged about it; follow this link) is pretty much mad for it, I simply cannot believe that it gets any better, or that it deserves the unstoppable hype it's received for almost 150 years.

In summation, last year the syllabus for the course I'm taking had Frankenstein rather than P&P. I know which one I would rather be reading.

I'm sorry for being so infantile. Maybe I'll write about Shakespeare soon. Seems unlikely, given the vast writer's block I have currently.

The Penelopiad!

My university is doing The Penelopiad for its winter major, and I, E, have been cast in it. It's wonderful; right after A Masque of Mr Punch, I got to do props for As You Like It, and as soon as that show has pretty much wrapped up, I've got this on my plate. Hopefully I'll be able to blog about it, in the spirit of actress Kate Hennig's glorious production-themed blog.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Canadian theatre, The Penelopiad is a play by Margaret Atwood, adapted from her novella of the same name. It follows Penelope, the wife of Ancient Greek hero Odysseus, who left her alone in his kingdom of Ithaca for twenty years while he fought the Trojan War and then took the scenic route coming home (those men, they just can't ask for directions, can they?)

It sounds like a bit of a snoozer, to be sure, but I can assure you it's a pretty interesting read and is bound to be exciting on stage.