Besides being Autism Awareness Month, this month also commemorates William Shakespeare's 450th birthday. I'm not sure the connection there. As far as I know, there are not many theories out there that Shakespeare was on the spectrum. For all we know, he might have been. But I don't think it's a popular thing to speculate about. So we'll stop talking about that now.
I don't know the exact date of Shakespeare's birthday. I realize that's something a person could probably google and find out in about five minutes, but I didn't do that. I definitely did not do that when I planned the Bard's Birthday Bash 2k14. Themed, of course. What other kind of Shakespeare birthday party is there? It is by nature a themed evening. I just don't really believe in Bard worship; so I figure he can just be ok with a good-faith effort to celebrate his birth within a month of its actual date.
How do you prepare for such an evening?
First, you cannibalize the copy of
Twelfth Night you bought for your costume design class and literally never plan on reading again. . .unless you're forced to. With the loose pages, you create a bunting.
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Besides a bunting made of a play, I thought making a "happy" sign with birthday related things on the flags
would be a great idea. And it was pretty adorable. Then I attached it to the yarn. . . it read yppah.
I just left it. Shakespeare isn't the only one who can be creative with language. |
Second, you try to decide what to serve your guests at this tea party. As that's happening, you need to carefully choose who is invited to this shindig. 450 is a big birthday and it deserves careful consideration. Thoughtfully consider who of your acquaintance would appreciate the fact you made a bunting from on of the Shakes' plays, made an English dessert, are using tea cups to drink things like orange juice, and have a game that borderlines on a Theatre 101 homework assignment. My planning process meant I chose the guest list first. It was rather short and involved only people who I knew would take a theme night and especially a Billy Boy Shakes theme night and really run with it. They all do theatre. Once that was decided, I had to turn my attention to dessert. Will definitely would have expected something delicious and would have felt most comfortable if that something delicious was from his native land. I'm not so sure about treacle or spiced raisins or something called sticky pudding. So I took the advice of my dear mother and made a trifle. Very English. I mean they mention it more than once on multiple episodes of
Call the Midwife. Automatically makes me like it more. And may I say I now understand why it was a staple in wedding food fair. Yummy stuff. Would definitely make any middling wedding reception to the next level. It took the Bard's bash to a whole new level.
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Stick a handful of candles on there, which is difficult on fresh whipped cream. But we are
nothing if we're not committed to celebrating right. Part of the that correct celebration was using the tea cups
my sister and I painted the weekend prior.
a brief note on trifle: I usually say "if it doesn't have chocolate, it's not worth my time."
But I was wrong. There is something lovely about angel food cake, strawberries, raspberry jello, vanilla pudding and whipped cream.
Strawberries and cream, people. |
Third, you decide the dress code. In this case it was "wear whatever says Shakespeare to you."
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Of course you need to do a photo shoot to prove that people kept to the dress code.
They did. Bless each person's heart. |
Fourth have a nerdy good time: pick a random number between 1 and 154, then read that sonnet before singing a happy day to the Birthday Boy himself. The many happy returns, mixed with the random-conceptualization-of-Shakespeare-shows game, along with waxing rhapsodic about meaningful Shakespeare moments in life (some of us not feeling as rhapsodic as others, sorry Bill S.) should have made Mr. Granddaddy of Playwrights happy on/around his special day.
Happy 450th, William Shakespeare. Happy 450th.
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