21:38 Hamlet -- On Hold

I'm placing re-reading Hamlet on hold for now. Here's why: My plan was to use this opportunity to read the 1st Quarto Hamlet (also known as the "bad quarto) all the way through. I've read the "regular" Hamlet several times, see it multiple times, and prepared auditions for it. So I know the more recognized text quite well. So I'm planning to read the Q1 just to really see all the differences. But I'm not reading it right now, because in a week I'll be heading to Chicago to attend the annual conference of the Shakespeare Association of America. One of the pre-conference events is a reading of, you guessed it, the first quarto Hamlet! A reading that we get to PARTICIPATE in! I'm pretty excited. What are the chances they'll let me read Ophelia? (Not that I think she's an amazing part -- more on that later, but because I spent so much time prepping to audition for her, that I'd love the chance to sort of do it. I do know the songs... ;-) ) Though hey... maybe if they do the thing were the cast changes each act... maybe I will get to read a little of the melancholy Dane himself...
So I'll report back on that next week.