Last year, I did an short course on Shakespeare and his world, reading 8 of his plays in an effort to understand how they reflected the times in which he lived and what was happening in his own life as well. I really enjoyed it. I loved reading Shakespeare at college but hadn’t read any since. In fact, I rarely read plays. After the course, I planned to read more – not just Shakespeare. I have failed miserably. So, to get me going on play reading again, I’m taking part in the Play On! challenge from Half Filled Attic.

It is pretty simple as far as challenges go, read a play and post a review each month for the next four months, the first three of which are themed:

January: Ancient Plays, including Greek and Roman plays
February: Renaissance Plays, including Shakespeare and his contemporaries
March: Post-Renaissance Plays, anything post Renaissance is allowed. Wilde and Shaw are very welcome
April: Freebie Plays, if you find any particular playwright interesting during the 3 months, feel free to read another of his/her plays. Or if you want to experiment with other genre or other playwright, you are in.

I’m quite excited about January as I haven’t really read anything “ancient”. I’ve picked Aeschylus (c.525 – 465 BC) who, according to Wikipedia is “the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays can still be read or performed [and] is often described as the father of tragedy”. I’m going to start with The Suppliants, which tells the story of the fifty daughters of Danaus who must flee to escape enforced marriages, and see how it goes. Has anyone out there read this or other Greek plays – have I picked well? Here’s hoping!

Emma x