[NEohioPAL] The thinking behind “All the World’s a Stage Fright”

[Fred Sternfeld]

>From the preface of Bob Abelman’s new novella “All the World’s a Stage
Fright:”



“To non-theater lovers,” wrote actor Joel Grey in an opinion piece in *The
New York Times* shortly after the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus
pandemic hit the U.S., “lamenting the closing of Broadway in the face of so
much widespread suffering may seem, at best, frivolous. But for many of us,
this tragedy has been made that much more devastating by having to face the
nightmare without the laughter, tears and sense of community that a night
in the theater delivers.”

The same thing happened in London between 1603 and 1613, when the Globe
Theatre and other playhouses were shut down for a total of seventy-eight
months – more than 60 percent of the time – because of recurring bubonic
plague outbreaks.  And yet, some of Shakespeare’s best, most creative
writing was done in the shadow of this pandemic.  While his plays and
sonnets were by no means a cure, they were certainly a source of most
welcome respite from the suffering.

They still are. In immediate response to the coronavirus, London’s National
Theatre Live offered a free streaming of its production of the comedy *Twelfth
Night* on YouTube. Actor Sir Patrick Stewart recited all of Shakespeare’s
sonnets, one each day, on his <https://www.instagram.com/sirpatstew/>Instagram
account <https://www.instagram.com/sirpatstew/>. His first post boasted
more than 457,000 views and 3,800 comments.

And I wrote this fictionalized memoir of a true lover of theater, which is
also a love letter to Shakespeare.  It is written for those like me – like
you, I think – who need live theater and Shakespeare’s prose and poetry now
more than ever.



NEohioPAL gets a $5 donation for each purchase of this $14.95 book to help
it remain a free and vibrant resource for the local theater community.

Go to: https://www.grayco.com/coupon/neohiopal/


-- 
Fred Sternfeld
Neohiopal Ltd. Owner and Administrator

fredsternfeld at neohiopal.org
http://www.fredsternfeld.com/neohiopal/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20201224/709b76e3/attachment.html>