Confessions of a Shakespeare Fangirl

I'm a fangirl about a lot of things--especially YA Lit and indie music. But my original fangirlism started with Shakespeare. From the first time I read Mcbeth my freshman year in high school, I have loved Shakespeare.

I used to read Shakespeare plays on the bus to work, and one day I accidentally left my book on my seat. When I realized what I had done as the bus pulled away, I knew I'd spend the day wondering what would happen. Would Rosalind and Orlando end up together? Would Phebe be devastated to find out Ganymede is lying to her? Would I be able to find another copy of the play at the library after work? But I didn't need to worry. My morning bus driver had found my book and given it to the evening bus driver who handed it to me as I got on the bus that night. "We don't see a lot of teenagers reading Shakespeare on the bus every day."

My favorite play has to be A Winter's Tale. Misconceptions, forgiveness and love. It is achingly beautiful and speaks to my soul every time I read it. When King Leontes thinks he sees the statue breathing and longs for his wife to live...just thinking about it makes me want to cry.

And now, confession time:

Although I have read the majority of Shakespeare's plays, all of the sonnets, dozens of critical works and countless derivative works, seen about 100 movies and videos based on Shakespeare's plays, been the "Shakespeare expert" on my high school scholastic bowl team, and taken two Shakespeare courses in college, I have never actually seen a live performance of a Shakespearean play. We never even performed one in high school drama club.

How sad is that?