To continue the theatrical theme ….

I was looking at a post from Kate, in which she suggests that ‘life is no different from acting on a stage’, and I thought it begged for a Shakespearean reference.

For whatever reason I started thinking about Marcel Marceau and how sad, to me, he always looked. It seemed that people that don’t talk much give the impression of covering something up. I don’t talk much myself, to be honest.

*

The curtain opens, I must show
The only face you’ll ever know
Clasped lips that hold the truth inside
A costume that can barely hide
The scars, the buried injuries
The nightmares. Bitter memories
No role here for the truth to play
The audience must have it’s way
The actor, he must always act
Absorb the laughter, not react
Mimed emotion. Hidden pain
Tomorrow do it all again
For all the world’s a stage, you see
Come watch my comic tragedy

*

I have never been a great fan of Shakespeare, to be honest, thinking him to be something of a hack, but a lot of his words were planted within me during an almost forgotten education. If I had to pick a favourite quote, though, it would be, ‘As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport’.

In a long ago production of King Lear, by the way, I was (type?) cast as ‘The Fool’. I jest you not.