The Play's The Thing

It's that time of year when I put my shoulder to the wheel, my hand to the vacuum cleaner, and clean, as much as I am able, the various books and CDs I possess. This having been acomplished in the Hall in the first week of June it's now the turn of the books in Maison KL, and I did about a third of what's necessary today. Part of the fun of this, in fact the only part that's fun at all, is being reminded of all that I've got usually followed by figuring out what might be read and when. But today as I was dusting off my hardy Ardens I found myself counting how many I'd taught in the classroom over the years, having hazarded a rough guess of ten.

It turned out that the total was thirteen, and here they are, in no particular order of merit: King Lear, Measure for Measure, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo & Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Henry IV Part 1 and Antony & Cleopatra.

One near miss: Henry V. It was on a list of set texts due to be taught in the year ahead and abruptly removed for reasons that were never explained. A pity as I'd noted its inclusion with alarm initially but then thoroughly enjoyed preparing to teach it. And I can't say that there's anything on the list I didn't enjoy, though Twelfth Night is harder work than you might expect.

Any favourite? Not really, though Henry IV Part 1 works wonderfully well in the classroom despite its length, and Antony & Cleopatra should be set by exam boards more often than it is. I'm a bit surprised never to have the chance to do one of the late plays. I'd go for The Tempest like a shot just to get the chance to have a go at Caliban.