Happy Birthday William Shakespeare, born April 23 1564, but there is no actual record of his birth, but there is a document dated April 26, 1564 of his baptism of "Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakespere - William son of John Shakespere" - So the birthday is celebrated in Stratford-on-Avon and elsewhere on April 23rd. I don't know why people are saying that it was April 24th. But as there was no documentation it could have been either date. I have my dates from my grandmother's 1948 edition of "Shakespeare The Complete Works edited by G.B. Harrison. Where do you get the other date from? Wikipedia?
So, If you have been following this blog, then you might have guessed that the play Chocolate Point and Tabio is a parody of . . .
My daughter and I like cats, real ones and stuffed ones, so we started making up stories, and then the idea hit me to write a play. This picture is of a stuffed cat that I didn't buy because the dark part of the fur feels painted on and is not soft to pet. I will continue to look for a good model for Chocolate Point, and Tabio we are using the real Tab, a Jerusalem stray that sometimes comes to get pet, but even so, he is becoming more and more wild, and if he is with other street cats, he will often choose to stay with them and do wild cat thing, instead of coming with us to get pet. . It is the life, so now I will only have the stuffed cats to pet. They don't meow, scratch the furniture, pee in the house, don't have to buy them cat food, or change the litter box. No matter! I want to pet a real cat every day!!!!
So, If you have been following this blog, then you might have guessed that the play Chocolate Point and Tabio is a parody of . . .
Romeo and Juliet!
The idea came to me as I was thinking about cultural norms and how even in the modern world there are some people who are prejudiced against other people.
As we see in the 1600's this problem was very prevalent, and William Shakespeare made fun of those people in his play "Romeo and Juliet." Shakespeare was the parody and pun master of his time. Even now when I read my grandmother's copy of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, I laugh. My children don't like me to read the plays out loud because of all the puns that they don't understand. So to keep the playfulness of Shakespeare, and characters that children understand in the modern world, I am writing this lighthearted spoof for you and your family to enjoy.
My daughter and I like cats, real ones and stuffed ones, so we started making up stories, and then the idea hit me to write a play. This picture is of a stuffed cat that I didn't buy because the dark part of the fur feels painted on and is not soft to pet. I will continue to look for a good model for Chocolate Point, and Tabio we are using the real Tab, a Jerusalem stray that sometimes comes to get pet, but even so, he is becoming more and more wild, and if he is with other street cats, he will often choose to stay with them and do wild cat thing, instead of coming with us to get pet. . It is the life, so now I will only have the stuffed cats to pet. They don't meow, scratch the furniture, pee in the house, don't have to buy them cat food, or change the litter box. No matter! I want to pet a real cat every day!!!!
Check out the next chapter of Chocolate Point and Tabio sometime next week. We will be up to Act 1 Scene 4, where the cats try on their costumes for the Party, and then Tabio and his gang crashes the Siamese party. Will the fur fly? Wait and see!
Until then,
You can go back and read the beginning of the play to refresh yourself with the action:
