John McCann (4)

A rendition of some of the most famous of the bard's comedies - in Legos. A cute idea, but that's about all. The plays are rendered faithfully, with one exception - they are heavily edited, with large chunks of text being explained by a few sentences. The editing is iffy; somehow the editors manage to remove almost the entirety of Puck's role from Midsummer Night's Dream, thereby changing the tale from the brilliant work of Shakespeare to a story of two men in love with the same girl. The fairies were there, but highly truncated. Overall, the work was rather disappointing. As a gimmick to introduce the younger generation to Shakespeare, I guess it might be effective, but is it worth it? Shakespeare has charmed and delighted audiences through the ages, but if it is necessary to change it so drastically to get an audience now, perhaps he has run his course. (I hope not, but...)… (more)