The People’s Bard

It was with interest that I read Sarah Montoya’s oh, so witty rejoinder in last Sunday’s letters. The lady doth protest too much, methinks, and is not wont to speak plain and to the purpose.

I too sallied forth to view “Much Ado About Nothing” and left yon theater greatly impressed with this delightful film. Kenneth Branagh superbly accomplished what he set out to do. That is, to put it in today’s parlance, make the Bard accessible.

What so many purists seem to forget is that Shakespeare wrote his plays not just for the elitist few, but for the uneducated masses as well. His works are filled with bawdy humor and sexual innuendoes--Elizabethan soap operas, in many respects. They also contain some of the most stunning use of language devised by man.

Let’s not scare off yet another generation by elevating Will to the hallowed halls of academia. You really don’t need a college degree to enjoy him.

And most important of all, Shakespeare’s works are not sacred Scripture to be read by the chosen few. They are plays, plays meant to be performed with all the passion and gusto that ol’ Will intended. So, Mr. Branagh, please continue to “Speak the speech, I pray you. . . .”

LOUISE PAZIAK

Burbank