Gifts: Eight Great Gift Ideas for Lovers of Shakespeare
Looking for literary themed gifts? Something for men or women who are batty for the bard? I've compiled eight great gift ideas for lovers of Shakespeare and (if my husband happens to be reading) I wouldn't mind unwrapping any of these myself come birthday or Christmas.
Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions
For anyone who has ever been at a loss for something witty to say, let Shakespeare say it for you. This is a book of quotations for every possible circumstance.
The Shakespeare Book of Lists
If you want to know the bawdiest plays, the most cutting insults or simply some facts and fictions about Shakespeare and his plays then this is the book to get. It is the ultimate book of trivia on the bard and even includes information about various productions, movie adaptations and other works Shakespeare inspired.
Theater Tickets
Shakespeare was so prolific and is so well known that wherever you live there will be a production somewhere of one play or another. If you are visiting London then tickets to The Globe can be purchased from as little as £5 and they do several different plays every summer, all of them performed in the Elizabethan-style open air theater with authentic costume and staging. Further information can be found at the website.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
Originally a stage play itself, this DVD from the Reduced Shakespeare Company features a three man cast, each playing scores of characters. With all thirty seven plays squeezed into two hours, this is one for serious lovers of Shakespeare who enjoy a lot of silliness.
Filthy Shakespeare: Shakespeare's Most Outrageous Sexual Puns
A naughty look at some of Shakespeare’s sauciest moments, this is a great gift for anyone who can appreciate Elizabethan and Jacobean raciness. Author Pauline Kiernan translates and puts into context Shakepeare's sexual puns.
The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works
A must have for all lovers of Shakespeare, this is edition gives you the complete works without the scholarly notes. A book to read for pleasure.
Under $100
BBC Shakespeare Comedies DVD Giftbox
Five of the best Shakespearean comedies produced by the BBC. Featuring The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, and As You Like It.
Also available are the Tragedies which features Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Othello, and the Histories which includes Henry V, Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV Part I and Henry IV Part I.
Blow the Budget
World of Shakespeare: The Complete Plays and Sonnets of William Shakespeare (38 Volume Library)
All the plays and the poetry in a matching hardcover set. This is the ultimate collection for fans of Shakespeare and a great edition for anyone who is trying to build a personal library.
Hopefully this will have given you more than a few ideas for Shakespeare themed gifts for birthday or Christmas and do remember, as Will said himself, "Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind."