Kevin Kline SAID that?! I'm generally quite fond of him as an actor, but in this case he wants beating.

I've taught Shakespeare to high-school kids as part of an intensive, 8 plays in 8 weeks programme, and the very first thing I addressed was the material's appeal to the rank and file of 16th/17th century England. We spent an entire class on Bankside, and the low social reputation of the playhouses, which stood amidst bear-pits and brothels (delightfully known as "bouncing palaces' in the slang of the time) and doubled as venues for prize fights, the cheap admission for the groundlings, and the fact that people would talk, heckle, eat and drink throughout the performance...try THAT at the RSC sometime, although they're pretty cool about including the audience at the new Globe!

I have three sons of my own, and I've always made a point of exposing them to things that were "over their heads," and guess what? Lots of things aren't! It's exactly that kind of cautionary attitude towards anything perceived as "challenging" that will make a kid say, Well, f**k it, then, I'll just go back to my Playstation."

Grrrrrrr.

~D