I love Shakespeare. I kept only two of my college textbooks: my Riverside Chaucer and my Riverside Shakespeare. For those of you who don't know about the Riverside company, their books are large enough to require transport on a small cart. Lucky for me I've been lifting weights and can now carry said books around on my own strength.

Macbeth is one of my favorites, and Hamlet, even as long and cumbersome as it is. Comedy of Errors is quite hilarious. And yes, Iago is just about the most villainous villain who ever graced a page of print.

I think one reason people are put off by Shakespeare is that so many think Romeo and Juliet was the Only Play Ever Written, and has consequently been done to DEATH. It's an all right story, but I wouldn't consider it one of his better works. It's become such a cliche, and there are so many other plays to choose from.

Some directors like to take liberties with the classics - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes, it's just plain weird.