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Title: Is this the same Bard???
Review: Sometimes it's hard to believe this story was written by Shakespeare. Perhaps it was a warm-up to his better works (Othello, Hamlet, etc.). The Bard didn't take the time to explain the motives of the African villain making him seem more like a cartoon or metaphor for evil than an actual person. As an African-American perhaps I was longing for some deeper explanation of Aaron's emotions, rather than simply placing a dark-skinned man as the villain for the convenience of "dark=evil" imagery. The gruesome images of rape and disfigurement also didn't appeal to me, as enamored as I am of happier topics.This play was written purely for entertainment, much like our contemporary horror films. There are nuggets of quotable poetry (mostly the expressive curses and lamentations). Sci-Fi fans will giggle in Act II.I when Demetrius addresses Chiron as "youngling," but as a whole, this is not one of my favorite plays.
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