Shakespeare and Book Reviews

I'm really excited for the Shakespeare workshop today. The Shakespeare productions I've seen, whether film or stage, are so completely different than the plays alone- its fascinating the difference that the human element has on poetry, or even the performance element, for that matter. Poems can take on such a different tone and life in performance; I've been absolutely amazed by the transformation at the few poetry slams I've attended. In anticipating today's workshop, I've been looking at my own work in a slightly different light, and considering the work of others in a slightly different light as well. Can the value, impact, and quality of poetry change depending on the media in which it is presented? I feel like it can. Spoken word-art is closely related to poetry, and yet; the lyrics to rap songs often appear to be gibberish (or at least tedious) in print, but can be so intensely moving when performed. One artist that comes to mind (and I would say artist rather than poet...though, again, the two are closely related) is Tupac Shakur. I would NOT want to read his work, but listening to it in performance, whether on a recording or someone reciting it- that is a moving experience. I guess I've just been considering how I want my own work presented...I'm taking the intended medium into account as I write.
I also feel like the book reviews that we just did relate to the subject of medium and presentation. A collection of poems as a book is so different than an assortment of poems that happen to be chronologically organized. In reading the reviews of others and in reading A Boy's Will, I had the chance to admire the amount of thought and precision that the authors put into organizing their poems in a collection, often yielding a new or enhanced meaning. I like how each step is artistic and purposeful.
AH SHAKESPEARE WORKSHOP!! Sweet!!!