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Darren Richman
Oct 07, 2019
A man has managed to get William Shakespeare’s King Lear down to a manageable one minute in a video posted to Twitter.
Alasdair Beckett-King, an award-winning comedian, opens the video by complaining to camera that the play is far too long and needs speeding up.
He then explains that he’s cut the play down by simply using the 115 most frequently used words in order of the frequency of their appearance.
The result is a Shakespearean soliloquy for the ages, not a tale told by an idiot necessarily but undoubtedly full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.
Take that, Shakespeare! https://t.co/DHRjzrGoqx— Alasdair Beckett-King (@Alasdair Beckett-King) 1570183627
The internet responded to this abbreviated version with delight.
ALASDAIR IS THE VERY BEST OF US. https://t.co/1olmZ8824o— Amy Gledhill (@Amy Gledhill) 1570224123
Superb! https://t.co/0SQAqyNJMP— Chris (@Chris) 1570222512
Many a true word hath been spoken in order of occurrence. https://t.co/Irdlptvlcy— Ian Martin (@Ian Martin) 1570192468
Now this, is how you do Shakespeare👏👏👏 https://t.co/SEKRxOvxM0— Rich Wilson (@Rich Wilson) 1570199959
Am tempted to screen this the next time I'm teaching a class on presentation. It's an unexpectedly beautiful exampl… https://t.co/Ff1C2WIIjp— James Sumner (@James Sumner) 1570193117
@MisterABK Beautifully done. Next (please): Macbeth in alphabetical order— Samuel West 💙 (@Samuel West 💙) 1570192658
@MisterABK If you hadn't explained what you were doing I would have 100% believed this was simply you reading Shakespeare.— Mike Cox (@Mike Cox) 1570212230
More: The definitive list of William Shakespeare's most popular plays
More: The 46 finest insults William Shakespeare gave the English language
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