By Joseph Plummer, UUFSMA Board Secretary
“Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,” William Shakespeare wrote in “Henry VI.” And during this weekend’s UUFSMA Sunday Service, guest speaker Judy Rosenthal and the San Miguel Shakespeare Readers will present dramatic readings that reveal the Bard’s wisdom for our world today and his relevance to moments of spiritual reflection.
Celebrating the genius of Elizabethan literature for nearly 50 years in San Miguel, the Shakespeare Readers have a long tradition of exploring his theatrical chronicles from the late 16th and early 17th centuries for insights that resonate with human behavior in modern times. A UUFSMA member and current leader of the literary group, Rosenthal is a former professor of English literature at California’s Fresno State University.
“When I began to teach in Fresno, I had often heard about the so-called universality of the plays of Shakespeare, but I felt skeptical,” she recalls. “How could the drama of a 17th-century English playwright appeal to all readers?”
Exploring that issue as a scholar, she developed her appreciation of Shakespeare as a man of his times who wrote about the impact of personal and political power on human behavior and turned his insights into dramatic personas speaking to the ages. With his awareness of the boundaries of gender, he courted controversy with characters who entertained audiences by stretching the rules of their traditional roles.
In conceiving this entertaining service for the Fellowship, perhaps Rosenthal remembered this line from the Bard, “Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, show me the steep and thorny way to heaven.”
Three other members of the San Miguel Shakespeare Readers, Gene Harvey, Arlena Lawrence, and John Genereux will join Rosenthal in this presentation of excerpts from “MacBeth” and “Twelfth Night.” Classical guitarist Miguel Ángel Omaña, who received his training at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City, will perform music from Shakespeare’s time.
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion. Our Fellowship welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation, and gender identity. You can see what we are like and enjoy previous services at https://www.youtube.com/. Enter UUFSMA in the search box. UUFSMA donates generously to support nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, and environmental services for underserved communities in the San Miguel region. Please support this work by clicking on the website home page Donate button.
To participate in our online Sunday Service, visit www.uufsma.org and click on the Zoom Service button on the home page. If requested, enter password: 294513. Sign-in from anywhere Sunday mornings between 10:15-10:25am CST.
In addition to continuing live Zoom services, UUFSMA has returned to limited in-person Sunday services. Reservations are no longer necessary. Space permitting, guests who show their vaccination card can join the in-person service (and be approved for future attendance).
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Sunday Service
“The Universality of Shakespeare”
Speaker: Judy Rosenthal with the San Miguel Shakespeare Readers
Sun, Jul, 10, 10:30am
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/414604040
Password: 294513
