"So what's the big deal about ShakesFear?" asks the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Professor Ralph Alan Cohen, co-founder of the American Shakespeare Center, gave three answers to reporter Katherine Calos in preparation for his presentation to the international conference of the English Speaking Union held in Richmond at the end of October.

"First of all," writes Calos, "Shakespeare has been elevated to the status of icon, which is enough to make anyone wary.

"Second, students get tested on it. 'When things are made into books and you have to take tests on them, it doesn't take but a few decades until it becomes a shorthand for an IQ test.'

"Third, and most important, 'it's been separated from what it was meant to be, which is on the stage. . . . On a stage, with good production values, with good actors, you don't have any problem understanding the language. If it's done right -- when you see it or do it in class where it's about the acting choices and the things going on onstage and not the words by themselves -- it's really easy.'"

Learn about Ralph's talk and read the whole article at the Richmond Times-Dispatch website.