The Bard, 400 Years Later?

As popular as ever.

From a piece in Forbes...

The current television show Sons of Anarchy, now in its sixth season on F/X, has long been thought to draw its inspiration from Hamlet.

Tempestuous co-author Kim Askew believes the pop culture interest in Shakespeare is driven by his plays ubiquitous themes which translate well to today’s audience.'

“The heightened drama and emotions in Shakespeare’s plays feel very true to the experience of being a teenager,” Askew said.  “Many of his characters are young people facing the same issues teens and – and adults – will always face: the drama of falling in (and out of) love, dysfunctional families, the question of where you rank in the social sphere…it’s very easy to take his universal themes and make them relatable to the modern era.  His plays are very ‘of the now’ in whatever time period they’re read.”

There’s even a new Shakespeare app series available in Apple’s App Store, to take advantage of the interactive capabilities of the Apple iPad.  In November UK publisher, Cambridge University Press, released the first of its Explore Shakespeare series of apps which pair the text of Shakespeare’s plays with audio performances, commentary and other interactive content, in effect transforming the classic plays for the digital age.