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. Sonnet 154 The little Love-god lying once asleep

. Sonnet 153 Cupid laid by his brand and fell asle

. Sonnet 152 In loving thee thou know'st I am fors

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Sonnet 152
In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn,
But thou art twice forsworn, to me love swearing;
In act thy bed-vow broke, and new faith torn,
In vowing new hate after new love bearing:
But why of two oaths' breach do I accuse thee,
When I break twenty? I am perjured most;
For all my vows are oaths but to misuse thee,
And all my honest faith in thee is lost:
For I have sworn deep oaths of thy deep kindness,
Oaths of thy love, thy truth, thy constancy;
And, to enlighten thee, gave eyes to blindness,
Or made them swear against the thing they see;
For I have sworn thee fair; more perjured eye,
To swear against the truth so foul a lie!

performed by actor, and director Vivien Latham

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full video at
https://youtu.be/Y6asxAqsngM

. Sonnet 151 Love is too young to know what consci

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Sonnet 151
Love is too young to know what conscience is,
Yet who knows not conscience is born of love?
Then, gentle cheater, urge not my amiss,
Lest guilty of my faults thy sweet self prove:
For, thou betraying me, I do betray
My nobler part to my gross body's treason;
My soul doth tell my body that he may
Triumph in love; flesh stays no farther reason,
But rising at thy name doth point out thee,
As his triumphant prize. Proud of this pride,
He is contented thy poor drudge to be,
To stand in thy affairs, fall by thy side.
No want of conscience hold it that I call
Her love, for whose dear love I rise and fall.

performed by theatre teacher, mother, and activist Niki Mohr

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full video at
https://youtu.be/E559XeFG_KE

. Sonnet 150 O, from what power hast thou this pow

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Sonnet 150
O, from what power hast thou this powerful might
With insufficiency my heart to sway?
To make me give the lie to my true sight,
And swear that brightness doth not grace the day?
Whence hast thou this becoming of things ill,
That in the very refuse of thy deeds
There is such strength and warrantise of skill
That, in my mind, thy worst all best exceeds?
Who taught thee how to make me love thee more
The more I hear and see just cause of hate?
O, though I love what others do abhor,
With others thou shouldst not abhor my state;
If thy unworthiness rais'd love in me,
More worthy I to be beloved of thee.

performed by actor and director Alan Waserman

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full video at
https://youtu.be/3JTKm7pkfXg

. Sonnet 149 Canst thou, O cruel! say I love thee

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Sonnet 149
Canst thou, O cruel! say I love thee not,
When I against myself with thee partake?
Do I not think on thee, when I forgot
Am of my self, all tyrant, for thy sake?
Who hateth thee that I do call my friend,
On whom frown'st thou that I do fawn upon,
Nay, if thou lour'st on me, do I not spend
Revenge upon myself with present moan?
What merit do I in my self respect,
That is so proud thy service to despise,
When all my best doth worship thy defect,
Commanded by the motion of thine eyes?
But, love, hate on, for now I know thy mind,
Those that can see thou lov'st, and I am blind.

performed by actor, instructor and scholar Corey J. Roberts.

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. Sonnet 148 O me! what eyes hath Love put in my h

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Sonnet 148
O me! what eyes hath Love put in my head,
Which have no correspondence with true sight;
Or, if they have, where is my judgment fled,
That censures falsely what they see aright?
If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote,
What means the world to say it is not so?
If it be not, then love doth well denote
Love's eye is not so true as all men's: no,
How can it? O! how can Love's eye be true,
That is so vexed with watching and with tears?
No marvel then, though I mistake my view;
The sun itself sees not, till heaven clears.
O cunning Love! with tears thou keep'st me blind,
Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find.

performed by actress Rosie Gordon

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full video at
https://youtu.be/QsWMTOyk_Q0

. Sonnet 147 My love is as a fever longing still,

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Sonnet 147
My love is as a fever longing still,
For that which longer nurseth the disease;
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
The uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, now Reason is past care,
And frantic-mad with evermore unrest;
My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are,
At random from the truth vainly expressed;
For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

performed by director and actress Jessi May Stevenson

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follow Jessi May Stevenson at jessi_may_stevenson on Instagram

full video at
https://youtu.be/DfYkJRleGZA

. Sonnet 145 Those lips that Love's own hand did m

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Sonnet 145
Those lips that Love's own hand did make,
Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate',
To me that languished for her sake:
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,
Chiding that tongue that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom;
And taught it thus anew to greet;
'I hate' she altered with an end,
That followed it as gentle day,
Doth follow night, who like a fiend
From heaven to hell is flown away.
'I hate', from hate away she threw,
And saved my life, saying 'not you'.

performed by actor, director, and playwright Lillian Lippold

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follow Lillian Lippold at lillianlippold.com & @lilliannnngrace on Instagram and twitter

full video at
https://youtu.be/DdbrYmF7Rn4

. Sonnet 144 Two loves I have of comfort and despa

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Sonnet 144
Two loves I have of comfort and despair,
Which like two spirits do suggest me still:
The better angel is a man right fair,
The worser spirit a woman coloured ill.
To win me soon to hell, my female evil,
Tempteth my better angel from my side,
And would corrupt my saint to be a devil,
Wooing his purity with her foul pride.
And whether that my angel be turned fiend,
Suspect I may, yet not directly tell;
But being both from me, both to each friend,
I guess one angel in another's hell:
Yet this shall I ne'er know, but live in doubt,
Till my bad angel fire my good one out.

performed by Ben Thurman

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. Sonnet 143 Lo, as a careful housewife runs to ca

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Sonnet 143
Lo, as a careful housewife runs to catch
One of her feathered creatures broke away,
Sets down her babe, and makes all swift dispatch
In pursuit of the thing she would have stay;
Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase,
Cries to catch her whose busy care is bent
To follow that which flies before her face,
Not prizing her poor infant's discontent;
So runn'st thou after that which flies from thee,
Whilst I thy babe chase thee afar behind;
But if thou catch thy hope, turn back to me,
And play the mother's part, kiss me, be kind;
So will I pray that thou mayst have thy 'Will,'
If thou turn back and my loud crying still.

performed by actor and educator Bill Walthall

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Sonnet 140 Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press

Sonnet 140
Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press
My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain;
Lest sorrow lend me words, and words express
The manner of my pity-wanting pain.
If I might teach thee wit, better it were,
Though not to love, yet, love to tell me so;
As testy sick men, when their deaths be near,
No news but health from their physicians know;
For, if I should despair, I should grow mad,
And in my madness might speak ill of thee;
Now this ill-wresting world is grown so bad,
Mad slanderers by mad ears believed be.
That I may not be so, nor thou belied,
Bear thine eyes straight, though thy proud heart go wide.

performed by actress Genevieve Levin

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follow Genevieve Levin at genevievelevin.com, @genevievelevin on Twitter and Instagram, and genevieverlevin on Facebook

full video at
https://youtu.be/LuyrSKwI9Ko

. Sonnet 141 In faith I do not love thee with mine

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Sonnet 141
In faith I do not love thee with mine eyes,
For they in thee a thousand errors note;
But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise,
Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote.
Nor are mine ears with thy tongue's tune delighted;
Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,
Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited
To any sensual feast with thee alone:
But my five wits nor my five senses can
Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,
Who leaves unswayed the likeness of a man,
Thy proud heart's slave and vassal wretch to be:
Only my plague thus far I count my gain,
That she that makes me sin awards me pain.

performed by student, teacher, and creative wannabe Heather Molloy

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Photos: Ketut Subiyanto

full video at
https://youtu.be/GcrK0oXG9zE

. Sonnet 139 O! call not me to justify the wrong T

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Sonnet 139
O! call not me to justify the wrong
That thy unkindness lays upon my heart;
Wound me not with thine eye, but with thy tongue:
Use power with power, and slay me not by art,
Tell me thou lov'st elsewhere; but in my sight,
Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside:
What need'st thou wound with cunning, when thy might
Is more than my o'erpressed defence can bide?
Let me excuse thee: ah! my love well knows
Her pretty looks have been mine enemies;
And therefore from my face she turns my foes,
That they elsewhere might dart their injuries:
Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,
Kill me outright with looks, and rid my pain.

performed by actor, improviser, author and choreographer Mary Comstock

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full video at
https://youtu.be/QgfhzYamPtQ

. Sonnet 138 When my love swears that she is made

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Sonnet 138
When my love swears that she is made of truth,
I do believe her though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed:
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O! love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love, loves not to have years told:
Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.

performed by playwright, actor, and director Michael Perlmutter

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follow Michael Perlmutter at www[dot]DirectingHamlet[dot]com

full video at
https://youtu.be/0muM6kt4XKk

. Sonnet 137 Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou

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Sonnet 137
Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes,
That they behold, and see not what they see?
They know what beauty is, see where it lies,
Yet what the best is take the worst to be.
If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks,
Be anchored in the bay where all men ride,
Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forged hooks,
Whereto the judgment of my heart is tied?
Why should my heart think that a several plot,
Which my heart knows the wide world's common place?
Or mine eyes, seeing this, say this is not,
To put fair truth upon so foul a face?
In things right true my heart and eyes have erred,
And to this false plague are they now transferred.

performed by actress Rafaela Garcia

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follow Rafaela Garcia at @rrrrrafaela_ on Instagram

full video at
https://youtu.be/lj2yMJjac9I

. Sonnet 136 If thy soul check thee that I come so

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Sonnet 136
If thy soul check thee that I come so near,
Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy Will,
And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there;
Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil.
Will, will fulfil the treasure of thy love,
Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one.
In things of great receipt with ease we prove
Among a number one is reckoned none:
Then in the number let me pass untold,
Though in thy store's account I one must be;
For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold
That nothing me, a something sweet to thee:
Make but my name thy love, and love that still,
And then thou lovest me for my name is 'Will.'

performed by actor, director, and educator Bill Walthall

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While *technically* not a FireMuse production, it

While *technically* not a FireMuse production, it certainly has all the sensibilities of one...
#Repost - @billwalthall
Ok, so this is what has taken so long... but after fits and starts, it's taking shape....
Tickets are now on sale for ANDRONICUS... think of it as counterprogramming for the usual holiday fare... you know, "It's (NOT) a wonderful life..." (or maybe "It's a wonderful death")...

. Sonnet 135 Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy

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Sonnet 135
Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will,
And Will to boot, and Will in over-plus;
More than enough am I that vexed thee still,
To thy sweet will making addition thus.
Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious,
Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?
Shall will in others seem right gracious,
And in my will no fair acceptance shine?
The sea, all water, yet receives rain still,
And in abundance addeth to his store;
So thou, being rich in Will, add to thy Will
One will of mine, to make thy large will more.
Let no unkind, no fair beseechers kill;
Think all but one, and me in that one Will.

performed by actor, director, and educator Bill Walthall

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full video at
https://youtu.be/Dqpv36Fo6Vc

Sonnet 134 (FireMuse Shakespeare Sonnet Project) -

Sonnet 134 (FireMuse Shakespeare Sonnet Project) -- Miguel Angel Caballero
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Sonnet 134
So now I have confessed that he is thine,
And I my self am mortgaged to thy will,
Myself I'll forfeit, so that other mine
Thou wilt restore to be my comfort still:
But thou wilt not, nor he will not be free,
For thou art covetous, and he is kind;
He learned but surety-like to write for me,
Under that bond that him as fast doth bind.
The statute of thy beauty thou wilt take,
Thou usurer, that put'st forth all to use,
And sue a friend came debtor for my sake;
So him I lose through my unkind abuse.
Him have I lost; thou hast both him and me:
He pays the whole, and yet am I not free.

performed by actor and director Miguel Angel Caballero

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follow Miguel Angel Caballero at @MigAngel1111 on Instagram and www.MiguelAngelCaballero[dot]com

Video courtesy of Cabaldana Alchemy
Film: “Broken Sunflower Hearts”
Music: Pedro Vargas Madrigal

full video at
https://youtu.be/8W55e3Biv6w

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