HOW TO APPROACH A TOUCHY SUBJECT: SHAKESPEARE'S 'TWELFTH NIGHT'

I find Shakespeare to be incredibly fascinating. On the one hand, he's incredibly hard to read. I have degrees in English Literature and Writing; I took a class in college entirely devoted to Shakespeare and his works. And when I pick up one of his plays after not having read him for a while, it took some time to understand what was going on.

On the other hand, his plays are so accessible to the mainstream. Almost every one has been adapted for a more modern-day audience, and the stories tran...