My Humble Self

Rose, Butchart Gardens, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada (photo (c) Ulrike Boehm; all rights reserved)

I am probably best described as a lifelong resident of that magical land where the gods and heroes of classic mythology hold discourse with the likes of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Butch and Sundance, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway; where Bogey and Bacall sit down for a game of poker (or bridge) with Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and Lord Peter Wimsey, and where Mr. Darcy and Captain Rhett Butler dance away over the rainbow with Sheherazade and Emma Bovary.

I was introduced to Shakespeare's works in high school and, I believe like many people, meandered a while before settling on my one true favourite. Earlier candidates included pretty much all the other usual suspects at one point or another; particularly so, "Romeo and Juliet" (of course), "Macbeth," "Richard II," "Richard III," "Henry V," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Tempest," the "battle of the sexes" comedies ("The Taming of the Shrew," "As You Like It," "Much Ado About Nothing, "Love's Labour's Lost"), "Julius Caesar," "Antony and Cleopatra," as well as some of the sonnets. When precisely the realisation hit home with me what a truly unique piece of writing "Hamlet" is, I can no longer even tell. All I know is that it was a gradual process: for a long time I was turned off by the play's sheer length; as well as its gutwrenching atmosphere and – apparent – utter hopelessness, and in no small part also by the play's uncharitable stance towards its two female characters. Yet, eventually its unique power got through to me and firmly took hold of my brain, unmix'd with baser matter.

My motivation for setting up this website is outlined at length on this site's Welcome and Screenplay pages; I won't repeat it here. I do hope you enjoy your visit – and if you want to contact me, feel free to write to