‘Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed,
When not to be receives reproach of being;
And the just pleasure lost, which is so deemed
Not by our feeling, but by others’ seeing:
For why should others’ false adulterate eyes
Give salutation to my sportive blood?
Or on my frailties why are frailer spies,
Which in their wills count bad what I think good?
No, I am that I am, and they that level
At my abuses reckon up their own:
I may be straight though they themselves be bevel;
By their rank thoughts, my deeds must not be shown;
     Unless this general evil they maintain,
     All men are bad and in their badness reign.
 
Analysis
In Sonnet 121, the poet condemns hypocrisy and decides he’s going to be himself.

Bill muses that you’re better off being a bad person than to be known as a bad person despite your inherent goodness. You lose even the joy in doing your normal activities, when others, not you, decide that taking pleasure in things is a bad thing. Why do the eyes of the false pass judgement on his joy? Why do the weak tally his weaknesses? He decides to remain true to himself and reminds those who judge to look within, for they may find that he is the good one and they are not. But he decides to be secretive, because while bad men reign, evil rules.
 
Will’s Wordplay
“Adulterate” doesn’t refer to extramarital activities in this usage; it indicates an impurity in the hearts of all the haters.

“Sportive blood”, however, IS a reference to Bill’s lustfulness and sexy activities.

Although “I am that I am” superficially this means “I am an independent person, and my personality is not dictated by what these ‘spies’ see in me”, it is an exact copy of the biblical phrase which God utters to Moses (Exodus 3.14, Geneva Bible) . The echo is therefore unlikely to be unintentional. However it could be interpreted as ironic, or rueful. If ironic, it is a glance at the richness of the Renaissance tradition, in which man is the pinnacle of creation.

United Nations Headquarters, Manhattan
International policy is made down by the East Riverside… The headquarters of the United Nations is a complex in New York City. The complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952. It is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the East River.

Although it is situated in New York City, the land occupied by the United Nations Headquarters and the spaces of buildings that it rents are under the sole administration of the United Nations. They are technically extraterritorial through a treaty agreement with the U.S. government. However, in exchange for local police and fire protection and other services, the U.N. agrees to acknowledge most local, state, and federal laws.[1]

The United Nations Headquarters complex was constructed in stages with the core complex completed between 1948-1952. The Headquarters occupies a site beside the East River, on 17 acres (69,000 m²) of land purchased from the foremost New York real estate developer of the time, William Zeckendorf, Sr. Nelson Rockefeller arranged this purchase, after an initial offer to locate it on the Rockefeller family estate of Kykuit was rejected as being too isolated from Manhattan. The US$8.5 million purchase was then funded by his father, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who donated it to the city. [2] Wallace Harrison, the personal architectural adviser for the Rockefeller family, and a prominent corporate architect, served as the Director of Planning for the United Nations Headquarters. His firm, Harrison and Abramovitz, oversaw the execution of the design. [3]
 
Planning and Construction
Many cities vied for the honor of hosting the U.N. Headquarters site, prior to the selection of New York City. The selection of the East River site came after over a year of protracted study and consideration of many sites in the United States. A powerful faction among the delegates advocated returning to the former League of Nations complex in Geneva, Switzerland. Suggestions came from far and wide including such fanciful suggestions as a ship on the high seas to housing the entire complex in a single tall building. Amateur architects submitted designs, local governments offered park areas, but the determined group of New York boosters that included such luminaries as Grover Whalen, Thomas J. Watson, and Nelson Rockefeller, coordinated efforts with the powerful Coordinator of Construction, Robert Moses and Mayor William O’Dwyer, to assemble acceptable interim facilities. Their determined courtship of the U.N. Interim Site committee resulted in the early meetings taking place at multiple locations throughout the New York area. The Manhattan site was selected after John D. Rockefeller, Jr. offered to donate $8.5 million to purchase the land.

While the United Nations had dreamed of constructing an independent city for its new world capital, multiple obstacles soon forced the Organization to downsize their plans. The diminutive site on the East River necessitated a “Rockefeller Center” type vertical complex, thus, it was a given that the Secretariat would be housed in a tall office tower. During daily meetings from February to June 1947, the collaborative team produced at least 45 designs and variations.

Construction on the initial buildings began in 1948, with the cornerstone laid on 24 October 1949, [4] and was completed in 1952. The Dag Hammarskjöld Library Building, designed by Harrison and Abramovitz, was added in 1961. The construction of the headquarters was financed by an interest-free loan of $65 million made by the United States government, and the cost of construction was also reported as $65 million. [5]
 
International Character
The site of the United Nations Headquarters has extraterritoriality status. [6] This affects some law enforcement where UN rules override the laws of New York City, but it does not give immunity to those who commit crimes there. In addition, the United Nations Headquarters remains under the jurisdiction and laws of the United States, although a few members of the UN staff have diplomatic immunity and so cannot be prosecuted by local courts unless the diplomatic immunity is waived by the Secretary-General.

The currency in use at the United Nations headquarters’ businesses is the U.S. dollar. English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; most of the daily communication within Secretariat and most of the signs in the UN headquarters building are in French and English. English, French and Spanish are the working languages of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); and Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are working and official languages of the General Assembly.

The complex has a street address of United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY 10017, USA. The United Nations Postal Administration issues stamps, which must be used on stamped mail sent from the building. Journalists, when reporting from the complex, often use “United Nations” rather than “New York” as the identification of their location in recognition of the extraterritoriality status.
 
The Complex
The complex includes a number of major buildings. While the Secretariat building is most predominantly featured in depictions of the headquarters, it also includes the domed General Assembly building, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, as well as the Conference and Visitors Center, which is situated between the General Assembly and Secretariat buildings, and can be seen only from FDR Drive or the East River. Just inside the perimeter fence of the complex stands a line of flagpoles where the flags of all 193 UN member states, plus the U.N. flag, are flown in English alphabetical order. [7]

The General Assembly building holds the General Assembly Hall which has a seating capacity of 1,800. At 165 ft long by 115 ft wide, it is the largest room in the complex. The Hall has two murals by the French artist Fernand Léger. At the front of the chamber, is the rostrum containing the green marble desk for the President of the General Assembly, Secretary-General and Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services and matching lectern for speakers.[4] Behind the rostrum is the UN emblem on a gold background. [8] Flanking the rostrum is a paneled semi-circular wall that tapers as it nears the ceiling and surrounds the front portion of the chamber. In front of the paneled walls are seating areas for guests and within the wall are windows which allow translators to watch the proceedings as they work. The ceiling of the hall is 75 ft (23 m) high and surmounted by a shallow dome ringed by recessed light fixtures. The General Assembly Hall was last altered in 1980 when capacity was increased to accommodate the increased membership. Each of the 192 delegations has six seats in the hall with three at a desk and three alternate seats behind them. [4]

The Conference Building faces the East River between the General Assembly Building and the Secretariat. The Conference Building holds the Security Council Chamber, which was a gift from Norway. The oil canvas mural depicting a phoenix rising from its ashes by Norwegian artist Per Krogh hangs at the front of the room.
 
In Popular Culture
Due to its role in international politics, the United Nations Headquarters is often featured in movies and other pop culture. The only film actually shot on location in the UN headquarters is The Interpreter (2005), filmed with the consent of the Secretary-General, [9] although some scenes in the political documentary film U. N. Me were surreptitiously filmed inside the building without permission. When he was unable to obtain permission to film in the UN Headquarters, director Alfred Hitchcock covertly filmed Cary Grant arriving for the 1959 feature North by Northwest. The final Roadblock of the 21st season of the American version of The Amazing Race also took place inside the gates of this building and had teams associating national flags with the different “hellos” and “goodbyes” they heard during the race. The building is seen in the 2008 game Grand Theft Auto IV, but called the Civilization Committee Building (CC).
 
References
1. Kelsen, Hans (2000). The law of the United Nations: a critical analysis of its fundamental problems. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. p. 350. ISBN 1-58477-077-5.
2. Boland, Ed Jr. (8 June 2003). “F.Y.I.”. The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
3. Phipps, Linda S. “‘Constructing’ the United Nations Headquarters: Modern Architecture as Public Diplomacy” PhD Thesis, Harvard University, 1998
4. “Fact Sheet: United Nations Headquarters”. United Nations. Retrieved 6 January 2011
5. Childers, Erskine (29 September 1995). “Financing the UN”. Global Policy Forum. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
6. “The Story of United Nations Headquarters”. United Nations. July 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2010
7. Endrst, Elsa B. (December 1992). “So proudly they wave … flags of the United Nations”. UN Chronicle (findarticles.com). Retrieved 24 October 2011(at the time the article was printed, there were only 179 member states).
8. “The General Assembly”. United Nations. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
9. “The Interpreter (2005) – Trivia”. imdb. Retrieved 24 October 2011

ACTOR – Alec Tucker
Hello all! My name is Alec Tucker and I am so thrilled that I got to be apart of the NYC Sonnet project. It was a really unique and fun experience. I have to thank my long time director, Diana Green, for choosing me to be her actor in this film. Diana and I have worked together for 10 years and 18 different Shakespeare productions. Needless to say…. I love me some Willy. When not doing Shakespeare I also participate in my High School’s musical productions, jazz band, and acapella group. Recently I was nominated for Best Actor in a leading role and best comedic performance by the Metro awards in my performance of Me & My Girl through my high school. And I actually won best comedic performance! It was an amazing feeling. I also immensely enjoy stage combat. I started fighting on the stage at 11 years old. I have been a samurai warrior ever since and it is something that I hope to continue doing. This fall I will be attending Ithaca college and I am very excited to start a new chapter in my life, but know that Shakespeare will always be with me. Hope you enjoy the film!

DIRECTOR – Diana Green
Diana is the Artistic Director and founder of The Children’s Shakespeare Theater (CST) which comprises two divisions: the Knaves (8-14 year olds) and The Rogues (teens). As such she is able to put many different energies to work. She has directed over 50 full-length productions of Shakespeare’s plays with this company thus far and will be producing and directing for the 15^th Season beginning in the fall of 2013. Growing up in the NY area, Diana was fortunate enough to be exposed to Shakespeare at a very early age and attended many of Joseph Papp’s productions at the Delacorte. She would like to think that her company strives like Papp to make Shakespeare accessible to the uninitiated by way of modern themes and music. For instance, she has had great success with setting Measure for Measure in a Star Wars theme, designing a graffitti-covered balcony for Juliet, and using Game of Thrones music to underscore the battles in Troilus & Cressida. She has done the entire history series with 8 – 14 year-olds, and she cast a 50-year-old man as a pot-smoking Puck for a psychedelic Midsummer Night’s Dream. She is a reverent student of the texts and feels that these choices are all supported by Shakespeare’s own words (“Fetch me this herb…”? come on!). All of these productions have been done in a small church in her hometown of Palisades where the front row is always tiny chairs for children and 5-year-olds sit rapt in wonder, not bothered by the complex language. She is also the fight choreographer and costume designer, and has created hundreds of elaborate costumes for all these different eras.

Diana studied primarily at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. She took the month-long intensive for actors and directors in 2001 and it changed her life. She owes much of her creative inspiration to wonderful mentors such as Kevin Coleman and Daniela Varon. In previous incarnations Diana was also a commercial photographer, journalist and Montessori teacher, all of which have served her well as a director.

The most recent development at CST has been the establishing of an adult company, The Strange Bedfellows, which is a collaboration of trained actors and parents and friends of CST. This company has been a delightful adventure in bravery and inspired lunacy. In this company Diana is also an actor and has finally gotten the chance to play some long covetted roles. She was Beatrice, Paulina and most recently Feste. At present she is at work on a production of Romeo & Juliet which will combine members of all three companies in a Gatsby-inspired setting in Sparkill, NY where she first met Ross Williams! It’s a great circle of life!

Apart from theater, Diana is also a singer (with her own band, Lady Disdain), a writer, a road-trip efficionado and mother to two brilliant young beings who shared the CST experience with her for many years. She is currently single (ahem) and living in Nyack, NY.

For further info and fun photos: https://www.facebook.com/SBFShakespeare?fref=ts

www.childrensshakespeare.org
 
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY – Chris Carroll
“Rock stars, CEOs, and toddlers have a lot in common,” says Chris Carroll, who has shot many of each during his 25-year career. “They all have high needs and a short attention span.” Chris started fast, shooting celebrity editorial for the likes of SPIN, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and GQ while still in his twenties. He went on to work for numerous national magazines and advertising clients, and continues to hone his wryly observed style of portraiture. The shift to digital has meant that Chris has the darkroom of his dreams right there in the Mac on his desk. Since moving out of Tribeca September 1st, 2001, he and his family have lived in the charming village of Nyack, twenty miles up the Hudson from Manhattan.

Chris has developed a keen eye for the hidden stories in suburbia, with revealing insights into such subjects as the babysitter’s rock band, the local volunteer fire department, and the high school football team. His portraits capture the dualities in his subjects, showing both their ready-for-prime-time faces, and the grace and pathos that lie hidden beneath.

Chris is married to the writer Liz Mechem Carroll; they have two daughters. In 2007, they cowrote Legends of Country, an affectionate paean to America’s great native art form: country music. In 2009, Hammond published Disasters at Sea, the second book co-written by the Carrolls. The couple continue to collaborate on literary, domestic, and film projects. Chris is currently Creative Director of Lightbox Nyack, a multimedia studio and school of digital arts.