Pulitzer Prize-winner on Shakespeare: What the hell?

From a great and wonderfully long interview with Tracy Letts, who won a Pulitzer for his knock-out play "August Osage County":

I like Shakespeare, but I never know what the hell is going on. The actor David Pasquesi is a dear friend of mine, and we’ve talked­ about this before. He says, “I don’t know why directors bother setting Shakespeare in different places, on the moon or in a resort.” He’s like: “I understand Verona. It’s what they’re saying that I don’t understand.”

Fascinating to hear an actor say this. Always thought part of the fun of being an actor must be to learn to truly understand Shakespeare.

Here's Letts in another play, as an actor, in "Who's Afriad of Virginia Woolf?"

Letts, as George, is the strangler.