Shakespeare for Kids

Getting YOUR kid in a Shakespeare play

2012-02-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

Did you know every single year all over the country, actually, all over the world, there are Shakespeare festivals in almost every major city?What's really great about these festivals, is that they all, usually, have a place for kids in one of their plays. Most the time it's a small part, but what a great opportunity and experience for your kid to be exposed to Shakespeare.Most of the time the roles are not filled. And if they are, it's played by a young looking adult that has another part in the play. However, you can sometimes come up to the director and let them know you have a kid that is interested, and they will usually try to find a way to put them in.So if you're looking for a way to expose your kid to Shakespeare, and they're excited about theater, go ahead and find a local Shakespeare Festival. If you do a simple search on Google you will usually find one near you. Happy hunting!For more ideas about kids and Shakespeare, visit our site. There are great links, videos, and FANTASTIC Shakespeare for Kids books. Http://PlayingWithPlays.com

Great way to reach kids with Shakespeare

2011-10-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

Recently I got the opportunity to explore a whole new way to reach kids with Shakespeare. This came in the form of "Flocabulary". What the heck is flocabulary? Well, I'm glad you asked. I had an opportunity to talk with Aliza, the editorial director of Flocabulary, and this is what she said:

What exactly is "Flocabulary"?

Flocabulary makes educational hip-hop music. Our songs and lessons are designed for grades K-12. We tackle lots of different subject areas: everything from vocabulary to social studies to math to Shakespeare. You can listen to songs and view some of our videos at flocabulary.com.

How did Flocabulary get started?

The idea came to co-founder Blake Harrison in high school. He wondered why it was so easy to remember lines to his favorite rap songs but so difficult to memorize academic information. When he presented this idea to musician Alex Rappaport, years later, they decided to give it a try.

A month later they had a demo recorded. Six years later, Flocabulary’s programs are being used in more than 15,000 schools.

You have done Shakespeare this way, right? Can you tell us where we can find some?

We have indeed. We created an album called Shakespeare is Hip-Hop, which features 17 songs covering Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, Macbeth and Othello. And the album was co-produced by Grammy Award-winning artist 9th Wonder! The Shakespeare is Hip-Hop CD includes original Shakespearean lyrics rapped, as well as modern interpretations and classically performed monologues. And we have a teacher resource book with full curriculum to accompany the songs. You can listen to a song from Shakespeare is Hip-Hop (http://www.flocabulary.com/shakessample.html), or watch our Macbeth rap video (http://www.flocabulary.com/macbeth.html).

And recently, we created a new song for Much Ado About Nothing (flocabulary.com/muchado). In the hook, you'll get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Shakespeare rapping.

Can you Flo us down some Shakespeare?

Absolutely. This is part of our Much Ado About Nothing song, where we rap about the two couples:

So Beatrice and Benedick, that’s two B’s,
And these two B’s always seem to disagree,
Always buzzing ’bout something, but it’s never sweet,
No honey, their insults sting, it’s never peace.

But what if we set them a trap, you heard?
And have them fall in love like the bees and the birds?
“That’s not bad sir but ... ”—if you please,
I’ve got another idea that’s the bee’s knees.
For Hero and Claudio it’ll be love at first sight,
Like they don’t even need the audio.
They don't talk, they just sigh a lot,
So they figure they’ll tie the knot.

What is your overall goal of Flocabulary?

We believe that a motivated student is a more successful student. We work hard to make songs and curriculum that will get students excited. The goal is to make learning fun and accessible without making it less rigorous. Students of all backgrounds deserve to be engaged.

This is such a great avenue to approach kids with, that it almost seems silly not to try it. Flocabulary is great, check it out!

Autistic kids taking Shakespeare to the Next Level and the Woman that got them there

2011-05-26T23:32:00.000-07:00

Recently through Twitter I had the good fortune to find a very special lady, Heather - aka@AlaskaGrace. This is a little bit about her story of working with special needs kids and Shakespeare and the amazing growth their parents and educators saw as a result. I’ll start you off with a taste... a quote. It's the passion of her heart that got me hooked on her…

You just have to experience it. That's all I can say. Even if for a moment, it changes their lives. And for a very precious few, it changes their life forever.

Tell us a little something about who you are.

My younger brother Philip and I grew up in Memphis, TN. Our parents are both classically trained musicians and we spent a great deal of our time as kids at orchestra or play rehearsals. I grew up watching musical theatre on a stool sitting next to my dad in the orchestra pit. Later, when our parents' paths split we were blessed with a loving and involved step-father. When he naturally ended up spending time waiting at the theatre for my mom during rehearsals, we put him to work in the sound booth, lol. As time went on, I became even more involved in make-up, sets and other behind the scenes stuff.

After receiving my teaching degree from Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), I moved to Alaska in 1992 and accepted a position as a special education teacher with the Anchorage School District. Today, I am mom to two step-kids who have grown up and (mostly) left the nest, along with two special needs children my husband David and I adopted in 2003. Our family has now lived in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley north of Anchorage for almost 14 years. In 2009, I retired from teaching.

How did you get into teaching Special Education?

I had a dear friend in junior high who was hearing impaired. I took sign language as a class in high school and joined the National Junior Association for the Deaf. I decided I wanted to be a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing, but my school didn't offer that as a major. The closest I could get was a degree in Special Education.

Why did you choose to teach and perform Shakespeare with the Special Education group?

I didn't. It was their idea- I actually tried to talk them out of it! I had always loved Shakespeare, but I had no idea how to teach it! There was a young man in one of my classes who asked if I would teach them Hamlet. “Oh, you don't really want to do that, do you? A Shakespeare play?!” Well, yes, he did. So I said to the class,

“Come on, you guys really don't want to do this, right? Raise your hand if you want to do Hamlet.” Darn if every hand didn't shoot up into the air! I was pretty-much stuck.

So I went down to the English Dept. book room, found the Shakespeare plays, and dusted off about 10 copies of Hamlet to take back to my classroom, mumbling to myself the whole way. At what point had I lost control? I've got to read this and figure out how to teach it. Wonder if I bring donuts maybe they'll forget about it? Of course, in the light of 20-20 hindsight, it now looks like a brilliant idea, as the kids were successful beyond my wildest dreams.

It is clear that you do not see a ceiling with these kids; as a result, they rise to the occasion. What were some of the reactions that you received from parents, therapists, and fellow teachers regarding what you had accomplished?

Well, first, it’s not what I accomplished. It is about what the kids found within themselves to accomplish this. When we started, there were no sets, no props, no costumes- just an overhead projector to provide “stage” lighting. We were performing for ourselves. Then I thought that, since the kids have put so much into this, I might as well have my department chairman and a couple of teachers come down to see it. Afterwards, they asked the kids questions about their characters and about the plot, and by golly the answers they got showed that the kids knew their stuff! So I got an approving “atta girl” and that was about it. We never looked back- within a few years I had parents coming. From such a tiny start I wound up with parents of autistic kids and of non-readers in the audience crying over something that I just took for granted.

It was in talking with these parents that I soon came to realize that what I was seeing in my classroom and on our “stage” was not generally what was being seen at home. The really amazing thing, though, was that some parents had begun to see positive changes in their children that appeared to be connected to what we were doing at school. We all started putting the puzzle pieces together and realized something truly significant was happening. At the time, the high school I was teaching at was going through extensive changes in being remodeled and organized into communities of learning and “houses”. As a result of all those things, and support from the administration, other teachers became aware of what we were doing . We now had a common indoor courtyard area which became the perfect spot for us to move out of our classroom and into a practice area. With this added visibility, word spread even further.

I talked to the Life Skills teacher about a student during his senior year, a student I had in my classroom during his freshman year. He was autistic, had inappropriate responses in social situations, would perseverate on things, and would get upset and frustrated easily if touched or if someone entered his personal space. My special education English class was the first class he was able to leave his life skills classroom to attend. By his senior year, he was attending general education classes, with support. The teacher I was talking to said that the change started with his participation in our class's production of Taming of the Shrew. It had made all the difference in the world for him. I had never realized this- I had just seen the kid around the school over the years and figured it was a natural progression from the program he was in. But what his teacher said hit me right between the eyes. This student came out of his shell, began to understand how to be more socially appropriate, and WANTED to be that way as an apparent result of having the opportunity to participate in our little home-grown Shakespeare program. He was no longer afraid to let others hear his voice, and to speak his mind.

What advice would you give other special education teachers who would like to take on Shakespeare?

First, there is no right or wrong way to teach our kids as long as they are learning.

Second, you are the educator who knows your students the best. If things begin to bog down when you are sticking strictly to the lesson plan , switch things around and do something fun. I start each year’s “Shakespeare” plan with a movie so the students gain an understanding of the basic story (my guys all thought Elizabeth Taylor was a hottie!), then we would start reading the play. This part can take a long time and a lot of patience, especially working with students with low reading skills. My first couple of times doing this project, I insisted on reading the entire play, which I came to understand was too much. In later years we focused on certain parts of the play we were working on. If I had five classes, I had each class pick a different scene or sometimes an act. By doing this we’d end up with nearly an entire play at the end. Each of my classes would focus on their portion of the play, making sure each student understood his and her character's motivation and the things that had lead up to the character’s current situation. We’d break the reading up with days where the kids write in their journals as their character. Doing this breaks up the reading and provides the students a chance to work on writing skills. For the teacher, it gives an opportunity to check on understanding.

Through practice the students would learn to read their lines and by the end each will have mastered quite a list of new vocabulary. My experience was over the years that this can all be done in just bite size chunks well suited to a class period. There are also numerous opportunities to work with each individual child’s disability. For example, if you are working with an autistic child, remember that what you are teaching besides the play is that it is okay to make eye contact if that is what the character would do. It is okay to touch someone's arm or grab their elbow and shout, “Evermore cross'd and cross'd; nothing but cross'd!” If I was teaching emotionally disturbed students with anger issues (who, by the way, ALWAYS choose Act V of Hamlet!), I found myself always marveling by the time we were at the end at Laertes and Hamlet holding each other's arms and declaring, “But till that time, I do receive your offer'd love like love, And will not wrong it.” Horatio gently holding Hamlet's head, “Now cracks a noble heart: Good night sweet prince, may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” I always made sure the discipline principal would see that one!

So, tell me some stories...

I can tell stories that would break your heart. There was a 16 year old boy who was afraid to pin some material to a pattern because, “I never do anything right.” He confided to me he was doing community service for getting into some trouble and the person overseeing his work at the local thrift shop was always getting on him because he couldn't understand what she wanted him to do. He wound up making an achingly beautiful Horatio crying over his lost prince.

There was the native Alaskan girl, a senior, who would never look up, never look you in the eye, never raise her voice enough to hear, wore a size 20, and who was ready to quit school. As soon as she donned Queen Gertrude's dress, you could see the light come up in her beautiful eyes.

One year, we were doing Taming of the Shrew. We had borrowed costumes from the school’s theatre department (they had just done Merchant of Venice, how lucky was that??). We carved Styrofoam into castle walls and gates, painted, made delightful messes, and had kids who said there was “no way I was going to get them up in front of anybody.” “Just go ahead and give me the ‘F’.” In the end, one of those kids wound up bringing in a hinged frame he made at his vocational school class to help support the set pieces, and suddenly he became a part of it; became involved. When I brought in the things to put our lights together, dumped the boxes on the floor and said “have at it, here's the directions”- well, talk about teamwork! Reading, following directions, hands on...you name it. Then wait 'til you turn the lights on them for the first time when they are reading their lines. Oh, my God. Something happens. It's almost tangible.

I have special memories of the time when all we had done at that point was just our performances for ourselves in my classroom. As they went far better than I ever imagined, I went next door to the teacher who ran the Seminar Program. His students were used to presenting in front of each other in groups with the rest of the class providing constructive criticism. The teacher said his class would love to watch our class and do what they would do for their own classmates. I ran back to the room, announced to the kids that we were moving into the courtyard area in House 2 (we had clusters of classrooms around an open area which could be used for a variety of purposes). We grabbed our sets and lights and hauled everything down the hall, plugged in the lights, got everyone in position, and here came the seminar students. My kids started to get real nervous. I just told them to do what they had just done. If they could do it for themselves then they could do it here. The added stress took its toll on one of the spectrum kids, more rocking back and forth, and the occasional hand flip, but the other kids in the scene with him gently cued him and he took the cues and made it through. After the scenes were done, my kids gathered together and called upon the seminar students. The seminar kids in turn would ask questions of particular kids, commenting on how clearly they spoke, or if someone needed to face out towards the audience more, or if they stayed in character well, etc. Very polite, respectful, and my students took it very well. We got back into the classroom and my kids could hardly contain themselves! It was the most amazing feeling! The kid who swore at the beginning he was just going to take the "F", the girl with the cutting issues who played Katharina with her head held high, my autistic Petruchio who grabbed Katharina by the elbow and with raised angry voice said, "Go on, and fetch our horses back again. Evermore cross'd and cross'd; nothing but cross'd!" and pulled her back through the archway! This is a young man who would not make eye contact, who wouldn't touch another person, who was worried about yelling at the girl playing Katharina! You just have to experience it. That's all I can say. Even if for a moment, it changes lives. And for a very fortunate few, it may change their life forever. I know it changed mine.

I always had to struggle though with priorities. Mine versus the school district's, or those of the No Child Left Behind Act. Could I afford to take an entire quarter to do this with my students when there are exit exams (Alaska’s Graduation Qualifying Exams) they had to pass? We continued to write and do "English", but not with the intensity other teachers might in preparing for the exams. I was constantly faced with whether I should teach to the student or to the tests. The best way I can answer this is to note one young man in my class for a couple of years who was full of anger. Freshman and sophomore years he was always blowing up in class at the teachers, any authority figure, and peers. His writing and reading ability were very low. We did Hamlet, and I believe he was Hamlet (or Laertes, can't remember) in scene 5. It had a profound effect on him. When it came to his senior year and English electives, he got out of special education English and took the Shakespeare class; not the easiest elective English, and passed. He made it, and I think I know why.

At the end, as I reflect on all this, I see clearly that the success my students enjoyed had very little to do with me. I was just there to give these kids an avenue in which to find themselves. We, as teachers, are just the guides on this incredible journey of discovery. My advice is just to do what you always do- give the kids what they need, and at a pace where they can gain the most from every moment spent. If it takes 9 weeks to teach a Shakespeare play, then it takes 9 weeks.

You are an amazing woman. What is next on your bucket list of items to take on?

If I had my dreams come true, I would find a way to open a performing arts center for children with disabilities. I am not exactly sure what that would look like. It's just a dream.

There is something magical that happens when teaching Shakespeare to special needs kids, especially to kids on the Autism Spectrum. The first time it happened, it was an interesting surprise; the second time made me sit up and take notice that something special was happening. The third, fourth and fifth times- well, they speak for themselves. And why Shakespeare, you ask? There is the language, its rhythm, imagery, imaginativeness and power, and the relevance that his great works have today.

To learn more about Shakespeare for Kids books, Playing With Plays, or Brendan P. Kelso, check them all out here: PlayingWithPlays.com

Interview with Pursued by a Bear.net - (part 3 of 3)

2011-05-03T23:51:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation of PlayingWithPlays' interview with PursuedByABear.net. (you can find the other two interviews here: Part 1 & Part 2) This is the final interview of the trio that runs this wonderful site, Cassius (no not, from Caesar). Well, Cassius is her nickname, at birth she was given the name Meryl Federman, and I'll let her take it from here.

You can see a video version of the Q&A here.

Tell me a little something about who you are and what you do.

My name is Meryl Federman, I am currently a student. I'm about to graduate and go on to a sort of a starter career in financial consulting, which is exciting because I do a lot of quantitative stuff. I like Math, so that's sort of up my alley there. I get to look at a lot of numbers, which is kind of what I do as an Applied Math Major right now. I also minor in French where I do a lot of drama, and drama really is my second love. I like classical theater. I do hope at some point to do Energy Policy, so my life is kind of all over the place. I like the quantitative stuff, I like policy things, I like the worldly stuff, I think it's very interesting, but sort of as a break from that, I really like this classical drama which kind of taps into these universal themes. Not being a professional right now, I don't have a lick what I do yet, but I hope to create that in the years to come.

Why Cassius?

Cassius is absolutely one of my favorite characters, I generally love the choleric types (Cassius, Hotspur). I particularly love Cassius because he is so passionate, so personally touched by what probably started as an entirely political antipathy. He's self-sufficient and anti-religious, meaning that he tries to wrench power away from the gods, and be the master of his own domain.

Math and Drama?

I think that having a scientific background makes me analyze plays a bit differently than someone with a humanities background, but other than a slight shift in tone when discussing the more nit-picky literary stuff (I'm less likely to end up thinking about the literature in fancy formalist ways), I don't think there's much of a difference here

What’s your background with Shakespeare?

I'm not professionally involved in Shakespeare, but I fell in love with Shakespeare when I was fourteen. I started reading the plays as fast as I can get my hands on them. I'm still amazed when I look back at that time; How much better I understand the plays now. I do have several years of Shakespeare under my belt. I love watching the plays, seeing the plays. When I got to school, I became heavily involved in the Shakespeare company on campus (The undergraduate company, which I was President of for three semesters,) during that time I directed two Elizabethan Tragedies: One Shakespeare, Richard II, and the other is a Thomas Kyd play, The Spanish Tragedy which was a heavy influence on Hamlet. It was the first modern revenge play, a very Elizabethan verse drama, very tragic, lots of death, and all that good stuff. I did have a small part in The Spanish Tragedy, actually, as the Viceroy of Portugal, so I've had the opportunity to present some of these roles but as a woman, it is kind of hard to get cast in the very few female roles that they typically have. I've produced Shakespeare as well, a production of Pericles (a really weird, weird late play that is, but it was a great production,) so I guess I've really done all sorts of things with Shakespeare, but mostly I'm an avid reader and consumer of Shakespeare productions. I'm really excited always to see Shakespeare plays and to sort of delve into the questions that they raise. I mean, I've debated Hamlet zillions of times. I debate Richard II a lot, which is the play that I directed (with an all-female cast, by the way, so there's quite a lot to debate on my take on the play.)

What was the reason that started you doing Shakespeare videos?

I'm a born critic. I like to look at things, really dig into the choices made. Video reviewing is as fun as any a way to do that, and I do hope to continue doing that when I'm living in New York. I hope to get into the “critic” kind of mode as I see things, because I do have something to say. I've thought a lot about Shakespeare, I've read it, and I've studied it academically a lot, so I do feel like I have something valid to say. I'd like to get a great experience of viewing under my belt so I can really make these comparisons a little better.

How long have you been doing Shakespeare-related productions?

Four years. Freshman year, I was in a production of Twelfth Night as Curio (I had four lines. It was awesome.) It was a fantastic cast, just a really great experience to see Shakespeare up close and personal, it was a grand production. My Sophomore year, I was tangentially involved in a Hamlet production, and I ended up getting very involved in it. I was Assistant Stage Manager and Prop Mistress and Light Operator, so I really got to see the background of a production there. My Junior year was when I directed Richard II and produced Pericles, and Senior year, I directed The Spanish Tragedy in the Fall, I Assistant Produced Antony and Cleopatra at the same time, and I am currently in a production of Measure for Measure, and I'm the Provost who has to execute Claudio, and I get to interact to all the people I just directed in The Spanish Tragedy, and that's great because they're awesome and I love them.

Was it intimidating at all to approach Shakespeare through this type of format?

I don't think so. I think that because of my years of experience, I do feel like I have something to say, and I have the right to say it. It's definitely not as intimidating as trying to delve into the text of a play like Richard II and put on that production. That was the first production I did, and it's a really advanced text, so that was the most intimidating. I had done three Shakespeare scene exhibitions where I got to do little bite-sized bits, but it wasn't the same, so I feel like after things like that and a production of The Spanish Tragedy, which is this massive Elizabethan play. Obviously, doing something like this is putting yourself out there, but I feel like it's not as risky as some other stuff that I've done in my Shakespeare experience.

What’s your one piece of advice for other educators trying to reach students with Shakespeare?

I have not taught Shakespeare, per se. I've directed people with various levels of experience, especially in the scene exhibitions. I have sort of helped bring it to life, and people who have to teach the plays, very often in an Academic or Literary setting, have to remember is that these are people, this is how they talk, and I would really urge any educators to put the play on its feet, show people productions of plays, get into the questions that are raised by actually trying to do it, because I think that talking about the literary questions of things is fantastic and it's great, but it inevitably leads to “How does that look on a person, who has to feel those emotions and say those things, and deal with their fellow characters?” I would say, have them act out plays informally. I would necessarily make it a graded thing or anything, if that's part of what's going on, but have them put it on its feet and look at scenes sort of side by side from different productions. (I would stay away from a late '70s BBC productions because it's very high-flown, very “let's flog the text halfway to death.”) I love the text, don't get me wrong, but the text is part of how people talk. There's a reason why iambic pentameter is used: If you listen to hexameter, it sounds like a song, it doesn't really sound like speech, but Iambic Pentameter kind of does, and I feel like it's wrong to lose sight of that. You have to show them productions where people really own the text and make it sound like directed, focused, highly emotional and highly logical at the same time. Obviously, there is a formality to it that natural speech doesn't have, but I feel like it's important to show them that, because looking at it on a page, it can get very confusing with as many notes –or footnotes-- as you have and that's not how people were meant to experience it. The main thing is, “Make it real,” I think is the simplest thing that I can say because it is.; These characters are so compelling, there's no reason that students should think otherwise. They're very, very real. Make it real.

What’s your favorite Shakespeare play?

Julius Caesar, which is kind of a bizarre choice. I love politics. It's a brutal story about motivations and alliances,and personal emotion and everyone is so deep and interesting. They have these public faces, these private faces, what they really believe and what they have to end up acting on, and manipulation of others. Everything is just so brilliant. Brutus and Antony and Caesar are obviously super-interesting characters, but even the minor characters. Octavius Caesar is barely in this play, and he's a brilliant character. You see him coldly moving through, building his power base and undercutting Antony. Everything in Antony and Cleopatra is there. That rivalry between the two of them is there in Julius Caesar. Antony has that great soliloquy where he's just in awe of what was done, but he is not above using this ruthlessly to his own ends. I can't help loving it. “Friends, Romans, Countrymen,” what else can I say?

Who is your favorite Shakespeare Character(s)?

I love the choleric characters who just feel so strongly that it just trips them up, like Cassius, and also like Hotspur, from Henry IV-1. Hamlet is, of course, a brilliant character, I just think there's so much there that I sort of can't help loving Hamlet as well. Again, Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke, I sort of see them as two sides of the same coin, not to say that they're mirror images of each other, but I feel like because of just how opposite they are, they really bring a great sort of rivalry to life.

If you could spend an evening with the Bard, what would you do?

I would ask him some of the questions to try to pick apart some of the places in the play where things get a little funky. “How old his Hamlet?'” things like that. I would try to pin some of that down just to satisfy my own curiosity. I'm sure it would be an eye-opening experience because I feel like the concerns that we have as modern readers are probably things that would surprise Shakespeare. I don't think that, when Shakespeare wrote these plays, he had people coming to him backstage asking “How old is this character, anyway?” I think it was just a very different kind of concern back then. It was such a public, populist form of entertainment. I feel like he'd be surprised at how over thought his plays have become.

Any last comments?

Thank you so much! This is exciting. Farewell!

That wraps up our 3 parts series with PursuedByABear.net

If you want to know more about getting your kid to love Shakespeare, check out some books we have written.

Shakespeare's Birthday - and what he means to me...

2011-04-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Shakespeare. He's 447 years old now, or, better yet, he's been around for 477 years. So, what does Shakespeare mean to me?

Happiness.

That's about it, simple and easy, wrapped in one word. Although I should probably elaborate on why, however, it is that simple.

Why Happiness? Well, partially mine, somewhat teachers and parents, but mostly, kids. I write Shakespeare for Kids books. I got into writing these books because the kids wanted me to. Well, in the end it was that kids wanted me to. Truth be told, actually, it was my wife telling me I had to make some money if I was out of work. So, she set me up to do afterschool programs. So, at that point I did my first shortened Shakespeare script, Hamlet in a can, and let it rip. The kids loved it! Actually, they loved the sword play and dieing all over the stage... nothing like ending a play with 10 kids scattered around all melodramatically dieing! Great fun! It snowballed from there. I started writing more scripts and doing more performances for other cities and schools. As well as theater groups were requesting my scripts to perform to.

At that point, I actually had to get a real job. But, then came On-Demand Publishing. So I thought I would print a few, and see how it goes. Well, I must say, it is going better than I had imagined! The absolute best part is seeing all the emails from teachers about how much their kids LOVED performing my scripts, and, most importantly, how happy they were to play with the Bard. The videos I have seen are amazing. I have seen kids perform Macbeth while dancing to Thriller, I have seen chase scenes that have gone through the audience and back stage with parents rolling in their chairs laughing, and I have seen countless kids wanting more and more Shakespeare. Oh yeah, and I have seen hundreds of kids melodramatically die on stage!

It is a great feeling, that I have been given the privilege to create this avenue for kids to embrace Shakespeare, at such a young age. It makes the kids happy, it makes the parents happy, the teachers happy, and me... happy. And I am sure, somewhere, Shakespeare is happy as well.

Happy Birthday Bard,

Sincerely,

Brendan P. Kelso

PlayingWithPlays.com

Interview with Pursued by a Bear.net - (part 2 of 3)

2011-04-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation of Shakespeare for Kids of the interview with Pursued By a Bear, part 2. This interview is with Jessi Nowack, comedian, actress, and an all around fun person who loves Shakespeare.

Tell me a little something about who you are and what you do.

Jessi Nowack, internet voice actress and comedian. I do a show for Pursuedbyabear.net called “Reading is Dum”. It dissects high school required books and makes them fun.

How did you get into comedy? With a name like "no-wacking" I can come up with about six reasons on my own :)

My friends have always told me I was funny, so when I began my voice acting career, I decided to make parodies that I could voice act in. Killed two birds with one stone. Loved it so much, I stuck with it. I love entertaining people. And yes, when your last name is Nowack, you have to have a sense of humor. :P

So, can you give us an example(s) of what the other kids would interpret when they read, "It is the east..."

Mostly they would just stare blankly, but if they took a guess at what it meant and failed, it'd be pretty funny. For example, when we were reading Othello and our teacher asked us to explain what a "green eyed monster" is, one kid was like, "I don't think that's appropriate to talk about in school." I think I know what he thought it was.

I like your concept of "reading is dum", can you give me a brief summary of it's goal and a link to see it?

The goal of "Reading is Dum" is to help teens learn and understand high school required reading and actually enjoy it, whether it be by explaining the book more thoroughly or by putting it into more modern terms. I hate that students just look up Sparknotes, memorize something for a test, and then are done with the book forever. I want them to enjoy learning about the book and, as I'm a teenager myself, it'll be a relief to see me teach the material rather than a teacher who's mad at the world and talks too fast for you to write notes down. Not that I'm saying all teachers are like that; just saying we've all had that teacher at one point. As for a link, check out my stuff here.

Where can someone find out where you are doing your next comedy act or production?

I update my site, Wack Attack, as often as I can. There you can find my complete resume, my blog, (in which I talk about what recent parodies I've been in, update on what videos I'm working on, etc.) and lots of other stuff. I'll also post when I come out with a new "Reading is Dum" so that's the best place to visit to see when I have new videos out. You can visit the Wack Attack at http://nowacking.pursuedbyabear.net/

What’s your background with Shakespeare?

(In highschool) I could understand things other students couldn’t. They’d see, “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun” and not understand a word of it, but I did. I had particular attraction to Shakespearean literature.

What was the reason that started you doing Shakespeare videos?

I transferred to a public high school for my senior year and I was sick of students falling asleep in class or paying attention, but not understanding. I wanted to give them a way of tolerating, heck even “enjoying” literature.

How long have you been doing Shakespeare-related productions?

Technically haven’t done one, yet. Waiting for things to slow down.

Was it intimidating at all to approach Shakespeare through this type of format?

No, no, been doing comedy for years. It is a natural, familiar style for me to be writing in.

What are your long term goals for PursuedByABear.net?

Stupid cliché, but just want to help kids. If I can help one person, then that'll be cool.

What’s your one piece of advice for other educators trying to reach students with Shakespeare?

Don’t be a record. Whatever you have to say in a boring way about a book, they’ve already heard it. Gotta connect with kids or you’ll lose them before the lesson even begins. Connect events in book with modern day situations and such. Oh, and for God’s sake, PLEASE do not rap anything in the lesson plan. Ever. Don’t. Unless you wanna end up as a viral video on Youtube.

What’s your favorite Shakespeare play?

Only read two, “Othello” and “Romeo and Juliet”. Both were really good, really ironic twists. Preferred “Romeo and Juliet,” but bias: love “West Side Story”

Who is your favorite Shakespeare Character(s)?

Mercutio. Such a free spirit, punny, cool character Causes a lot of stuff to go down.

If you could spend an evening with the Bard, what would you do?

We’d probably find every copy of “Gnomeo and Juliet” and destroy them before the movie’s released. Then go have some pie.

Last Comments?

Stay in school, kids!

Check out the interview via video:

Part 1 of Pursued by a bear.net interview can be found here.

Interview with Pursued by a Bear.net - (part 1 of 3)

2011-04-07T23:08:00.001-07:00

One of our goals at Playing With Plays, Shakespeare for Kids, is to get educators great resources for engaging their kids with Shakespeare. I recently had the privilege to meet and work with another Shakespeare group called, Pursued by a Bear. Their main goal is to make Shakespeare interesting and fun (NOT BORING) via video. Audience: Teens and adults.

Teachers, this really is a wonderful place to connect your highschoolers to the Bard. The important piece here... HAVE FUN!

One of the main drivers of PursuedByABear.net and their overall concept is Sharky:

Tell me a little something about who you are and what you do.

I'm the Founder and House musician of http://pursuedbyabear.net. I also run a Shakespeare database ( http://plays.pursuedbyabear.net ) which has all of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets.

What’s your background with Shakespeare?

Where I'm from, we didn't really study Shakespeare, so I picked it up on my own. Eventually, I was tasked as the fight choreographer for a production of Romeo and Juliet, and ended up playing Romeo. To date, it's the only Shakespeare production I've been involved with.

Hey, you also do fight choreography? How did you start doing that?

I've been doing Fight Choreography since I was a high school sophomore (initially, because no one else wanted to do it), and most of what I apply are what I saw in Martial Arts and Swashbuckler movies, observing what looks good on camera and putting my own spin on the fight sequence.

Any quick advice that you want to give on doing fight choreography?

Pretty basic pointer would be to start slow until the actors get the rhythm down, and remind them that they're not really supposed to be trying to hurt each other, but to look cool (which is why you often see excessively slow, wide swings to simulate force when a character is carrying a "heavy sword.") Also, for whoever is directing, make sure that the walls on either side of the stage are a completely different color than whichever weapons are being used. This allows the actors to see the weapons in motion better, thus allowing them to avoid injury by being able to duck out of the way should the other actor make a movement error. I used this concept during the Romeo and Juliet production I was in, since both actors were using thin fencing foils, and I wanted them to see where the blades were at all times.

What was the reason that started you doing Shakespeare videos?

I saw The RSC's production of Hamlet starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart, and it looked very alive and very modern (despite using the classical language) and I thought more people should know about it, especially people who hated Shakespeare during High School archaic.

How long have you been doing Shakespeare-related productions?

Besides Romeo and Juiet, nothing until Pursued By A Bear. I did talk about Shakespeare and aspects of his plays with various people, but no real, direct involvement. I am far more active now than I was back then.

Why Pursued By a Bear?

It's from “The Winter's Tale” Act III.3, and I would really like to see how the original actors reacted to see that stage direction on their scripts. It was a really funny mental image to me, so I decided to use that for the site's name.

Why Sharky?

It's a nickname I chose for myself, because Sharks are cool. Specifically, Mako Sharks, but Hammerheads are pretty neat as well.

Was it intimidating at all to approach Shakespeare through this type of format?

I didn't find it intimidating at all, since my original plan was to take a look at Hamlet from the perspective of a Film Major. However, once Cassius was onboard to present it side-by-side as a Shakespeare adaptation, any small doubts that may have existed were immediately extinguished. Unlike myself, she does have the “Shakespeare Cred” to talk about the Theater aspects of the adaptation, which would placate the Shakespeare aficionados that would enevitably view the video.

What are your long term goals for PursuedByABear.net?

I have quite a simple answer to that, and that is to keep using it as a way to make learning about Classical Theater, Literature, and History fun.

What’s your one piece of advice for other educators trying to reach students with Shakespeare?

Teach them as plays, and let your students have their own opinions of the characters and story. Trust that the play's plot and story will still hold itself together, regardless of your students' interpretation of the characters. Shakespeare wrote these characters (fairly) realistically, and much like real people, their actions will still be (relatively) real, regardless of what your students think. The point is to engage them in the play, and let them realize exactly why the storytelling and character development in these plays still endure even today.

What’s your favorite Shakespeare play?

For artistry, Richard II. For story, Hamlet. It knows exactly where it wants to go from the very beginning, and barely ever delineates from the main plot. The fact that the on-rails story is still engaging despite the 3-hour run time is a testament to Shakespeare's storytelling ability.

Who is your favorite Shakespeare Character(s)?

That would be Rosalind from As You Like It, who is one of the stronger female characters in Shakespeare's plays. Admittedly, I like strong women.

If you could spend an evening with the Bard, what would you do?

I would ask him what was going on in his life when he wrote The Merchant of Venice. As far as I can tell, it's the Frankenstein's Monster of theater. It has four completely different plots that are barely linked together by a few lines of throwaway dialogue. They don't even have any tangible common themes, like Shakespeare wrote the play under duress, or in a hurry, and just grabbed four random manuscripts, wrote some extra lines, and made a chimera of a play out of it.

Any last comments?

If you're an educator (or something to that effect), try to make learning about Shakespeare fun. True, not everyone will like it, and very few people will use their knowledge of Shakespeare once they're out of school and working, but at least let them remember it as something that was fun to study.

Thank you very much for the Questions. This has been Sharky. Take Care!

You can find Sharky at PursuedByABear.net

You can find melodramatic fun Shakespeare for Kids at PlayingWithPlays.com

Part 2 of the interview can be found here

Video of the interview can be found here:

Overcoming anxiety about teaching Shakespeare to Kids

2011-01-20T05:54:00.000-08:00

We recently had an opportunity to work with a homeschool middle school teacher from Michigan who wanted to teach Shakespeare to her kids. At the end of the entire process of teaching the kids Shakespeare, she said the following:

"I went from a feeling of anxiety and pressure to a feeling of joy and success through the course of this class."

What a great and promising sentiment.

Here is a little more about Catherine and her experience teaching with Shakespeare for Kids:

Shakespeare4kid: Tell me a little something about who you are and what you do?

Catherine: I was a vocal music education major and taught public school for two years before starting a family. I love teaching, particularly music and drama. Words are my passion of mine; I love to read, and greatly regret the loss of wonderful words in our modern vocabulary. I hope to instill in my children and in all those I teach a real love for the written and spoken word.

Shakespeare4kid: How long have you been teaching homeschool?

Catherine: I have been homeschooling since my oldest child started school; I now have four children, ages 12, 11, 9, and 3.

Shakespeare4kid: Was this your first foray into the homeschool drama arena?

Catherine: No, I have done some simple plays in the past, but the children in our cooperative group were all quite young when we started. This play has been the most involved production we have attempted

Shakespeare4kid: Tell us, why did you pick Shakespeare for Kids Julius Caesar?

Catherine: Many of us in the group spent the year studying Roman and Greek history; I wanted a play that would fit into and expand that subject, and I felt it was high time to introduce them to Shakespeare.

Shakespeare4kid: Now that the kids have performed Caesar, what do they think about Shakespeare?

Catherine: When asked whether they enjoyed the actual play or the adapted version, they were much more enthusiastic about the version they performed. I think most still find his writing completely over their heads, which is to be expected, as they are around 7th grade and really haven't studied him before. I do hope that at least they begin to see the wonderful richness of his works and that they will be less intimidated in the future.

Shakespeare4kid: Was it intimidating at all to approach Shakespeare with kids through this format?

Catherine: No, not at all. In fact, I did my best to pull in as much material from his writing as possible. I began with the very first scene of the play, with the children acting out the townsfolk and me reading and dramatizing the tribunes' roles

Shakespeare4kid: If you had to do this performance over again, what would you do differently?

Catherine: I would give myself more time. One hour a week for 10 weeks was not enough to really come out with a good finished product. I was disappointed that some of the children were not able to internalize my directions (keeping your face toward the audience, standing confidently, speaking loudly and clearly) as well as they might have done if they had had more time to practice.

Shakespeare4kid: What’s your one piece of advice for other homeschool drama educators?

Catherine: Make it enjoyable for yourself! If you are not enjoying it, the children know it instinctively and then they learn the wrong thing. They might come to think Shakespeare is too hard or worse, it is boring.

Shakespeare4kid: ahhh, too true! What’s your favorite Shakespeare play?

Catherine: I think my favorite play is the one I am reading at the time you ask me. :) I really don't know. Perhaps The Merchant of Venice. I feel so heartbroken at Shylock's plight; his speech stirs me so deeply, and that W. S. could write such a speech at a time when Jews were so universally hated is amazing to me. I love that the women, rather than staying safely behind doors and weeping piously, fly to meet the crisis and prove well able to resolve it. The play moves me very much, though it seems very dark, and though I do not think it was entirely just that Shylock should have come to so miserable an end. It is also completely possible that I bring my own perspective to it and read it as I like, not knowing the intention of the playwright or the significance it had in its own time.

Shakespeare4kid: Who is your favorite Shakespeare Character(s)?

Catherine: I cannot name a favorite. I admire the character of Brutus, though Shakespeare altered his historic character to make a better story. I was completely fascinated by Othello when I watched him played by Lawrence Olivier. And I enjoy Portia (see above).

Shakespeare4kid: If you could spend an evening with the Bard, what would you two do?

Catherine: I think it would be fun to row a boat up and down the Avon and listen to him telling stories, though I have some doubt as to whether I would find stories taken from his life entirely satisfactory

Catherine is off to her next foray with the kids and the Bard's Hamlet for Kids. Break a leg!

Shakespeare competition with Romeo & Juliet for Kids

2010-10-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

I recently met a teacher from Seattle who decided to use our Romeo & Juliet for Kids script to enter a Theater tournament for kids in Portland, Oregon. I was able to spend a few minutes with her to see what the experience was like and to give advice to teachers trying to reach children with Shakespeare.

Shakespeare4kid: Tell me a little something about who you are and what you do.

Sandra: I am a 45-year old Swiss/South African and have worked in the cruise industry for my entire career prior to “retiring” to stay home with my little boy. I have been on stage since the age of 6 and was very actively involved with stage production (acting) right through till university. I had great drama teachers and dreamed of pursuing a career onstage via the London Stage School. My mother had other ideas and wanted me to learn something I could use first and so I earned a BA Hons degree in languages and literature in South Africa followed by an intense hotel school training in Switzerland. When I retired from the cruise industry, I started volunteering at school and church and ended up being busier than when I was working full time.

Shakespeare4kid: How long have you been teaching drama?

Sandra: I was serving as PTA Vice Pres when a parent asked us for funds to pay a director to direct the school play for the interschool competition you know all about! My first reaction was – why pay someone? I’ll do it!!! And a dream came true! We won that year, came second the next. During that time I also started teaching for one of the local theatres here in Seattle and started a

school drama club which was much enjoyed by all my students. I have been teaching for 3 years now.

Shakespeare4kid: Tell us a little bit about the competition you were recently in?

Sandra: The drama competition is part of L.E.S.T. – Lutheran Elementary School Tournament –which takes place in Portland each February. All Lutheran schools in the western part of the US compete. The competition includes academics, sports, music, art, science, drama, cheer/drill/dance etc. It’s a huge 3-day event and a very exciting one! It’s great seeing our kids competing and doing the best of their very best!

Shakespeare4kid: We were very honored to hear that you chose to use our Romeo & Juliet for Kids script for your competition, but what made you decide to take on Shakespeare with a younger audience to work with?

Sandra: I mentioned earlier that I started an after-school drama club for the middle school kids starting 4th grade thru 8th. I really wanted to offer something that wasn’t just about putting on a play and performing for an audience – the LEST competition would take care of that – but something that they could take with them as they go through school life. I found your plays online and thought the timing of the plays was perfect and it gave me a flexible cast to work with as I had no idea how many students would end up signing up. My classes ended up being structured as follows: 30 mins - Creative Mime – learning about the rudiments of good acting. 30 mins – Shakespeare Discussion while the kids ate their afternoon snack. I got some good picture books from the library and divided up the bard’s life into segments for each week’s class: Shakespeare’s life; the times he lived in; his theatre – the Globe; his plays etc etc. I made sure that I picked out interesting, horrifying and fun facts and made it into a discussion – rather than a lecture. 60 mins – How to put on a play. Again, I divided up the A to Z of stage production into segments that we worked through each week: auditions; read-throughs; blocking; rehearsal; lighting/sound/costumes; performance. I took some aspects to highlight good stage acting techniques, such as sword-fighting onstage, falling onstage, fighting onstage, dying onstage etc. (they LOVED this!!!) The play we used to put all this together was your Midsummer Night’s Dream for Kids – very funny when you consider the love story tangle and the age group! The kids had a wonderful time at after-school drama club and I have been asked by the principle to offer more.

Shakespeare4kid: Now that the kids have performed R&J, what do they think about Shakespeare?

Sandra: They became very familiar with the language, the themes, the over-the-top performances that were required. They had a lot of fun and I am sure that when the time comes for them to read Shakespeare at school – they will be head and shoulders above the other kids!

Shakespeare4kid: How did you see kids respond to this type of Shakespeare?

Sandra: They enjoyed it since it contained all the aspects that kids enjoy to do onstage – fighting, dying dramatically, being silly, being regal – just taking things over the top which this age group loves to do anyway!

Shakespeare4kid: Was it intimidating at all to approach Shakespeare with kids through this format?

Sandra: Not at all – you made the language clear and yet were able to incorporate some of the most famous lines he wrote. The kids were very interested as to why things were put the way they were at that time – for example: “Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?” – wow – that was the line that really fascinated them and the provenance thereof. I heard it around the school for several weeks afterwards! Another example: all the kids had heard Juliet’s balcony lament – but now they learned that “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” doesn’t mean “Romeo where are you?”, it means “why are you called Romeo Montague – the enemy”! Boy – were they surprised but the lights went on!! It made them more attuned to other such lines. The intimidation factor for this age group is the romance between the two – but we made it into something very funny – for instance – the kissing was replaced with high 5’s – even the very last one: “thus with a kiss I die” and the “dead” Juliet puts up her hand and high 5’s him. We performed for Kindergartners thru 5th grade after the competition and parents were telling me the next day that the kids came home VERY excited about the fabulous and funny play they had seen and were repeating lines they had heard!

Shakespeare4kid: If you had to do this performance over again, what would you do differently?

Sandra: Absolutely nothing – we loved it! I even had great costumes and for clarity’s sake had all the Montagues in Blue and the Capulets in Red.

Shakespeare4kid: If you were going to give educators advice on incorporating elementary drama with Shakespeare – what would be the one piece of advice you would give?

Sandra: Keep it simple, keep it fun and slowly but surely incorporate Shakespeare’s life and times into the lesson spicing things up with fascinating details and lots of sword fighting and dramatic dying!

Shakespeare4kid: What’s your favorite Shakespeare play?

Sandra: King Lear and Midsummer Night’s Dream

Shakespeare4kid: Who is your favorite Shakespeare Character(s)?

Sandra: King Lear; Mercutio, Queen Mab

Shakespeare4kid: Favorite quote?

Sandra: Double, double toil and trouble………

Shakespeare4kid: If you could spend an evening with the Bard, what would you two do?

Sandra: I would ask him all about his life and times – fascinating stuff since there are very few facts about him.

Shakespeare4kid: Oh yeah, and my favorite, what’s on your iPod?

Sandra: Genesis, Creed, Josh Groban, Evita, Meatloaf, Nickelback, Journey, Eric Clapton, etc a real mish-mash!

Shakespeare4kid: Any last comments?

Sandra: Yes, thank you SO much for doing what you are doing! You are taking the intimidation out of Shakespeare and letting the kids look forward to reading him at school, rather than dread him and be bored to tears! Thank you!

"Shake it up" with Shakespeare and Elementary Kids

2010-06-14T23:36:00.000-07:00

Recently we were able to get in touch with a wonderfully gifted AIG teacher from North Carolina, Debra Williamson. She took a few of our plays and did a trio of melodramatic Shakespeare skits with her kids. They performed Midsummer, Romeo & Juliet, and Macbeth. She referred to it as "Shake it up, Shakespeare". Since this was such a wonderful way to approach her elementary children, we asked her to answer a few questions about her experience. Here ya go...

1) Did you find using the Shakespeare for Kids book series by Brendan P. Kelso an easy way to deliver Shakespeare to the kids? Yes.

2) If you were to do it over again, what would you do differently? Not email Brendan Kelso every day? Yes, we had several conversations, which is what made the experience for both us, and Debra, more enjoyable.

3) For teachers that are approaching the subject of teaching Shakespeare for the first time (yes, it can be very intimidating) what advice would you give them?

Sir Ken Robinson's catchline is "If kids don't know, they'll have a go." Teachers should "have a go" at Shakespeare in the elementary school because they are laying the foundation for middle and high school when Shakespeare is part of the core curriculum. Our unit of study was based on the developmental age of students and incorporating creativity into the unit. I looked for resources that made Shakespeare easy for young students to understand and that fit best with my style of teaching. I started the unit by sending my students a letter from Shakespeare from Postcards from Shakespeare by Wendy Conklin and Christi Parker. I copied it on parchment paper and sealed it. After reading the letter, we came up with more questions we had about Shakespeare. I had other resources in the room for them to use to answer their questions...Shakespeare for Kids by Colleen Aagesen and Margie Blumberg, Who Was William Shakespeare by Celeste Davidson Mannis, William Shakespeare and the Globe by Aliki, Tales From Shakespeare by Marcia Williams, and Kids Discover Magazine. I created a project for the students based on multiple intelligences and Marzanno's questioning strategies. After we were pretty well versed on Shakespeare the man, we moved onto the plays. I used the Scholastic Teaching Resources: Shakespeare Mini-Books, the Shakespeare Can Be Fun! series by Lois Burdett and Playing with Plays by Brendan P. Kelso. I tried to find plays for my students to perform that were featured in all three of those resources. I gave it to the kids, and they came up with their own unique interpretations and I basically just sat back at that point and filmed what they created in class.

4) Of the PlayingWithPlays books, which one did your kids perform? Did they enjoy it?

We performed Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. They enjoyed all of it, because they were able to put their own spin on it, and I enjoyed watching fifth graders quote Shakespeare. Their parents loved their performances, so it was a win-win-win! Macbeth was the favorite of the viewing audience, Romeo and Juliet for the performers, and we struggled with a Midsummer Night's Dream...but I think Shakespeare did, too!

5) We truly believe in a creative license with the kid's interpretations of the plays, what would you say is the most memorable creative kid moment during your performance?

The student who played Puck turned him into a superhero. He TOTALLY ditched the costume I had for him, showed up at school in a batman cape, and zoomed around the stage during the performance. Lady Macbeth was pretty funny, wandering around the stage in red gloves. The group that performed Romeo and Juliet incorporated Michael Jackson's Thriller dance into the Capulet ball.

6) If you were to suggest a few lesson plans to incorporate into teaching Shakespeare to students, what would they be and why?

I think I answered that in question #3. They were hooked from the moment they opened up their parchment paper letter from Shakespeare. I had a finger puppet of Shakespeare on the board, with "WHO was (fingerpuppet)? written for the day's lesson. Incorporate as many higher level thinking activities as possible...don't ask kids to make a model of the Globe theater...ask them to design a new and improved Globe theater incorporating a few details from the original and explain why. One of my students watercolored a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream (Aagesen's book), but painted the faces as large oval circles so that whoever looked at her work could imagine what the characters looked like. I am stealing that idea for next year. The students will paint a water color of a scene, leave part of the scene blank, and pass it on to another student to finish. Then I will have them pair and share about the picture.

7) Did YOU have fun?

I had great fun. The most important aspect of this unit was that the kids had fun learning about Shakespeare, and carried it over into their real lives. They were renting Shakespeare movies (I had to caution parents) and talking about Shakespeare to their relatives.

For more teaching resources for Shakespeare and kids check out PlayingWithPlays.com

Book Review - Break a Leg!

2010-05-21T22:51:00.000-07:00

I am very diligent about getting kids on stage to perform Shakespeare. Now mind you, I do mean in a FUN way (the whole reason I wrote the melodramatic Shakespeare books). Following this mantra, I came across Lise Friedman, co-author of the new movie coming out Letters to Juliet. Well Lise is a performing arts guru and has authored a book called Break a Leg! The Kids' Guide to Acting & Stagecraft.

After reading through this book (it is more like a kids acting bible than a book) several items popped out to me:

Definitions, activities, and notes - on the sidebars of all the pages are various items to help the actor learn more about this wonderful craft.
Well organized - the book is broken up into several chapters that make it very easy, and quick, to get a group started on an activity.
TONS of activities - there are a plethora of different activities you can play with, no matter what your group size.
Pictures - well, my English teachers can tell you this, I was a lot better with the books with pictures than the ones with just words (probably my ADHD conveniently kicking in). If they would teach the class with comics, I would have finally received an A! Seriously though (well, as serious as I can get) there are a lot of photos in Break a Leg! that really help visualize the topic that is being discussed. Not only are they of the kids, but of professional actors showing that these activities really can get you to the bigs.

All in all, this book is one of the better kids acting books I have seen. I always have it out at the classes that I teach just for the kids to dig through and get ideas from. If you are teaching drama to elementary, middle, or home school kids Break a Leg! is a must have to get the kids in the acting groove! There are sooooo many activities in there that you could literally make a lesson plan for everyday of the year, just from the quantity of topics listed. From warm-ups to dress up to building a character to slap stick to what's a green room to improv to monologs to etc. etc. etc..... you get the picture.

So the next time you are starting your kids on a Shakespeare for Kids melodramatic performance by Playing With Plays be sure to have Break a Leg! handy as you break the ice!

Interview with the Reduced Shakespeare Company's Austin Tichenor

2010-03-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

It was a great night. I got off work early, got some great laughs from my son, and then I had free tickets to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC). For someone who writes shortened, melodramatic Shakespeare for kids books, what could be better?! Oh wait, I know, to meet and interview one third of the RSC. I say one third because there are only three main players on stage. There is Matt Rippy, the youngest of the triplets, Reed Martin, one of the writers and managing partner, and Austin Tichenor, another writer, performer, managing partner, and leader of the RSC podcasts (funny! check them out!). I was lucky enough to spend a few minutes with Austin after their show at the Cal Poly SLO campus.

With both of us breaking out our Apple gear to capture this great interview, my first question was launched: “You’ve been doing this for how many years?” Austin: “Well, in 1981 this started as a pass-the-hat act at Renaissance fairs working 20 minute slots. First there was Hamlet, and then came Romeo and Juliet to kind of mix it up a little bit.” What was really interesting to hear was that the RSC was posed with the opportunity to do the entire works of William Shakespeare. They asked themselves, “we’ve done two plays, there’s only 35 more, how tough can that be?” They decided to make it their “swan song,” as Austin puts it, and to perform it at the Edinburgh festival in 1987. At this point, the RSC blew up as they started getting bookings and interest from all over the globe. The original founders have stepped out since then, but the second coming of Reduced Shakespeare started to fall into place: 1989 Reed Martin joined as one of the founders, Daniel Singer, decided to leave. Austin joined in 1992 when Jess Winfield moved on, and Matt Rippy joined in 1996 as Adam Long’s wife decided that it was time to settle down and have a family. Matt also mentioned that he emails Adam’s wife every week to thank her for his opportunity! However, to get back to the original question: “You’ve been doing this for how many years?” The company: 29 years. Austin, well, July 1^st will be Austin’s 18^th year with the RSC. Woohoo!

18 years, wow. That’s a while to be doing the same shtick. I mean, they do keep it fresh with Google references, Twilight references, ‘LOL’ references, but this leads to my next question… “So you have been doing the same shows for 18 years, how does it not get old?” Austin: “You know, making people laugh never gets old.” He could have ended it right there. I have always believed this but never said it. He nailed it in one sentence: “Making people laugh never gets old, that’s the thing,” and boy were people laughing. There is something to be said about always laughing, although there may or may not be studies on this somewhere in some science book from some fancy college. But I bet you people live longer who laugh a lot, it’s just fact that I made up and it has to be that way, dontcha’ think? Austin: “Making people laugh is a pretty good gig.” You betcha!

What also caught my interest was their willingness to make people laugh anywhere in the world. I mean these guys have played the White House, The Criterion Theatre in London (for 9 YEARS!), The San Diego Repertory Theatre, The Hong Kong Arts Festival, The Liverpool Comedy Festival, and the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, to name a few (check out here for a bigger list). Living in a town half the size of the Rose Bowl, such as I do, this easily sparked my next question: “You just spent two weeks in Times Square, playing to sold out houses in New York at the New Victory Theatre, and two days later you are here, San Luis Obispo. What gives?” Austin: “Basically, a gig’s a gig. You go where they book ya. Sadly, it has gotten more expensive to go places because travel costs so much. But you know, it’s a living. We’re lucky. We get to make people laugh, but we’re lucky to be making our livings in the theater.”

Traveling all this time easily led to, “You have a family?” Austin: “Yeah, my son is thirteen and a half and my daughter turns ten tomorrow! It’s definitely difficult having a family and doing all this traveling. My wife’s in the business and is a writer.” Keenly I picked out my next question: “Now, you’re a pretty good writer, too?” Austin: “Well, Reed and I have written all the shows but Shakespeare (abridged) (for a list of abridged masterpieces, check here). We are currently writing the RSC’s 7^th show, The Complete World of Sports (abridged).”

A few other questions came about along the way: “I noticed that you are an all male stage show, yet in one of your photos on your website, you have a girl, what gives?” Austin: “When we wrote ‘The Complete Millennium Musical (abridged)", we decided that the harmonies would really benefit from having a female voice, and we also thought it would be fun to change it up a little, casting-wise. The trouble was, we weren't sure where we could find an actress-comedienne who also had musical theatre chops. Then we realized - wait, I'm married to one. My wife Dee Ryan has her BFA in musical theatre, and spent five years in Chicago writing and performing shows at Second City. Having Dee in the show also finally gave the RSC a female sensibility. Unfortunately, it was Reed's.”

“What are some of the craziest moments you have had on stage?” Austin: “I don't know about ‘craziest,’ but some of the most memorable moments were when a guy suddenly jumped onstage during the show in Houghton, Michigan and for a brief second we understood what John Lennon must have felt (he turned out to be harmless). And we caught a kid asleep in the second row in San Diego so we took a picture of him and tweeted it mid-performance.”

“Do you ever talk to or see Adam Long, or any of the founders?” Austin: “Sure. We're in touch with Adam a lot about a variety of things. He's doing well, and of course he wrote AMERICA and BIBLE with me and Reed. We see Jess and Daniel every now and then as well. Search for any of their names on our website and you'll find great interviews with them, including this one with Jess about his new (not child-friendly) book NY NAME IS WILL.”

“If you could give one piece of advice to educators trying to reach kids with Shakespeare, what would it be?” Austin: “Shakespeare was meant to be performed, not read, so get the kids to a good live performance. Or have them watch a good movie (I like the Leonardo DiCaprio ROMEO + JULIET and the Kevin Kline MIDSUMMER; also 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU). Or failing all that, have them 'speak the speech' - yes, it's archaic but it can begin to sound natural and kids are amazed when it starts to make sense even if you don't know exactly what each word means. It's akin to the joy of learning a new language. A good way to get them comfortable with the language is to get them to swear - our Michael Faulkner talks about how he teaches this in Podcast #8 WORDS WORDS WORDS - this podcast also features my kids swearing.” Swearing, I love it! Another great place to get some Shakespeare insults flowing with your kids is from this handy worksheet from PlayingWithPlays.com.

“And lastly, what’s on your ipod?” Austin: “Rippy was just going through my iPod looking for something embarrassing and he didn't find anything. Mostly I think because my collection is so broad and eclectic. I've got everything on there from Gilbert & Sullivan to Lady Gaga. (That said, the theme to the TV show "Enterprise" with Scott Bakula is mildly indefensible).”

RSC has grown from their roots as a comedy group to a theater company with the help of Austin’s background and experience. Currently they have about 9 actors in their rotation traveling and doing their shtick all over the globe. At their peak, they had about 5 companies out at any one time.

The show was wonderful, and my gut hurt afterwards from laughing (at least I think that’s what it was). What really caught my attention was the audience participation where they guys pull an Ophelia from the audience to scream on stage. They don’t just have her go up there and scream, they get the ENTIRE audience involved. And there is nothing cooler than seeing the audience yelling 4 different chants ( 1) “maybe, maybe not” 2) “get the to a nunnery!” 3) “Paint an inch thick!” 4) “cut the crap, Hamlet, my biological clock is ticking, and if you liked it you should have put a ring on it!” It’s this Id, Ego, Super-ego thing….oh, I can’t explain, just go see the show) at Ophelia while she is on stage, really setting her up to, frankly, just be insane. After that she lets out this howl that is, well, impressive.

In a nutshell, the Reduced Shakespeare Company is phenomenal. I was lucky enough to go see them two days in a row, to their “adult” version the night before, and their “almost adult” version the next morning for the schools in town. I can tell you this, without their help and inspiration, I know of about 100+ 6^th graders over the past 5 years that would still not be caring about Shakespeare. They make Shakespeare fun and easily accessible to anyone who has had a tough time digesting all the Bard has to offer. Isn’t that all of us? So, stop reading this, take your kids and GO SEE THEM! Your kids will think Shakespeare is a really cool cat, heck, he even wore an earring!

Why Shakespeare? or #whyShakespeare

2010-02-23T22:10:00.000-08:00

Really, why Shakespeare? You know, I never really thought about it, just accepted it. Well, I will have you know, that there are some VERY good reasons for why Shakespeare. This fun little project was brought to us by @_clayr_ because a school project for his kid. @_clayr_ original post was:

_clayr_ My kids working on project to answer the question Why Shakespeare? Hope to collect as many thoughts as possible. Please RT. #whyshakespeare

At that point, it just took off. Some of my favorites were:

From @datruss

Because tragedy is truly understood thru storytelling

From @Mrkeenan

Once you understand the language, his characters are among the most relevant of any in literature

From @nothingfuture

Because he wrote about the human condition, which is still (& always) relevant. If you're human.

and

Because he's able to say the most low-brow things in the most high-brow way.

and

One word is all you really need here: Groundlings

From @findingdulcinea

Richard Nixon as Richard II, O.J. Simpson as Othello. Even Steven Spielberg admits Shakespeare just about said it all.

And the last from @mikelomo

Top Three reasons for #whyshakespeare: Words, Words, Words

But my favorite was @Shakespeare4kid

Because he gave us so many great insults to use!

To see _clayr_ blog, check out: http://paperlessenglish.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-shakespeare.html

Well, I think you have waited long enough, just go straight to Twitter and search for: #whyShakespeare.

PlayingWithPlays.com

Shakespeare and the Olympics

2010-02-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

I love the Olympics, maybe it's the competition, maybe it's the cool outfits, maybe it's the opening and closing ceremonies, and maybe it's the energy. Yep, it's definitely the energy. In 2002 I was lucky enough to take a 13 hr (each way) road trip with my wife and mom-in-law to Salt Lake City. All for a one day tour through the Olympic village, and to tool around Park City. Although we drove there on Friday, and drove home Sunday, 26 hours in all, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I would do it again in a heart beat.

When you are there, you are constantly bombarded by people from all over the world that are extremely happy to be there, it just exudes from their pores. You bump into athletes all over the place, celebrities, and just plan happy people. There is no cold to feel in the air because the people are so warm. The energy is AMAZING. Even today, eight years later, I can still feel it when I think about it. Truly inspiring. I wish I had the ability to make it up to Vancouver in the next week, that would be awesome!

So, while reminiscing, I started to think, "What event would Shakespeare compete in?" Really not knowing whether Shakespeare was any kind of an athlete or not (I would highly doubt it, although they sure wore tights alot) I figure he would have to take on something a little simpler and quicker to grasp onto, like ski jumping. I figure, if Eddie the Eagle could do it, so could Willy the Woodpecker (ok, so it's no Eagle, or even a seagull, but it's better than a Whooping crane.) I can see him being decent at fencing though, there was plenty of swordplay in his works to get some good practice in. But to see him flying through the air, (said in a Howard Cosell voice) "And there goes Bard the Buzzard to set another new Olympic record."

Even more curious from my thouts, I did a quick search for "Shakespeare and Olympics" and came across some interesting things:

Shakespeare Comics Olympics - someone wrote a book
Shannon Shakespeare - Canadian Olympic swimmer
World Shakespeare Festival - through the Cultural Olympics
Shakespeare 2012 - Happening at the same time as the London Olympics
Hip Hop Shakespeare - prepping for 2012 - cool video

Wow, I didn't even know about the World Shakespeare festival until I wrote this blog, cool. I'm going, you in?

In reality, Shakespeare would have competed on a level of Intellectual Olympics, things such as:

Spelling bees
Rhyming Competitions
Monolog and Soliloquy readings
Speed reading with complex juxtapositions

What other events would there be for the "Intellectual Olympics"? Write the funniest play in 30 minutes? On your marks, get set, go! I can just see a number of authors writing away, ink flying all around, and Shakespeare sitting there, just blowing away the competition and looking for that Gold.

For other fun and crazy Shakespeare stuff your kids will love check out: PlayingWithPlays.com

Shakespeare Lesson Plan – Days 2-6ish

2010-01-30T20:28:00.000-08:00

This is a continuation from the article “Shakespeare in a Can: Six Days With the Bard From Start to Stage.”

REMEMBER, this mini-Shakespeare play you are doing is NOT a perfect play. Heck, if you want to make it perfect, please don’t do it; that’s a complete waste of perfect creativity, and the kids are chock full of it! We at PlayingWithPlays.com specifically reference these plays as “Melodramatic Masterpieces,” so please don’t forget the melodrama. It’s what gets the parents rolling in the audience and the kids coming back for more!

Day 2: BLOCKING. By now you have cast the play. So step 1 here is to hand out the parts. Step 2 is to do a read through just wherever you are (sitting at a desk, sitting on stage, on the grass outside next to a lake with ducks floating by, wherever). Once you have done your first read through, the next thing to do is start blocking. First of all, the definition of blocking, for those of you who don’t know: to plan or work out the movement of performers in a play. This is where the “F’s” come in… it is fun, frustrating, and FOREVER! Yes, the first time walking through and doing basic blocking of the play seems like forever, but don’t worry, it speeds up quickly! You will probably only get through the play maybe once, but call it a wrap and head home. HOWEVER, emphasize to the kids to start memorizing their lines (always do this, sometimes it takes a while to sink in). Also, remind them that as of Day 5, you will be “off-book” (no scripts) so, good luck.

Day 3: MORE BLOCKING. You may get through 2 times today. But that’s okay, the kids will have a basic idea of what they are doing and where they are going now. KEY POINT: kids will start coming up with ideas for their character: GO WITH IT! This is where their creative juices starting to flow. This is VERY IMPORTANT; if they feel empowered with the Bard, and start having fun with Shakespeare, they will start to embrace his work more and more (you are on your way to creating a Shakespeare monster!).

Oh yeah, and start thinking about costumes. WHAT! Costumes? Yes, costumes. This can be a major headache or really simple. I go with the really simple route myself. Hit Walmart or K-mart the day after Halloween and buy a bunch of plastic swords, renaissance type costumes, and miscellaneous fun stuff (the Witches are great fun to buy for). I typically throw everything in one or two bins and tell the kids to have at it. They spend about 20 minutes trying on costumes and seeing if they can make things fit, it’s great fun! But don’t do this piece until Day 5 (or the day before the show).

Most of the time there are at least one to two parents that can make a costume or two as well. You’ll always have those few talented moms out there who love to help! They are the BEST!

And remind the kids again… on Day 5 we are off book!

Day 4: AND MORE BLOCKING. Now you are starting to move a little faster. Some kids know their lines, other kids don’t, but they are starting to come up with ideas whether for costumes, props, how to die on stage (with dramatic sword fighting of course!) or whatever, just go with it! Keep remembering, the entire goal here is to have fun with Shakespeare. The kids will love it, the parents will love it, and I bet ya Willy will be watching too and having a great ol’ time!

And remind them, next time we meet we are off book!

Day 5: OFF BOOK. Yep, that’s right. These two to three run-throughs today will be a bit slow, but by the third time you go through it, most kids will be moving pretty well with their lines and starting to really have fun!

DRESS UP TIME! Okay, pull out your two to three bins of clothes and let the kids have at it. Remember, this is NOT a perfect play. Some of the clothes will not fit perfectly (that’s what clothes pins, belts, and duct tape are for). If kids have their own stuff, let them bring it in too. They will really love doing this!

At this point, you are welcome to add more days for rehearsals. As any director will tell you, actors can ALWAYS use more rehearsals!

Day 6: DRESS REHEARSAL and PERFORMANCE.

DRESS REHEARSAL: I typically do the performance in the same time slot that I have been doing all the other group meetings and rehearsals, but it is up to you. This day starts straight away with getting into costumes. You should perform two dress rehearsals just before the big show. And at this point, just let the kids just run it with no interference. Don’t even go backstage for this, they need to learn that the world is really their stage. Just stand back and enjoy the show.

THE BIG SHOW. By this time, the audience has filed in and you are ready to go with the show. So, to break the ice, you get on stage first. Thank the kids for all their hard work, the parents for putting up with Shakespeare in their homes for so many weeks, and then stand on stage and introduce the wrong show. Set this up before hand with all of the kids yelling from backstage the correct play. i.e.: “I am proud to announce today’s play, ‘Hamlet.’” From backstage the group says, “NO!”. Then one kid wanders on stage, whispers into your ear the correct play and you proceed to change your intro to: “I am proud to announce today’s play…(asking backstage so the audience can hear) what is it again?” Then all the kids yell in unison, “MACBETH!” “Oh yeah! Right! I am proud to announce today’s performance of …‘Macbeth!’” This typically helps break nervous tension that the kids have built up.

Then stand back and watch the show!!!!

That’s about it – pretty simple, huh?

For more information or fun items like the Shakespeare Insult Generator, check out: PlayingWithPlays.com

Shakespeare Lesson Plan (Day 1): 6 weeks with the Bard, from start to stage. (Just an hour a week - it's easy!)

2010-01-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

Designed for grades 4-9.

Over the next few paragraphs I am going to give you the simple keys to introducing Shakespeare to your kids in a way that will ensure they will LOVE him for the rest of their lives. So much so, they will want more and more! Guaranteed! I have taught this to middle school and elementary kids, as well as kid’s drama programs for local public theaters. I also ran two successful after-school programs simultaneously (one developed after they saw the other performances in the first area).

In a nutshell, you are going to take your group, whether it is an after-school program a home-school program, or a class in a school, and in just 6 weeks, have them on stage performing Shakespeare!

It is pretty straightforward and easy to do. This can be done in 6 one-hour sessions, but if you have more time or 8 weeks available, it may be a little more sane (I am slightly insane (my wife would argue with the use of “slightly”)). Either way, I know it can be done, because I have done it.

A little forewarning: this lesson plan is strictly designed for those who appreciate fun being at the heart of learning. If you can’t handle melodramatic, crazy Shakespeare, leave now. Or better yet, why are you even teaching?

The steps for day/session 1:

1) Explain the story to the kids

2) Auditions – part 1

a. Dieing

b. Screaming

3) Read the play

4) Fill out audition forms

5) Read parts for the play

6) Cast the play

Now for more details:

Fun! Day 1 is where it’s at. If you can’t hook them here, you’re going to have a tough time getting them invested for the balance of the time. But DON’T WORRY, I’m here to help ya!

First: Introduce the play you are going to do. I do a quick and crazy one man rendition to get the kids into the swing of things (check it out here: PlayingWithPlays.com) But there are several other ways to do it:

• Do your own one-man show

• Show some snapshots of the Reduced Shakespeare Companies renditions to get the kids intothe flow of the melodramatic feel

• Have them hop on line and watch my one-man show (PlayingWithPlays.com)

• Super simple method: Cliff notes version – you tell the story, but you have to do it within 5 minutes in VERY simple language. And get the kids to interact with you during the story.

Second: Auditions – ahhh, this is the BEST part. You have to do VERY LITTLE, and the kids have to do EVERYTHING, and they will LOVE IT! Yes, I am shouting, this is exciting stuff! First round of auditions: your best death. Have the kids line up to “die” their most dramatic death (possibly start with the ham in the group to set the tone, or better yet, YOU do the first death). Remember, the more dramatic it is, the more fun the kids will have and the more the audience will laugh! And believe me, kids will line up again and again to “die” in new and creative ways (and yes, this is why the tragedies are more fun than the comedies). Some will even do it in teams, so be it! Second round of auditions: Screams. Yes, when someone dies, typically, someone screams when they find them. Either way, kids love this part too! So line them up again and let’s hear their best scream. Remember, this can be “agony”, “excitement”, “shock”, “fear”, “dieing”, etc. - throw out some descriptive words for them to act against! (Depending on their age, you may want to wear earplugs!)

Third: Read the play – choose one of the plays located here (PlayingWithPlays.com). I choose these plays for several reasons:

1) Very easy to understand – using modern simple language mixed with Shakespeare’s own lines scattered throughout.

2) Funny!

3) Each book has 3 plays for 3 different group sizes, so there is one that is perfect for your group.

4) I wrote them!

Randomly hand out parts and have the group read through the play. This should take about 15-20 minutes and by this time they will have a basic idea of what the story is about as well as which parts they want.

Fourth: Fill out the “audition form”. This will take about 5 minutes. Download the form here. This is what you will use to determine who gets which parts.

Fifth: Third round of auditions: by this time, you are running out of time – so if you don’t have time, skip it. Especially if you already know your kids and assign your parts. However, if you are working with this group for the first time, you’ll want to do this to get a better feel for the kids. Have some pre-determined sections of the play that you want 2-4 kids to read and start cycling through their readings.

Sixth: At this point, the kids are done, send them home, to recess, or to some other place away from you so you can think. Now you have to cast the roles. My advice, don’t wait to do it, DO IT NOW! As it is fresh in your mind, it will only take about five minutes, so go!

So let’s summarize:

1) Explain the story to the kids

2) Auditions – part 1

a. Dieing

b. Screaming

3) Read the play

4) Fill out audition forms

5) Read parts for the play

6) Cast the play

See, pretty simple, huh?

Next blog will have the balance of the weeks. Good Luck and GO!