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In Act I, Scene 4 of Measure for Measure, heroine Isabella learns that her brother Claudio has been sentenced to death. Lucio, his friend, urges a reluctant Isabella to plead with the stern Duke Angelo on her brother’s behalf: “Our doubts are traitors/ And make us lose the good we oft might win/ By fearing to attempt.”

A few posts ago, we talked about strategies for making more reserved children feel confident in taking to the stage; certainly Shakespeare’s words would be enormously persuasive. There is something about the personification of those doubts – characterising them as “traitors” rather than formless feelings – that can help children identify the danger they present.

Yet how applicable these lines are to any number of situations, for children and adults alike! Shakespeare explores these issues of selfhood across his works – take Hamlet’s “To Be or Not to Be” soliloquy as the most famous example. In Lucio’s expression above, Shakespeare highlights the treachery that we risk committing against ourselves. In acknowledging those traitors as such, even as they tell us to hesitate or not try at all, we come closer to keeping them silent.

As the play continues, Isabella overcomes those doubts and indeed intervenes on her brother’s behalf. Stay tuned for our next post, when we look more closely at Isabella and Angelo’s encounter!

It’s almost Halloween, and so time to reflect on some of Shakespeare’s more chilling moments! In an earlier post, we explored the eerie impact of Hamlet’s fateful meeting with his father’s ghost. Setting the tone for the ensuing exploration of revenge and madness, this Act I, Scene 5 encounter introduces a supernatural quality that shades the entire play.

Arguably one of the more sinister statements made by Hamlet’s father ― identified only as Ghost in the text ― relates to Gertrude, his unfaithful wife who is now married to his brother. Even as the Ghost seeks vengeance for his murder, he advises Hamlet not to include his mother in any such plots. “[L]eave her to heaven,” he admonishes, “And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge / To prick and sting her.”

Hundreds of years later, Hollywood would produce its own variation on this theme with Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Based on the novel of the same name and starring the marvelous Gene Tierney, the film traces the machinations of a most destructive femme fatale. Like Gertrude, she is beyond earthly justice ― instead, she carries within her the “thorns” of her own undoing.

Leave Her to Heaven is a golden-age classic that, admittedly, might be better Halloween viewing for parents and teachers than their young performers! But no matter its audience, the film illustrates just how close the Elizabethan stage is to the Silver Screen.

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Over the years at ‘Shakespeare For Our Children’ we have been so fortunate to have taught enormously enthusiastic young actors. One of the rewards of introducing children to Shakespeare is being able to watch them bring centuries-old words alive ― before anyone can tell them that the plays are “boring.”

That being said, anyone who has taught any subject understands that there are moments that can test even the most dedicated educator. One challenge is impressing upon students the need to learn their lines and get “off-book” (!). These situations can be a case of extremes: there are performers who know everyone else’s lines as well as their own, and then other children who never want to let go of their scripts. This can come from shyness or insecurity, or perhaps a reluctance to spend the time it takes to memorize their part.

Some students may find that they would rather be part of the valuable behind-the-scenes team; still others may need more personalised support. One strategy is to remind the child that each performance is a privilege ― a chance to transport the audience into stories of drama or comedy, romance or tragedy. By focusing on what each word will bring to the audience, you  remind the student that it is not about learning something for its own sake, but about sharing that knowledge with others.

As Marchette Chute reminds us in An Introduction to Shakespeare, the Bard used “poetry as a tool for his stagecraft,” evoking entire worlds on even the barest stages. And as actors, it is essential to become fluent in that poetry to make the audience’s journey worthwhile.

As the new school year gets underway, we would like to introduce a series of posts devoted to “Treasure Troves” — excellent and easily-accessible resources that will help illuminate Shakespeare’s work for students and teachers alike.

The first of these is the Folger Shakespeare Library’s Digital Image Collection, which we use regularly to illustrate our blog posts. It is a kaleidoscope of paintings, photographs, and various other renderings of Shakespeare’s works and world — simply search for the title of a play, a particular character, even a biographical / historical reference, and then delight in the results!

We especially enjoy the sketches for various costumes and sets. These offer myriad perspectives on how a given play may be brought to life, and provide discussion points for young people who will have their own image of a work in mind.

There are times when it can be difficult to see live theatre, or to find the appropriate film adaptation of a given play. But thanks to the Digital Image Collection, young people can find any number of visual aids that will bring Shakespeare’s writings to life.

Browse the Digital Image Collection here.

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Last time, we posted about the charm of Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, which certainly speaks for itself. But equally delightful is the way that their romance is set in motion by the machinations of their friends – Shakespearean matchmaking, if you will.

In this scene, Hero and Ursula put on a play of their own, acting out a rehearsed exchange meant to capture Beatrice’s attention and cement her interest in Benedick. The language, of course, is centuries old, but the sense of friendship is timeless. This scene also works perfectly alongside the Beatrice and Benedick material for classwork and performances. Think about the two dialogues as offering a strong narrative arc that takes the audience – and the actors – from puckish inciting action (Hero and Ursula’s plot) to romantic resolution.

Because the sophistication of the scenes increases over this arc, the two excerpts are excellent for bringing different age groups together. In the past, we at Shakespeare For Our Children have given the parts of Hero and Ursula to younger children (7 – 9), while assigning the Beatrice and Benedick roles to older children (9 – 12).

When thinking of Shakespeare’s great couples, it is often high drama that comes to mind: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Ophelia, Mark Antony and Cleopatra, even the Macbeths. Each of these pairings illuminated timeless aspects of relationships, from hope and confusion to struggles for power. Yet Shakespeare also crafted more lighthearted pairings — and chief among these is Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado about Nothing.

In a play that engages with melodrama as much as romantic comedy — a major plot point is a scandalous lie about a young woman’s virtue — Beatrice and Benedick bring great verve and wit. Sharing strong wills and keen minds, they bicker constantly with each other; yet the dynamic exchanges let the audience know just how very much this couple belongs together. (Listen above to a definitive scene and read here!)

Beatrice and Benedick live on in any romantic comedy that plays out the ‘opposites attract’ model of courtship. A classic example of this is in the Doris Day and Rock Hudson comedies Pillow Talk and Lover Come Back, where the audience knows that the very traits that place the characters in conflict are the things that will bring them together.

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For all that we explore here the importance of Shakespeare to children, the Bard himself endures in popular imagination as utterly adult. In portraits of the day, he appears as the handsome and dignified creator of theatrical worlds; in films like Shakespeare in Love, he is a rakish, romantic lead. Yet in her book An Introduction to Shakespeare (1951), historian Marchette Chute looks to his childhood to illuminate a life-changing event: the day that young William Shakespeare ― born in the cottage pictured here ― saw his first play.

Just the notion of Shakespeare encountering theatre for the first time is striking enough ― who can tell what ideas and images were later brought to life because of that childhood spectacle?

Chute’s retelling of that fateful day is all the more evocative, capturing the excitement of the town of Stratford ― of which Shakespeare’s father was the mayor ― at the arrival of the actors. The town hall became their theatre, the setting of plays filled with sensational scenes, humor, and “moral maxims.” As with Shakespeare’s own plays, there was something for everyone.

Chute closes this account on a contemplative note: “Every year the small boys of Stratford could watch [the actors] unpack their wagons, and some of them must have had visions of growing up to be actors themselves.” There was, of course, only one William Shakespeare; but the dreams of those young people live on hundreds of years later, in the spirit of any child introduced to Shakespeare today. Who knows ― the child in your class might be the next Bard!

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In life, too often it seems we each want to have the last word. Shakespeare’s characters are no different: Kate in Taming of the Shrew, Rosalind in As You Like It, Puck in A Midsummer Nights’ Dream – each of these figures, among others, offers the epilogue in their respective plays. Summing up the spirit of the work while introducing still more ideas for the audience to consider, the epilogue offers a contemplative conclusion.

Especially reflective is Prospero’s epilogue in Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest. Here, the magician meditates on the themes of illusion, forgiveness, and the power of art. Indeed, Shakespeare lore has it that the playwright is speaking through Prospero, beseeching the audience to “set [him] free” from their demands upon his own sorcery.

Such biographical interpretations are fascinating but, of course, very tricky to prove. What we do know for certain is that Prospero’s words speak for any artist who has done good work and who wants to bow out gracefully: “[R]elease me from my bands/ With the help of your good hands.”

And so as the audience leaves any production of The Tempest, they may wonder about that eternal dialogue between the artist and their art – and the respective elements of inspiration, creation, and expectation. Prospero – and perhaps Shakespeare – may well have been set free by the end of the play, but the spectator will still be in thrall to those wondrous last words.

Over the years, we have taught students who love the Bard but are reluctant to tread the boards. It’s only natural: for every student who loves being on the stage, there is another who feels more comfortable behind the scenes.

Happily, theatre is about so much more than the act of performing. If you have a shy student, or one who deals with stage fright, remind them that there are any number of ways to be an integral part of the team. Designing costumes or acting as a stage manager; working with lighting and set design; even creating a program or acting as prompter for actors who might forget their lines – all of these responsibilities are highly valued and necessary for a successful production.

Take time in your classes to talk about the importance of these technical roles, assuring every student that they are contributing to the show. As Shakespeare himself reminds us, “One man in his time plays many parts” – and it’s important to remind your students that not all of these parts need to be on-stage!

Over the years since its founding, Shakespeare For Our Children has been fortunate to see many young actors inhabit many parts. Yet with each new class of students – filled with fresh ideas and possibilities – there is still the trace of the past performers who brought their own singular approach to a given role. There are perennial favorites from class to class, such as Hamlet, Puck, and Juliet; but then there have also been more surprising choices, like Henry V. In every single case, the student made the role their own.

From videotapes to cell phones, various technologies have preserved these beloved performances. But what truly holds the spirit of each young actor are the words themselves – words that echo with the voices of thespians across the centuries. Such a phenomenon recalls one of Shakespeare’s sonnets: “Not marble nor the gilded monuments / Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme / But you shall shine more bright in these contents / Than unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time.”

Each new group of SFOC students will graduate and share their love of Shakespeare with the next generation; every role will find a different interpreter. What remains a constant, though, are the words that will be spoken – given new life even as they gesture to what has come before. They are, as Shakespeare wrote in that sonnet, “the living record […] of memory.”