Scenes from Shakespeare
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Performing Arts
Scenes from Shakespeare Details
From School Library Journal Grade 9-12-Fifteen scenes, 15 to 25 minutes in length, are presented as motivational pieces for classroom production. Each one opens with a brief description of the play, setting, and characters (two to seven per scene). Wilson has eliminated the subtext (timing, pacing, action, etc.), preferring to leave this to teachers' discretion. Conspicuously absent are selections from Macbeth, which is mandatory reading in most high school curricula. Included are excerpts from Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar and Othello-all tragedies. The Merchant of Venice is the only offering from the comedies, although even that play is not always classified as such these days. All in all, a meager offering.Judie Porter, Media Services Center, Portsmouth School Department, RICopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more About the Author Arguably the greatest English-language playwright, William Shakespeare was a seventeenth-century writer and dramatist, and is known as the Bard of Avon. Under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth I, he penned more than 30 plays, 154 sonnets, and numerous narrative poems and short verses. Equally accomplished in histories, tragedies, comedy, and romance, Shakespeare s most famous works include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, The Taming of the Shrew, and As You Like It.Like many of his contemporaries, including Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare began his career on the stage, eventually rising to become part-owner of Lord Chamberlain s Men, a popular dramatic company of his day, and of the storied Globe Theatre in London.Extremely popular in his lifetime, Shakespeare s works continue to resonate more than three hundred years after his death. His plays are performed more often than any other playwright s, have been translated into every major language in the world, and are studied widely by scholars and students.Michael Wilson is Head of Exhibitions and Displays at the National Gallery, London. Read more
Reviews
This is an excellent resource for middle to high school student drama teachers. Well thought out and just enough from each scene to capture the character. I great introduction to Shakespeare's plays.
