Stage 1: Choosing Text
Where are web-based resources regarding William Shakespeare his plays, and his life and times? How do I choose the best Shakespearean text for my needs? Can Shakespeare's writings be explored in ways other than reading and research? Are there other ways to perform Shakespearean text for an audience besides scenes and monologues? These are some of the questions eShakespeare helps answer within Stage I: Choosing a Text.
Using Shakespearean text does not require years of study nor copious amounts of scholarship and reading. Shakespeare's text is universal and easily applicable to any number of uses be they classroom-based or performative.
In selecting a text, think of how you want to use it:
In the classroom: exploration and experimentation without an audience.Once you have identified how you want to use the text, the next goal is to identify your group’s comfort and experience with:
or
For an audience: rehearsal toward a final performance in front of an audience.
or
Something in the middle : exploration and experimentation that leads to an original adaptation of text that is rehearsed and then performed in front of an audience.
Community building and ensemble skillsBe sure and consider your own personal investment and comfort levels of:
Challenging language, both written and spoken
Individual or partnered work
Performance in front of an audience
Time commitment : how much time do you have/want to give to planning, exploring, staging, and performing work with text.Each of the ACTivities and resources within eShakespeare can be used to address these questions in effective, concise, and easy-to-use applications.
Direction and presentation of performance : do you want to work with large groups or small, do you feel you know what to do in terms staging action effectively?
History of Shakespeare
Click here for web-based links on the life, times, and plays of Shakespeare.
Synopses of the CanonFor Classroom Study
Click here for ACTivities designed for exploration of Shakespeare’s language and basic character work
Adverb CharadesFor Performance
Body Encyclopedia
Character Energy
Choral Improvisation
Living the Language: Iambic Pentameter
Punctuation Guide
Shakespeare’s Characters
Shakespearean Insults
Click here for ACTivities designed to help you find and explore performance material.
Choral Work
Choral ImprovisationReturn to Main
Performance Options
Creating Choral Work Using Themed Pieces
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