The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.1514 Wednesday, 14 September 2005
[1] From: Stuart Manger <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 18:16:23 +0100
Subj: Re: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
[2] From: Virginia M. Byrne <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 13:37:54 EDT
Subj: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
[3] From: Annalisa Castaldo <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 13:54:21 -0400 (EDT)
Subj: Re: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
[4] From: V. K. Inman <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 19:35:09 -0400
Subj: Re: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
[5] From: Bill Arnold <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 20:01:52 -0700 (PDT)
Subj: Re: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
[6] From: Amy Ulen <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 20:19:27 -0700
Subj: RE: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Stuart Manger <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 18:16:23 +0100
Subject: 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
Comment: Re: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
Biggish cast, lots of decent leads, boys / girls can be fairly equally
mixed, plenty of excellent knockabout, some tender love stuff, angry
father, disguise, pomposity ridiculed, audience cleverer than actors and
on the inside of many of the secrets, crazy fairies, chance for major
music and high Act V farce. And some exquisite poetry.
I mean, what else do you want?!!!
[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: Virginia M. Byrne <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 13:37:54 EDT
Subject: 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
Comment: Re: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
The romance, the comic accessibility of the rude mechanicals..the
magic..all make it very delightful to produce with hs students( as ell
as adults).i directed an all-female production at my all female hs two
years ago and put the rude mechanicals in Sgt Pepper's uniforms and
underscored the show with Beatles music which worked incredibly
well..think about it....I am presently still trying to work on some
ideas for music underscore of The Tempest..anybody?
Virginia M. Byrne
[3]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: Annalisa Castaldo <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 13:54:21 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
Comment: Re: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
I believe that MND is attractive to high schools (and colleges) for two
main reasons. First, it is a romantic comedy, which is much easier to do
tolerably than tragedy and second, it has an ensemble cast. Unlike
Taming of the Shrew, or Romeo and Juliet, it does not have two leads who
get most of the juicy speeches. Not only does this make it easier to
keep all the drama students happy, it also helps even out the burden on
the amateur actors.
And one more point--there are a decent number of young/youngish female
roles, which is not always true of Shakespeare.
Annalisa Castaldo
Assistant Professor of English
Widener University
[4]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: V. K. Inman <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 19:35:09 -0400
Subject: 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
Comment: Re: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
Perhaps it is easy to cut and easy to perform. The play within a play
is kept in its entirety and kids love it. The rest of it can be hammed
up because it is after all a comedy and kids think this means you should
be funny.
V. K. Inman
[5]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: Bill Arnold <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 20:01:52 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
Comment: Re: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
Jodi D. Clark writes, "I am currently working on a project regarding the
pedagogy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ and have run across a fact that
consistently, this play is one of the most performed plays in high
schools, ever. Why is that? What elements about it lend it to being so
agreeable to high school productions?"
For the same reason John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease was a
big hit with the teen set. See what happens when you type in Grease and
Midsummer Night's Dream in Google?
[6]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: Amy Ulen <
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Date: Tuesday, 13 Sep 2005 20:19:27 -0700
Subject: 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
Comment: RE: SHK 16.1500 Midsummer Night's Dream and High Schools
MND lends itself to high school productions because it is full of
adolescent issues. What teenager hasn't dealt with a parent "getting
into his/her business" or being "dumped" for no apparent reason? What
teenager hasn't desired to run away from all the "ridiculous adult
rules" or rebel against parents/authority by breaking rules? Some teens
also experiment with the "love juices" of alcohol and drugs. Any teen
that has experienced their first love will certainly understand the
concepts of the course of true love never running smooth and the fools
we mortals make of ourselves when we are in love.
In addition to the adolescent issues, MND is fun! It lends itself to a
wide variety of settings, so set, sound, and costume designers have a
ball. It is full of magic and fantasy, which appeals to kids of all
ages. And, honestly, the language is highly accessible to kids; it
doesn't take them long to understand this play. It also helps that it
really is funny!
I have taught this play to kids from 8th-12th grades (including
alternative school), from struggling readers to honors students, and it
is always a success. I have also directed the show with both high
school and middle school students. It is really easy to down play the
sexuality with younger kids and focus more on the fairies and mechanicals.
The follow link is to the website my alternative school students started
when they performed the play in 1995:
http://www.shakespearehigh.com/library/surfbard/plays/mnd/mnd_guide.html.
Amy Ulen
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http://www.shakespearehigh.com/
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