Shakespeare Magazine ~ Winter 2002

Shakespeare
Volume 7, Issue 1
WINTER 2003

Teaching
King Lear

Using the Quarto and Folio to Explore Character, Staging, and Story
Steven Urkowitz tells of the bothers and benefits of using text variants in King Lear.

Playing King Lear
A list of some of history's King Lears.

Related Link: The Shakespeare Book of Lists by Michael LoMonico

Into the Storm: Helping Kids Connect to that "Crazy Old Man"
Sharon Hollon shows how she gets her students to perform the storm scene from King Lear.

Hollywood Endings-- Nahum Tate to Julia Roberts
John Fennell explains how he uses Nahum Tate's Family Shakespeare in class.

King Lear on Film and Video
A brief look at the major Lear films, videos, and adaptations.

BROADSHEET:
Shakespeare's Special Effects
An instant lesson showing the power of language in the "Dover Cliff" speech.

ONLINE BONUS ARTICLE

Looking at Lear's Speeches
Melissa Borgmann uses two different speeches of Lear to Cordelia to illustrate themes of love, transformation, redemption, and forgiveness.

NEWS ON THE RIALTO
A compendium of courses, conferences, and theatre performances around the world.

Shakespeare Magazine ~ Volume 7, Issue 1
Kathryne Benesh (standing), age 16, plays Lear and Anya Kanevsky,
age 12, plays Cordelia in Rebel Shakespeare's recent production
of King Lear, set in ancient Celtic times. Photo by Keri Cahill.

ON THE STAGE
Kids Act Up in Boston
Keri Cahill discusses the Rebel Shakespeare company.

So what is this whole Rebel Shakespeare thing about, anyway? Our mission is to offer Shakespeare and theatre as a vehicle for self-understanding for young people, and then to give them the opportunity to give something back to their community. Why Shakespeare? Because his texts are compelling and life-changing works of art. Shakespeare's texts open up worlds upon worlds that generations of children need to explore and experience.

At the moment, Rebel Shakespeare is busy preparing performances of "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Shakespeare, But Were Afraid To Ask" for Walt Disney World. The students wrote the 50-minute comedic romp themselves. "We wanted other kids to see that Shakespeare isn't boring," explained Devin Jeffers, 14, a Rebel for seven years. "In fact, he's the opposite of boring." How are they accomplishing that feat? "Well, we make sure to include a lot of his insults!" Devin said, "like 'I have seen better faces in MY time.'" Jayne Wilhelm, 13, said, "We wanted people to get a taste of ALL of Shakespeare--not just the violence, not just the romance, but everything. I don't think enough kids know how incredibly funny his plays are. They are laugh-out-loud funny!"

"Too many kids get turned off by Shakespeare before they get to experience how amazing he is," Devin concluded. "We want to find a way to share that with other kids our age."

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