Table of Contents A Letter from the Director of Education p. 3 Pre-Performance - Educate Read the Plot Summaries and Meet the Characters p. 4 Research the Historical Context p. 6 Who was William Shakespeare? p. 6 Shakespeare’s Early Years p. 6 The London Years p. 7 The Later Years p. 7 A Chronology of Shakespeare’s Plays p. 8 The Writers - The Reduced Shakespeare Company p. 9 Performance - Excite Theater is a Team Sport (“Who Does What?”) p. 10 The Actor/Audience Relationship p. 11 Enjoying the Production p. 11 Post-Performance - Empower Talkback p. 12 Discussion p. 12 Bibliography p. 12 Lesson Plans & Sunshine State Standards p. 13 2 A Letter from the Director of Education “ All the world’s a stage,” William Shakespeare tells us ”and all the men and women merely players.” I invite you and your class to join us on the world of our stage, where we not only rehearse and perform, but research, learn, teach, compare, contrast, analyze, critique, experiment, solve problems and work as a team to expand our horizons. We’re “Shakin’ It Up” at Orlando Shakes, with new Lesson Plans designed to assist teachers with curriculum needs while sharing what is unique and magical about the Theater Arts. We’ve designed our Curriculum Guides with Sunshine State Standards in mind. You’ll find a first section which will help you prepare your students for the theatrical experience, a second section suggesting what to watch and listen for during the performance, and lastly, discussion questions and lesson plans to use when you are back in your classroom, to help your students connect what they’ve learned to their lives and your diverse and demanding curriculum. I believe that as an Educator it is imperative that I continue learning as I teach and teaching as I learn. It is my sincere hope that you will find our Curriculum Guides helpful to you and eye opening for your students. Feel free to contact us at Orlando Shakes should you have any questions or suggestions on how we can better serve you. We are always learning from you. Thank you for the tremendous work you do each and every day in nurturing our audiences of tomorrow. Curtain Up!! Anne Hering Director of Education 3 Pre-Performance Read the Plot Summary and Meet the Characters Shakespeare’s Plays This list breaks down Shakespeare's plays by type. You'll also get a brief summary of each play by Shakespeare, if you need help remembering what a specific play is about. Measure for Measure Power corrupts Angelo, the The Tempest substitute duke, who tries to Prospero uses magic to reclaim seduce the sister (Isabella) of a his dukedom and find a condemned man. husband for his daughter, Miranda. The Merchant of Venice Moneylender Shylock tries to Troilus and Cressida recover his “pound of flesh” In ancient Troy, Troilus and collateral for a loan. Cressida vow undying love, COMEDIES which dies all too quickly. The Merry Wives of Windsor All’s Well That Ends Well Sir John Falstaff puts the Twelfth Night Bertam runs away to avoid his moves on the Merry Wives Orsino loves Olivia. Olivia loves new wife, Helena, but she (Mistresses Page and Mistress Cesario. Cesario is really Viola, follows him and tricks him into Ford) who turn the tables on who loves Orsino. being her faithful husband. him. The Two Gentlemen of As You Like It A Midsummer Night’s Dream Verona A romp in the Forest of Arden, A mischievous sprite (Puck) Nothing can come between where everyone falls in love. wreaks havoc on mix-and- best friends Valentine and Characters: Rosalind, Celia, match couples (Hermia & Proteus, except a girl, Sylvia. Orlando Lysander, Demetrius & Helena) in the woods near Athens. The Two Noble Kinsmen The Comedy of Errors “Lord, what fools these mortals Two brothers fight for love in Two sets of twins (named be!” ancient Greece. Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus & Syracuse) turn the Much Ado About Nothing The Winter’s Tale town of Ephesus upside down. Claudio loves Hero. Benedick Jealous husband (Leontes) doesn’t like Beatrice. Then drives away his wife Cymbeline Claudio hates Hero, and (Hermione), children, and best A jealous husband Benedick loves Beatrice. friend. (Postumous) believes a false Eventually, everyone gets story about his wife (Imogen). married. She runs away and meets her long-lost brothers. Pericles Pericles lives, loves, loses, and Love’s Labour’s Lost regains his family while touring The King of Navarre and his the Mediterranean Sea. court try to study in seclusion but succumb to the temptations The Taming of the Shrew of love. Petruchio “tames” his wife, Katherina. 4 Pre-Performance Research the Historical Context Who was meat-pie, and drowning in a vat of wine. Government and everybody else in the William The point is that Shakespeare did it ALL! country recognizing that you and your Shakespeare? family were upper class and treating you -Everybody went to see Shakespeare's like you were somebody important. -William plays: children, peasants, royalty, Basically, you got invited to all the 'A-List' Shakespeare is a merchants, every kind of person from every parties. Nobody knows why John mystery. He social group and clique. It was the one Shakespeare’s mysterious decline occurred. never went to place where a beggar could rub elbows college, only the with the rich and famous. Remember there - Shakespeare's mother was Mary Arden, a local grammar were no televisions, no radios, no young lady from a prominent Catholic school, but ended magazines, and only the beginnings of family. She married John Shakespeare in up writing the most famous plays in the newspapers. Not that newspapers mattered 1557 and they had seven children. history of the world. How did it happen? much considering most people William's older sisters Joan and Margaret Nobody really knows. COULDN'T read or write! Aside from the died when they were babies. His younger plays, there were bear-baitings, cockfights, sister Anne died when he was fifteen. The -We know very little about Shakespeare's bull-baitings and if you were lucky, the most of what we know about his three personal life, his childhood and his occasional execution. That was all. Seeing younger brothers is the youngest was marriage when you think about the impact one of his plays was something like a cross named Edmund and that he later became he's had on our world. We have none of between a Magic basketball game and a an actor in London. Edmund died at age Shakespeare's letters, diaries, or original rock concert. It was noisy, crazy, usually twenty-seven and was buried in London. manuscripts. All we have is his signature on messy, and a whole lot of fun. We don't really know much about a couple of legal documents. In fact, the Shakespeare's other two brothers. lack of information on him has made a lot Shakespeare's Early Years of people argue that he never really wrote - As far as Shakespeare's education, even all those plays or even existed at all! - William Shakespeare was born on April less is known. We assume he went to the 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. local public grammar/elementary school in -Never forget, Shakespeare wrote his plays He died on the exact same day fifty-two Stratford, but there are no records to prove to be PERFORMED not read. Never sit years later, in 1616. He lived during what it. We're also pretty sure he never went to down to READ one of his plays if you was called the Elizabethan Era because at college or university (pretty incredible don't know it. Get up and try ACTING IT that time the queen of England was Queen when you consider Shakespeare invented OUT. You'll be surprised how much you'll Elizabeth I. over 2500 words that we still use everyday- understand. Reading Shakespeare is including the words “puke”, “eyeball”, and ALWAYS hard, Performing him is EASY. - William Shakespeare's father, John “vulnerable”). In fact, after his baptism the Shakespeare, was a glovemaker by trade next record we have of William -Will wrote over 40 plays, but only 37 have and ran a 'general store'. He was a Shakespeare is his marriage in 1582 to survived. He wrote every kind of story you prominent citizen in the town of Stratford- Anne Hathaway. William was eighteen can think of- tragedies, comedies, histories. upon-Avon and even served as mayor for a years old when he married and Anne was 22 of his plays were about WAR. Guess he term. The very first mention of John twenty-six. Anne was also several months had human nature down… In his plays you Shakespeare is in 1552. He was fined for pregnant! Susanna, Shakespeare's first can find teenagers fighting with their keeping a 'dunghill' in front of his house. child, was born in 1583. Two years later, parents, teenagers running away, teenagers When William was eight years old, his Shakespeare and Anne had twins, Judith falling in love, ghosts, gods, witches, father's fortunes started to decline. His and Hamnet. Sadly, Hamnet died only drunks, murderers, a woman caressing her father stopped going to church meetings eleven years later. There is no record lover's body minus its head, a woman and town council meetings, and his of his cause of death. William was caressing her lover's head minus its body, application for a coat-of-arms was turned deeply affected by his only son's death weddings, funerals, death by stabbing, down.