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Shakespeare Comedy

  • 1.  Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-23-2017 10:29
    I decided that every 4 years, I will produce a Shakespeare play. Shakespeare is a passion of mine, so I feel very comfortable with the material. Next year will be time again for Shakespeare, but I'm having a problem deciding which one I wanted to do. Last time, we did Macbeth, which the kids had a blast doing. This time, I want to do a comedy. Unfortunately, the ones I would normally look at, Midsummer, and Twelfth Night, are being produced locally this year, and I don't want to do them so soon to those other productions. I'm currently looking at As You Like it, Love's Labor's Lost, and Much Ado. I was wondering if anyone who has produced these shows had any thoughts about them. How well did the kids enjoy them, how well did they "get" it, and how were they received in your community (admin, parents, families, etc.)? Is there even another one I should consider? Any other thoughts and wisdom would be appreciated.

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    Christopher Hamilton
    Drama Teacher
    Kennewick WA
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  • 2.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-23-2017 10:46
    We did Much Ado two years ago and set it in a 70's disco called Wild Willies. Leonato was the owner with Dogberry his security guard. Leonoto, Dogberry, Don John and Conrad were gender swapped, and we used a lot of 70's music. It was a blast and it went over very well. The actors had a great time, even though they were a bit intimidated with the language at the beginning. 

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    Ken Buswell
    Drama Teacher
    Peachtree City, GA
    http://mcintoshtheater.org/
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  • 3.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-23-2017 11:35
    To further answer, when I do a Shakespeare play again (probably next year) I plan on spending the first week or two just going over the script and the meaning of each line with the entire cast instead of dealing with that stuff as it came up during rehearsal.

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    Ken Buswell
    Drama Teacher
    Peachtree City, GA
    http://mcintoshtheater.org/
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-23-2017 14:44
    I've always liked A Comedy of Errors or you could go with Taming of the Shrew

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    Shira Schwartz
    Chandler Unified School District
    Chandler AZ
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  • 5.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-23-2017 14:50
    We were slated to produce 'The Merchant of Venice', which I thought was going to be a stretch. We had a number of outside factors that resulted in us choosing not to pursue, but we did rehearse it for several weeks and it was going well, with the comedy going over really well. As long as SHylock isn't treated like a comedy troupe, you can do lots of cool things with it, and your audience should be into it as much as your students.

    Much Ado is also very fun. My students didn't get it as muchg as they did Merchant, but they were able to deal with and enjoy the comedy aspect well.

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    Phillip Goodchild
    Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
    Ruskin FL
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-24-2017 10:33
    I'll put in a plug for "As You Like It" for having great female characters, including the lead - not so common in Shakespeare.  And it falls into the "fairly easy to 'get'" list.  And it has "seven ages" ...

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    Kristin Hall
    Drama Director
    Lincoln Public Schools
    Arlington MA
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  • 7.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-24-2017 05:59

    I'm presently in rehearsals for Much Ado About Nothing in my advance theatre class.  I directed the show ten years ago as well.  I think the threads of dishonesty, the fine line between love & hate, and the stupidity of those who are supposed to protect us, are all themes that our students understand.  It has plenty of humor along with real moments of tenderness and pain.  I will say, that when I produce Shakespeare, I use more contemporary settings & styles which helps our students & audiences understand the story.  


    I noticed you didn't include R&J...the ultimate "high school" Shakespeare story!  Stupid teenagers and their foolish caretakers!  Several  years ago, I adapted R&J into Juliet and Romeo.  Basically, I flipped the characters.  Romeo had the balcony.  Juliet had Sister Laurence as her mentor.  Instead of Lord Capulet being the parent in power, Lady Montague was.  The dynamic in the fight between parent and child took on a new meaning when this petite mother held a knife to her son's throat!  


    The great thing with Shakespeare is that you can try different things with it.  You were brave enough to produce The Scottish play...I haven't been that brave, so trust yourself and give the other one's a try!  I wish you all the best!


    Carolyn Cork Greer






    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-24-2017 07:59
    We did Much Ado with great success. For the kids, the hardest bits are the Dogberry scenes, since the humor is so verbal and tricky. For admin, I toned down the bit about Claudio seeing the man climb through his fiance's window and seeing him with her maid. We had fun discussing settings that included a warrior culture and prizing a girl's virginity. A fortunate donation of costumes led us to 19th century Mexico. Thus, Dohn John became Don Juan. We had a blast!

    Sent from my iPad


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  • 9.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-24-2017 08:29
    I think MUCH ADO is the most modern feeling comedy. It does not require any recontextualization for kids to appreciate its brilliance.

    --
    Mark A. Zimmerman
    Theatre Director,

    Akron School for the Arts
    Firestone High School
    470 Castle Blvd
    Akron, Ohio 44313

    330-761-3275

    FirestoneTheatre.com




    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-25-2017 16:30
    I have directed all those plays with students, K-12; sometimes in adaptation (younger) and sometimes original text (with my cuts), for grades 7-12. They are all great of course, and fun. I find Much Ado to have a darker side, with its false accusation of "unfaithful" Hero. You have to make some decisions about how you are going to handle that with students today, 400 years after the play was socially acceptable.

    Love's Labor's Lost is very funny, and hardly ever done. Also has more good female roles, and does not rely on other characters being older, as in Much Ado (father & uncle).  My students had a ball with this play.

    As You Like It is one of my all time favorites. When I do teacher workshops for EdTA and other conferences, I use my adaptation of this play because it is instantly accessible. This show is a crowd pleaser, always, and easy to follow (in spite of all the couples "coming to the Ark.") See my website if you're looking for a 90 minute, slightly modified script: Community Shakespeare
    Communityshakespeare remove preview
    Community Shakespeare
    Across the country and around the world, CSC scripts are being used by educators to introduce their students to Shakespeare, and even to the English language! Read what others have to say about the most user-friendly adaptations on the market, for students from elementary to high school.
    View this on Communityshakespeare >


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    Richard Carter
    Author/Director: Community Shakespeare Company;
    MS/HS Teacher, Lopez Schools
    Lopez Island, WA
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-24-2017 09:26
    We did The Merry Wives of Windsor, and the kids and audience loved it. We set it in the 1990s in an exclusive gated Florida community (long before Mar-a-Lago was front page news). There was a tiki bar, a modern hotel lobby. Everything was pink and green. And we did one scene where the Pages and the Fords were playing golf. Merry Wives doesn't get done too often, but it's pretty funny stuff, with many opportunities for physical humor, and some plum roles.

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    Michael Bergman
    Teacher/Director
    The Potomac School
    McLean, VA
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  • 12.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-24-2017 12:33
    Though I have never directed it, I would recommend looking at The Tempest.

    I just finished teaching it for the first time in my sophomore English class (part of new curriculum we have adopted), and it was really well received among my English students! Most understood and quite enjoyed it, and some even suggested we do it for a future school play, which I am now considering.

    It is fairly short (five acts, but some of the acts only have one or two scenes), several of the characters could be gender flexible (Prospero, Ariel, potentially others) to suit the needs of your department, there is a lot of potential for fun with tech (lots of magic!), and you could play with the context. Additionally, there are a couple of sub plots, which keep the action moving. Fun, fairly light hearted, despite several murder plots, and in the end, Prospero forgives his enemies and all ends happily!

    I feel like it is not done often, and could be a contender!

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    Jessica Rempel
    Troupe Director
    Mead WA
    Jessica.rempel@mead354.org
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    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-24-2017 23:23
    We did R&J about seven years ago. We updated the setting to NYC and turned the parent roles into one role, single mothers from competing upper class families in the city. The Capulets were private school kids complete with school uniforms and the Montagues were the more artsy types from public school. We had great turn out and the kids enjoyed it. It was easier for them to perform since they studied it in 9th grade English classes.

    Right now, we're working on Much Ado. I cut it down by about 25% to avoid a 3-hour play or too many soliloquies that go on a bit too long (sorry, Shakespeare!).The kids struggled initially with how not to sound...Shakespeare-y, but now that we've gotten past their misconceptions about how to perform it, I'm seeing a lot more of them relax into realistic characters and enjoy the process. They are certainly intimidated by it and worry about memorizing their lines more than usual, but they've made such progress, and they even quote lines from the play in regular conversation now as a mark of pride. I think they get a real confidence boost by being able to perform something so difficult. 

    To be fair, not many people respond joyously when I tell them our next production is Shakespearean. I usually get the disappointed, "oh." I don't expect my audience to be as large for this one as they would be for a Disney musical, of course, but it's also a lot less expensive to produce. Preparing them for college by adding Shakespeare to their repertoire is probably the primary reason you should go for it! 

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    Maralie Medlin
    Theatre Arts Educator
    Gastonia, NC
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    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-26-2017 01:34
    Funny, I just finished teach The Tempest for the first time as well!  My kids also very much enjoyed it, and we are now talking about it as an option for a show in a couple of years (we're doing Hamlet this year and I want to stay away from Shakespeare next year, just because).

    The only characters I would say are not gender flexible are Miranda, Prospero, Caliban and Ferdinand, and those 4 because if you change any of them you lose the whole point of fact that the only two males Miranda has ever seen before Ferdinand are her father and Caliban.

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    Laura Steenson
    Theatre Director
    Reynolds High School
    Troutdale OR
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    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-25-2017 14:45
    Of the three plays you mention, I've done "As You Like It" and "Much Ado About Nothing," and both went very well. One major difference: "Much Ado" is almost entirely in prose, and that poses different acting challenges than a play with a significant amount of verse. I do think that makes it easier to cut -- you don't have to worry about maintaining meter when you make the cuts.

    "As You Like It" is richer in opportunity for female characters: Celia and Rosalind are great leading characters, and it's so great that they have a strong friendship unaffected by love rivalry. Also, I think it's easier to convert some of the man characters to women than it is in "Much Ado." "Much Ado" would be more like doing "Macbeth" in that way -- when we did it, we had a girls playing Leonato, Dogberry, the Friar, and members of the Watch as men characters; we turned Antonio into Antonia and presented her as Leonato's wife.

    I think "Love's Labor's Lost" is the least accessible of the three in terms of the language -- lots of topical references/humor, even though the story and characters are very appealing. I've yet to tackle it. But I have also done "The Winter's Tale" (not a comedy, but the second half basically is) and "All's Well that Ends Well," both of which were very successful with the groups of student actors I had at that time.

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    Cora Turlish
    Metuchen NJ
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    Original Message


  • 16.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-26-2017 08:28
    Too funny, I also do one every four years! Midsummers's, R & J, As You Like It and Comedy of Errors. COE I cut down and ran it without an intermission, brought it in at just
    over an hour. Set it 60's mod with a live band and had a lot of physical humor, kids loved it.
    Currently circling 12th Night set right after WW2 - big band, Andrews Sisters, etc 

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    Amanda Malo
    Howell, MI
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    Original Message


  • 17.  RE: Shakespeare Comedy

    Posted 03-26-2017 22:55
    I might also suggest Taming of the Shrew. Even though the film is pretty old, students still recognize "10 Things I Hate about You" and it's modern adaptation of this play.

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    Jeana Whitaker
    Theatre Director
    Mesa AZ
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    Original Message


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