Brush Up on Your Shakespeare

1/23:  Session 1:  The Man and His World. Who was William Shakespeare? Didn’t somebody else actually write the plays that are attributed to him? Why is he so popular? How can plays written over four hundred years ago have any relevance to the modern world? Discuss Shakespeare’s life and times, the authorship controversy, and the continuing significance of his work in this session.  

1/30:  Session 2:  The Greatest Hits. In this session, we’ll briefly discuss the Shakespearean canon, the Top Ten Greatest Moments in the plays, and what about Elizabethan theater made Shakespeare write the way he did. Be ready to get up and do a bit of acting yourselves! We will also look at some significant scenes in Romeo and Juliet, which we will attend at the New American Shakespeare Tavern on Sunday, February 5th at 6:30 p.m. (There will be an additional charge for tickets to the show.)

Field Trip! The New American Shakespeare Tavern is an original-practice playhouse (i.e., they try to stage their plays in a similar fashion to the original theaters in which they were performed) and is the first playhouse in America to have performed all 39 of the canonical plays. This February, they are presenting Romeo and Juliet. You will attend a 6:30 p.m. performance on Sunday, February 5th (cost TBD based on the size of the group). The Tavern serves a seasonal gourmet British pub-style menu that opens for service 1 hour and 15 minutes before curtain, so you are welcome to go for dinner before the show!  

2/6:  Session 3:  Romeo and Juliet Recap. Discuss  the Shakespeare Tavern performance, plus look at a few film versions of certain scenes. How do directorial choices make (or break!) the plays? There will be time to discuss Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Shakespeare (But Were Always Afraid to Ask).