This July, Shakespeare in Action‘s Artistic Director – Michael Kelly – will be leading a 3-day workshop through York University’s Fine Arts Summer Intensive:

 
Shakespeare Without Fear in the Classroom!

This practical, studio-centred course will feature:

• Active strategies for scene development and text analysis
• Techniques to demystify Shakespeare’s words and language for the student
• Introduction to the choral method
• Innovative dynamics for independent and group learning
• Cross-curricular development of reading, writing, drawing and oral work
• Creative approaches to other dramatic literature
• Access to expert faculty
• The Shakespeare Lab

Participants will obtain a FASI Certificate of Completion by the end of this module.

 
Dates: July 8-10, 2013

Times: 9AM–3PM, daily

Maximum # of Participants: 15

Program Fees: $200+HST

 
Register online – click here.

Or email FASI at fasi@yorku.ca.

This week we’ll be highlighting the work done behind the scenes in our Kids’ Camp and The Young Company for Teens!

As you can see, campers do much more than simply learn lines and where to stand, they make the show! It’s a great opportunity to learn from a professional actor, work behind the scenes on sets and costumes, build confidence and new friendships. For more information or to register, click here.

But who will be teaching your children these skills? Who will be taking care of your children while you finally get that pedicure and heed the call of bliss? Who is Shakespeare In Action?! Tune in next week to find out…or watch the videos on our YouTube channel here!

To sleep – perchance to dream

Hamlet [III. i. 1758]

Photo by Linda Nicoll

Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland – February 2012

Thought I’d post this in honour of the pandas finally arriving in Toronto Zoo and to celebrate these beautiful animals who do love their sleep!!

And as my flatmate’s cat Jacob has such an expressive face, I thought I’d throw in a bonus picture as well!

Good king of cats 

Romeo & Juliet [III. i. 1756]

1. Richard III [V. iv. 3881]

2. Macbeth [I. i. 2]

3. Romeo & Juliet [II. i. 1049-50]

4. Titus Andronicus [III. i. 1406]

5. Romeo & Juliet [I. i. 254]

6. Romeo & Juliet [I. i. 255]

By Linda Nicoll

References:

1. Digital Bus Stop http://www.digitalbusstop.com/animals-riding-on-other-animals/ [Accessed 15 May 2013]

2. Buzzfeed UK Animals ’25 Animals Who Are Interested in What You Have to Say’ – via junkimages.com http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/animals-who-are-genuinely-interested-in-what-you-h [Accessed 15 May 2013]

3. Buzzfeed UK Animals ’25 Animals Who Are Totally BFFs’ – via interpnet.com http://www.buzzfeed.com/francescawade/animal-bffs [Accessed 15 May 2013]

4. Buzzfeed UK Animals ’The 25 Happiest Animals in the World’ – via freakymartin.com http://www.buzzfeed.com/paws/happiest-animals-in-the-world  [Accessed 15 May 2013]

5. Buzzfeed UK Animals  ’The 25 Happiest Animals in the World’ – via blogs.roanoke.com http://www.buzzfeed.com/paws/happiest-animals-in-the-world  [Accessed 15 May 2013]

6. Buzzfeed UK Animals ’20 Sad Puppies That Will Ruin Your Day’ via – freewallpapershere.com http://www.buzzfeed.com/paws/sad-puppies-that-will-ruin-your-day [Accessed 15 May 2013]

Quotes: Open Source Shakespeare, ‘Plays’ George Mason University 2013. 
http://www.opensourceshakespeare.com/views/plays/plays.php [Accessed 15 May 2013]

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

Henry V [IV. iii. 2291 - 2302]

Henry V delivers this rousing speech to his men just before the Battle of Agincourt.  Along with his “Once more unto the breach, dear friends” speech [Henry V, III. i. 1092], these famous lines capture the heart of the play and Shakespeare’s vision of the warrior King.

The Battle of Agincourt in 1415 went down in history as one of England’s most famous victories and Henry V’s crowning glory.  The English army was outnumbered more than four to one by the French and defeat seemed almost inevitable.  However, due in no small part to the unrelenting archers with their ferocious longbows driving the enemy back, the English managed to defeat the vast French force. England’s improbable odds before the battle give Henry’s impassioned words even more resonance.  Shakespeare endows his Henry V with the powerful skill of being able to stir the hearts of his men and inspire and rouse them into fighting bravely and fearlessly for him despite the odds.  Just like Joan of Arc’s battle cry to the French soldiers who later fight the army of Henry VI (Henry V’s son) – they were determined to “fight till the last gasp”. [Henry VI P I, I. ii. 326]

Henry proclaims that at that moment in time, they are all equals and they will stand shoulder to shoulder and fight as brothers.  They will fight and bleed together and many of them will die together.  This blood bond ties them together as family, and on this day they do not fight as kings, lords or foot soldiers, but as men, as equals and as brothers.

This notion of comradeship and blood bonds during combat is transcendental.   Lord Nelson evoked this powerful wartime bond in his speech after the Battle of the Nile, referring to his Sea Captains as a ‘band of brothers’. There are copious examples throughout history of soldiers fighting and dying together as a ‘band of brothers’.  One such example is that of the 101^st Airborne East Company during World War II.  This unit fought fearlessly and heroically from the Normandy invasion through to the end of the war; united by the blood spilt on the battle field and the strength of the lifelong bonds they had forged.  Their story was immortalized in the HBO series, aptly named ‘Band of Brothers’.

An evolution of this is seen in Game of Thrones through the Dothraki blood riders fighting side by side with Khal Drogo and then Daenerys’ riders.  Daenerys calls these warriors “blood of my blood” as they have pledged their lives to her and their blood is now the blood of their Khaleesi.

I was lucky enough to see the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Henry V twice during their two year/eight play History Cycle in 2007/2008.  It was the greatest theatrical spectacle I have ever seen, and Geoffrey Streatfeild’s Henry was passionate, rousing and utterly spellbinding.  Such is the power of Shakespeare’s stirring words in Henry V, that Streatfeild delivered his “Once more unto the breach” speech in the dressing room of the English rugby team, to rouse and inspire them before they stepped onto the field to do battle with the French team to fight for the glory of the Six Nations Championship in 2007.  An inspired England won the battle on the day; beating the highly favoured French team – (although France were ultimately victorious clinching the title against Scotland the next week).  This demonstrates the immense power and potency Shakespeare’s texts still wield today and how they have infused nearly every facet of our contemporary society.

By Linda Nicoll

References:

BritishBattles.com – ‘The Battle of Agincourt’, 2002 – 2013. Chalfont Web. http://www.britishbattles.com/100-years-war/agincourt.htm [Accessed 15 May 2013]

British Library – ‘Treasures in Full ~ Shakespeare in Quarto – Henry V Early Performances’. 2013 London. http://www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/henry5.html [Accessed 15 May 2013]

Game of Thrones Wiki – ‘Bloodriders – Rakharo’. 2013 Wikia. http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Rakharo [Accessed 15 May 2013]

IMDb – ‘Band of Brothers’. 1990 – 2013 IMDb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185906/ [Accessed 15 May 2013]

In depth Info – ‘Band of Brothers in literature and history’. Copyright 2005 – 2013. W. J. Rayment.  http://www.indepthinfo.com/band-of-brothers/ [Accessed 15 May 2013]

Open Source Shakespeare – ‘Play Search’, 2013 George Mason University. http://www.opensourceshakespeare.com/views/plays/plays.php

Royal Shakespeare Company – ‘Henry V Programme – Geoffrey Streatfeild as Henry V’. 2007, Dir. Michael Boyd – RSC Stratford upon Avon and The Roundhouse Theatre London, England.

Suite 101 – ‘Horatio Nelson and his Band of Brothers’, 1996 – 2013 Suite101. http://suite101.com/article/horatio-nelson-and-his-band-of-brothers-a221354 [Accessed 15 May 2013]

What if Shakespeare was on American Idol singing a heartbreaking love song for a place in the final?

If music be the food of love, play on, (play on, play on)

Give me excess of it (excess of it) [1]

For stony limits cannot hold love out, (cannot hold)

And what love can do, that dares love attempt [2]

The course of true love never did run smooth [3]

O my love! Here’s to my love (Oooooh my love! Here’s to my love) [4]

If thou canst / love me… I say to thee / that I shall die [5]

Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all (yea take them all, all, all) [6]

But love, for love, thus shall excuse my jade [7]

A lover’s eyes will gaze an eagle blind, / A lover’s ear will hear the lowest sound [8]

I love thee, I will not say pity me…

But I say, love me (But I say, looooovvve me) [9]

Canst thou love me? (Canst thou love me?) [10]

Most radiant, exquisite, and unmatchable beauty [11]

I love thee more and more: think more and more (think more and more) [12]

I have not art to reckon my groans;

But that I love thee best, O most best believe [13]

If thou dost love me [14] O joyful day! (joyful, joyful day) [15]

To say thou dost not [16] O, break my heart! (break, break, break)

Poor bankrupt, break at once! [17]

But I say, love me… [18]

In this city will I stay / And live alone and [19]

Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth [20]

Ay me!… and twenty times! Woe, woe / And twenty echoes twenty times cry so [21]

But I say, love me… [22]

For now my love… I know thou canst [23]

By Linda Nicoll

References:

1          Twelfth Night I. i. 2-3

2          Romeo & Juliet II. ii. 916-17

3          A Midsummer Night’s Dream I. i. 140

4          Romeo & Juliet V. iii. 3037 & 65

5          Henry V V. ii. 3132-35

6          Sonnet 40, 1

7          Sonnet 51, 12

8          Love’s Labour’s Lost IV, iii. 1679-80

9          Merry Wives of Windsor II. i. 580-81

10        Henry V V. ii. 3176

11        Twelfth Night I. v. 464

12        Cymbeline V. v. 3498

13        Hamlet II. ii. 1216-18

14        Romeo & Juliet I. v. 943

15        Henry IV P II V. iii. 3539

16        All’s Well That Ends Well I. iii. 497

17        Romeo & Juliet III. ii. 1779

18        Merry Wives of Windsor II. i. 581

19        Henry VI P II IV, iv. 2570-71

20        Richard II III. ii. 1557

21        Venus and Adonis 855-6

22        Merry Wives of Windsor II. i. 581

23        Comedy of Errors II. ii 514 & 28

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

From what History Play does this famous line come from?

Image: Public domain Clip Art -

http://www.wpclipart.com/recreation/party/crown_with_jewels.png.html

By Linda Nicoll

This week will be our 2011 Kids’ Camp performances of Julius Caesar and A Comedy of Errors!

This year the Kids’ Camp will focus on The Tempest, while our Young Company for Teens will focus on Macbeth.  It’s a great opportunity to learn from a professional actor, work behind the scenes on sets and costumes, build confidence and new friendships. For more information or to register, click here.

But the performance itself is just the tip of the iceberg. What they were up to behind the scenes? Tune in next week, or watch our summer videos on the Shakespeare In Action YouTube channel to find out! Click here.

Shakespeare in Action has just wrapped up its Shakespeare Alive 2013 tour!  This 75-minute interactive presentation travelled to  elementary and secondary classrooms, auditoriums, cafeterias, and gyms across the GTA!  Their goal was to show students why Shakespeare is still relevant and why his language – his poetry – is so important. Here’s what the teachers had to say about Shakespeare Alive!:

I was so impressed with the actors who came in and ran the workshop. They were exceptional and the kids loved it. I’m extremely happy with the way things went. It was an excellent experience for us.

-Jarrett Flindall, Middle School Teacher

 

I want to thank your organization for bringing an exciting, hilarious and gripping presentation to John Fraser Secondary School. Our students were energized and engaged throughout, and some even got to improv onstage in front of their drama teacher. We had a range from just-arrived ESL to near graduates take in the performance, and all the feedback I’ve heard from kids and teachers so far has been positive. Each kid came away with different favourite moments. They say they were impressed and enjoyed learning why we still care about Shakespeare.

Thanks for accommodating our needs, and thanks for a great show.

-Stephen Morra, High School Teacher

 

Yesterday’s performance was outstanding! The three performers were energetic, talented, funny, informative and it was a great pleasure for me to look out at the audience’s faces in the lecture theatre — the really academic students, the not-so-academic students — all were grinning and under the spell cast by your actors. The audience participation elements were very well received.I told your performers after the show that they made my job easier (the kids found a new respect for and interest in Shakespeare), but also harder, because how can we teachers match the fun of what they did?We would be pleased to have them come again in the future.

-Paula Nevins, High School Teacher

What is CODE and its mission?