Topics:
Teaching Shakespeare 2010 will focus on four plays – I Henry IV, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, and Macbeth. Participants and faculty will spend one week on each of the plays, reading the texts closely, examining primary sources to reconstruct historical and cultural contexts, exploring filmed versions and performance histories of the plays, and acting out crucial scenes to explore their expressive possibilities. The Folger has published essays and curriculum for all but one of these plays (Measure for Measure) in the three Shakespeare Set Free volumes of the early 1990s. Participants will add to the rich resources on the Folger website through the development of lesson plans and projects with an emphasis on using technology in the classroom.
I Henry IV, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, and Macbeth present extraordinary interpretive challenges and have rich stage histories. The placement of Macbeth in relation to the other three, and in particular the inclusion of Measure for Measure and I Henry IV, will juxtapose the familiar -- Macbeth and Twelfth Night -- with the less familiar I Henry IV and Measure for Measure. Two of the plays are classified as comedies (Twelfth Night and Measure for Measure) and two could be considered history plays (I Henry IV and Macbeth), though Macbeth has become almost synonymous with tragedy. All four plays, however, challenge the validity of such categories, and this grouping is an opportunity to consider the utility of generic classification altogether.
Major Assignments:
There will be three major assignments during the Institute. Of the two written projects, the first will involve examining primary sources to study the social context of the plays. The second will devise practical applications for the classroom, both with and without the use of primary sources and technology; these will become part of the Folger’s online archive of lesson material. The third assignment will involve the preparation and performance of a scene from one of the plays studied during the Institute.
