Theatre class assignment

[shortbun]

My son's whol grade depends on two papers. He must read four plays and compare them. He has to read a comedy and drama and compare. then a Shakespeare and pre-1900 Classic and compare. Does any theatre person out there have suggestions that might be good for a 15yo boy?

 

[RUDisney]

When I was in HS, I enjoyed the Merchant of Venice and Othello. One thing I'd do for him, though, is whatever Shakespeare he chooses, download the audio book or get it from the library.

Shakespeare was gibberish to me until I heard it spoken as I read along.

Did the teacher give any examples?

 

[shortbun]

When I was in HS, I enjoyed the Merchant of Venice and Othello. One thing I'd do for him, though, is whatever Shakespeare he chooses, download the audio book or get it from the library.

Shakespeare was gibberish to me until I heard it spoken as I read along.

Did the teacher give any examples?

Thanks! Audio book is a great idea. I've acted in a few Shakespearean plays so I can help too. I was planning on helping him read all of them. I was thinking Othello would be good.

 

[akhenaten]

Drama- "Master Harold and the Boys" By Athol Fugard
The play takes place in South Africa during the apartheid era, depicting how institutionalized racism, bigotry or hatred can become absorbed by those who live under it. Seventeen year-old Hally spends time with two African servants, Sam and Willie, whom he has known all his life.

Comedy- "Brighton Beach Memoirs" Neil Simon
Set in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York in 1937, the coming-of-age comedy focuses on Eugene Morris Jerome, a Polish-Jewish teenager who experiences puberty, sexual awakening, and a search for identity as he tries to deal with his family, including his older brother Stanley, his parents Kate and Jack, as well as Kate's sister Blanche and her two daughters, Nora and Laurie.

 

[agnes!]

Hmmmmm....
Little Foxes vs. Black Comedy
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf vs. Cheaper by the Dozen

Pre-1900 Classic play *and* compare it to Shakespeare?
The Importance of Being Earnest(Oscar Wilde) vs. A Comedy of Errors
She Stoops to Conquer(Goldsmith) vs. Midsummer Night's Dream
Maybe Hamlet might appeal to your DS, since it has a lot of growing-up angst.

Sheesh, my background's in theatre but I think this assigment stinks...plays should be ACTED not read, especially SHAKESPEARE.

Sorry that's all I got.

agnes!

 

[tlbwriter]

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is a great pre-1900 comedy, and with its identity confusion plot it would offer some good comparisons to a Shakespeare play with the same plot device, such as As You Like It.

 

[snykymom]

Peter Pan v. Midsummer Night's Dream. Compare Peter to Puck, and I think he'd have a great paper!

 

[shortbun]

Some of your ideas are making me giggle with glee. thanks! And yes, Agnes, I concur that plays should be acted and not simply read. This is an independent study assignment for one student so acting is not possible. she said he could attend the plays but even in a big city, there are not the opportunities. I'm an ex-theatre major so I can do a little acting while we read; I'll give him some enrichment. I love the Puck versus Peter idea!!!!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

My vote is for Othello too, for a 15 yr old boy.

Let me email a theater major friend and see what he suggests.

 

[LukenDC]

A good modern drama for a boy is The Glass Menagerie. Copenhagen, about the Manhattan Project, is good too. I cannot think of a suitable comedy.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

From my friend:
Othello is good, probably one of the easier tragedies. The easiest tragedy would probably be Romeo and Juliet. Easiest comedy would probably be Twelfth Night or Taming of the Shrew. Hamlet, however complex, has the advantage of having a full, unedited film version (w/ Kenneth Branagh).

My recommendation is to find an UNABRIDGED "book-on-tape" version of the play (iTunes is good for that), and read along with it. I do that when I have to teach a Shakespeare play, and I find it very, very helpful (I can pause and make notes in the margins, and it's so much easier to understand monologues when hearing them too).

Also, look at the No Fear Shakespeare series online (http://nfs.shakespeare.com/). NFS has the Shakespeare on the left, and a "modern translation" on the right. It's a legit way of understanding it - I use this with actors all the time.

For a pre-1900 play, I would look at something Anton Chekhov wrote before 1900 (he's Realism, so easier to understand). There's also Racine's "Phedre," and Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergrerac" (there's a great film version with Gérard Depardieu).

Hope this helps!

[URL="http://nfs.shakespeare.com/"]http://nfs.shakespeare.com/[/URL]
nfs.shakespeare.com






Oh, and Cyrano de Bergerac and almost all of Chekhov's works can be found online. Good luck!

Hope this helps.

 

[xJenna]

Othello is the only Shakespeare play I like. Probably because it's fairly easy to follow along but also Iago is such and evil character but he does so little. I read The Glass Menagerie last year and I found it to be interesting, easy to follow. I also read The Importance of Being Ernest, and I loved that as well. We read all of our plays out loud last year. The way you read things can sometimes be completely different than how they're read. Good luck choosing!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Ooh... Arsenic and Old Lace is a personal favorite of mine. There is another show I saw for the first time this summer called Church Basement Ladies. I don't know how it would be received, but it's a hilarious comedy! It's not hit any big stages yet, as my mom spoke to one of the actors in the show and he said that the writer was told to keep the show out of New York if he didn't want it squashed. It's had a HUGE following here in the Midwest and the sequel is due out this summer!

There's also You Can't Take It With You.