Shakespeare!

[peyjenk]

You know, I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but here it is anyway: one of my major requirement courses this semester was a 400-level course on Shakespeare. For our final project, we each had to take a scene from any play (or we could even do a sonnet) and describe how we would stage it. And we were told that we could go all-out on this. And one of my classmates did "The Tempest," as performed by the Muppets.

As I recall, she casted Patrick Stewart as Prospero, Kermit as Ferdinand, Miss Piggy as Miranda, Gonzo as Caliban, Red Fraggle as Ariel...and I know she had Statler and Waldorf in there somewhere, and I think Lew Zealand... She brought in several sketches of the scene, including very accurate drawings of the Muppets.

(My project was a little more prosaic - I did a scene from "Macbeth," as it would be seen on Court TV. Interviews with witnesses and suspects, descriptions of the site of Duncan's murder, that sort of thing, and the action takes place in New Jersey within the last ten years, instead of ancient Scotland.)

Both ideas sound EXCELLENT. I also took a 400-level Shakespeare class this semester... I wish our instructor had given us that assignment! As I read Shakespeare, I love to imagine how I would stage it. *Sigh* Too bad I'm going to be a librarian instead of a stage director... I suppose my talent will have to be wasted.

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

Yeah, it was cool. A couple of the theater majors in the class did their rewrites as full-blown director's books. I did mine as a television script - complete with Courier New font to make it look like it just came out of a typewriter.
Same here - I'm an English major who's preparing to be a journalist...but I do like theater. I was in the drama club in high school (as a member of the crew), I wrote a few plays for English class back then, I took a few drama classes when I started at college...and one of the theater majors in the Shakespeare class asked if I ever considered taking one of the playwriting classes.

 

[peyjenk]

I'm an English major with a creative writing minor, so I hope to take a playwriting class someday, too. I did a lot of theatre in high school, too, although with a local community theatre. It was a blast... although, unfortunately, I never got to do any Shakespeare. The theatre was (and remains to this day) afraid to do Shakespeare because "nobody understands it". Grrr.

 

[Speed Tracer]

After I graduate college I want to do Mary Baldwin's graduate program... here's the official description.

"Mary Baldwin College, in partnership with The American Shakespeare Center, has combined the academic and applied aspects of Shakespearean theatrical studies to offer a unique Master of Letters/Master of Fine Arts in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance. This marriage of scholarship and stagecraft sets this program apart from other graduate programs. Launched in fall 2001, M.Litt/MFA attracts applicants from all over the country. Those who complete the M.Litt degree may choose to move on to more advanced work leading to the MFA in Acting or Directing."

I've been working with the ASC during the summers for five years now and I love that environment... my two loves are theatre and literature, specifically Renaissance studies. This would be about the coolest thing I could do with my life, I think.

 

[anytimepally]

check this out:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235140/


could be good.. at the very least, with Hopkins, it probably won't be bad.. only thing that worries me is they're going with a very inexperienced director

 

[DanDanStrawberry]

I've gotta say, this year I've done Hamlet in my Literature class and it has absolutely blown me away. I think it is just the most perfect thing ever written

 

[peyjenk]

check this out:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235140/


could be good.. at the very least, with Hopkins, it probably won't be bad.. only thing that worries me is they're going with a very inexperienced director

Oooooooh.... I can't wait!