Shakespeare Dallas

Theater Takes Shakespeare Ed To Schools

Dallas Shakespeare is launching a new program for elementary school classes in its school tour series, which brings back "Speak the Speech: Shakespeare and the Spoken Word" for middle and high school students.

In its all new 50-minute program "Oh This Learning, What a Thing It Is!" for grades 2–6, audiences are invited to guess which words we still in use today that Shakespeare invented. The results will certainly surprise students as they learn that Shakespeare invented more than 1,700 words that we still use today. This production features scenes from Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Twelfth Night in Shakespearean costumes. Using live performance, multiple choice Q&A, and a lot of volunteer opportunities to engage the audiences, Oh This Learning, What A Thing It Is! is an educational and hilarious production with vibrant costumes, clowning, slapstick, and lots of humor to enrapture young audiences in grades 2 to 6.

The show is available Feb. 3–28, 2014, at a cost of $600 for a maximum of 300 students.

Continuing its year-round schedule is "Speak the Speech," a 55-minute program featuring two professional Shakespeare Dallas actors performing scenes from Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Much Ado About Nothing. In addition to watching these scenes, students learn about Shakespeare's contributions to our daily speech; Shakespeare's use of language, including iambic pentameter, rhymed verse, and prose; his character intention and choices; and stage combat. This program also includes age-specific interactive exercises that focus on literary elements, including character development and themes, along with drama components including costume history and fight choreography. Cost is $350 for a maximum of 150 students.

Shakespeare Dallas takes the programs to the school: no buses, field trips, or extra expenses. To reserve a performance or for more information about Shakespeare and the Spoken Word, contact the theater's education manager Julie Osborne Watts at 214-559-2778 or josborne@shakespearedallas.org.

October 28, 2013

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