http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/apr/15/shakespeare-hip-hip-rap/print Found this article cruising Twitter today. The theme is pretty generic – teaching Shakespeare by putting a “hip hop”, aka “rap” spin on it. I like this article, though, because it points out that rap doesn’t have to be all “tits and arse and jewellery,” and that real artists can get real poetry and social commentary out of the medium.
Some of the kids tell me that they hate how Shakespeare is taught at school – how boring the approach is. But will this send them scuttling back to Othello with a fresh eye? Akala says the aim isn’t that limited: "It’s about showing them what’s attainable. And if Shakespeare is presented as the most unattainable, highbrow entity, but then it’s made relevant to them, what else might be? It’s part of a wider effort to open kids up to what they wouldn’t traditionally be interested in."
Emphasis mine, because I think that sums it up. They also mention in the article how the kids aren’t in it for the Shakespeare, but for the rapping (which pains me, trust me), so they’re the exact audience you want to go after with this kind of approach. If they’d come in already interested in Shakespeare, well then that’s good, but the guy’d be up there preaching to the converted.
We often talk about getting younger kids interested in Shakespeare, as I’m sure my regular readers are well aware. So I find this an interesting development. I’m probably about 20 or 30 years out of the demographic for the music of Taylor Swift, but I was aware she has some sort of a song that mentions Romeo and Juliet. Last night I actually heard it, and it’s not bad. If this gets kids interested in the story who otherwise might have been a bit too young for it, hey, all the better! I don’t know if I’ve got these right; I’m sure somebody will correct me. Here is Love Story by Taylor Swift:
We were both young when I first saw you I close my eyes and the flashback starts I’m standing there On a balcony in summer air See the lights, see the party, the ballgowns See you make your way through the crowd And say hello Little did I know That you were Romeo You were throwing pebbles And my daddy said, “Stay away from Juliet,” And I was crying on the staircase Begging you, “Please don’t go,” And I said Romeo, take me Somewhere we can be alone I’ll be waiting All there’s left to do is run You’ll be the prince And I’ll be the princess It’s a love story Baby, just say yes So I sneak out to the garden to see you We keep quiet ’cause we’re dead if they knew So close your eyes Escape this town for a little while ‘Cause you were Romeo I was a scarlet letter And my daddy said, “Stay away from Juliet,” But you were everything to me I was begging you, “Please don’t go,” And I said Romeo, take me Somewhere we can be alone I’ll be waiting All there’s left to do is run You’ll be the prince And I’ll be the princess It’s a love story Baby, just say yes Romeo, save me They’re trying to tell me how to feel This love is difficult, but it’s real Don’t be afraid We’ll make it out of this mess It’s a love story Baby, just say yes I got tired of waiting Wondering if you were ever coming around My faith in you is fading When I met you on the outskirts of town And I said Romeo, save me I’ve been feeling so alone I keep waiting for you But you never come Is this in my head? I don’t know what to think He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring And said Marry me, Juliet You’ll never have to be alone I love you and that’s all I really know I talked to your dad You’ll pick out a white dress It’s a love story Baby, just say yes We were both young when I first saw you
It seems a fairly juvenile interpretation, two kids who immediately leap into “we can’t be together therefore we’re just like Romeo and Juliet” territory. The ending is just a wee bit different than how old Will had it in mind. I do like the opening, though, as it makes the listener think of the Capulet party where the two meet. Of course, Daddy didn’t say “Stay away from Juliet” at that point but details, details.
I think it’s funny that she throws in a “Scarlet Letter” reference while she’s at it. It’s like she wrote the entire song while daydreaming in English class. (It also makes me wonder if the kids listening fully understand what being a scarlet letter implies?) For some reason, this makes me think of Starcrossed by Lenny and the Squigtones.
http://www.shakespearetavern.com/opp.htm Thanks to regular reader/commenter Ann for the link on “original practice”, where Shakespeare performance is done as close as possible to how Shakespeare himself would have done it.
In the Elizabethan Playhouse, as I imagine it, the world of the play and the world of performance are one and the same. Thus we do not craft a distinct world of performance for each and every play we do. We use the Elizabethan playhouse. In the Playhouse, we have the Heavens, we have the Hell, we have every thing known to man and we have all of humanity as well. We have all that has come before and all that is yet to come. The playwright has free and easy access to all creation with the stroke of the pen. Thus the playhouse was the central metaphor for life, the universe, and everything. Shakespeare called his playhouse “The Globe”.
This reminds me of my own limited theatre experience back in college, where I wrote for the annual festival of plays (and saw 4 of my works produced). They did strictly bare stage, where the only props you got were black cubes. If you sat on one it was a chair, if you stacked them it was a wall. Anything else, you were bringing it onstage and taking it off yourself. Now, that’s probably a gross over simplification of one small part of what the author’s talking about, so I’ll shut up. I mention it only because I credit that experience with making me more a playwright and a man of words, than some who cares what color the mountains are. I’ve always been happy to write “Scene: Outside” and then move on to whatever the characters need to be talking about.
It always seems to sneak up on me, but in just over a week we’ll celebrate Mr. Shakespeare’s 445th birthday. What are you doing? Alas, I’m almost certainly doing….nothing. It’s a Thursday, and I’ve got a big boss coming into town for the week so it’s highly unlikely that I could take a vacation day :), and the following weekend (May 2) we are already celebrating both my son’s and my own birthday. So poor April 23 is going to come and go relatively uncelebrated. Perhaps I’ll wear a party hat and toot a horn at my desk. Business idea : Shakespeare’s Birthday greeting cards for Shakespeare geeks to send each other. The rest of the world may not care, but we do.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/7998879.stm Apparently he’s getting his day in court. Man, the guy looks like an absolute flake. I’d like to get a closeup of those buttons/stickers on his jacket. Here’s the original story on the theft, and capture. Seems the eccentric Mr. Scott just walked into the Folger one day and asked them to verify/date “his” Folio. He apparently did not realize that every Folio in existence has been micro-catalogued for every last smudge and tear on each page, so while they said “You just sit there for *one* sec, ‘k?” it took them no time at all to identify “his” Folio as the one stolen from Durham University. Where’d he get it? Why, a friend in Cuba, of course. You know, it just dawns on me that Obama just recently eased restrictions on travel to Cuba. Wouldn’t it be funny to tell the guy “Get your coat, we’re going to meet your friend.” I’d like to see how the story changes! I know I’ve got some Folger folks that read the blog, I wonder if there’s anybody that was directly connected to the story that can share any good gossip? I would love to talk to the person who he handed the book to!
