I’m teaching lots of cool classes online via Outschool.com during April. All the ones below are asynchronous, which means that, rather than interacting live with a teacher, you will interact with websites, videos, digital escape rooms, and other fun activities at your own pace. When you sign up, I’ll send you the materials and give you a handout, and be available via chat if you or your child needs help. Check out some of these amazing activities!
In this virtual version of my popular “Macbeth” course, you will engage with William Shakespeare himself and learn about his play in a fun, spooky, and interactive way!
2. “An Interactive Guide to Shakespeare’s London”:
A virtual tour of Shakespeare’s London will get kids to interact with the culture of Elizabethan England.
To teach kids about the Elizabethan era and the background of Romeo and Juliet, The Instructor will interact with the class (via pre-recorded videos), pretending to be Shakespeare. The class, pretending to be actors in Romeo and Juliet, will get a virtual tour of The Globe Theater, Hampton Court Palace, and a virtual visit to an Elizabethan doctor's office. This activity is an immersive way for them to learn about the period, how it relates to the world of the play, and how Shakespeare changed theater.
Intro image for my “Immersive Guide to Shakespeare’s London.”
3. “Shakespeare: The Lost Play:”
You must find the lost play of William Shakespeare before a mystery thief destroys it! Solve the clues and learn about Shakespeare’s writing and theater to uncover a historical mystery!
4. “Gravity Falls-Inspired Escape Room:”
Save the Mystery Shack from Bill Cypher, and learn about secret codes!
5. THe Violent Rhetoric of Julius Caesar:
Digital business card for my online classes with a QR code if you want to know more
Exciting, fully immersive, fully online classes for you and your children to enjoy in April 2024. Go down to Gravity Falls and solve codes and ciphers. Travel to Ancient Rome to learn about Julius Caesar, and visit Shakespeare’s Globe with a fully virtual tour!
Screenshot of my April schedule of classes, 2024
All the ones below are asynchronous, which means that, rather than interacting live with a teacher, you will interact with websites, videos, digital escape rooms, and other fun activities at your own pace. When you sign up, I’ll send you the materials and give you a handout, and be available via chat if you or your child needs help. Check out some of these amazing activities!
1. “Macbeth Digital Escape Room”
In this virtual version of my popular “Macbeth” course, you will engage with William Shakespeare himself and learn about his play in a fun, spooky, and interactive way!
2. “An Interactive Guide to Shakespeare’s London”:
A virtual tour of Shakespeare’s London will get kids to interact with the culture of Elizabethan England.
To teach kids about the Elizabethan era and the background of Romeo and Juliet, The Instructor will interact with the class (via pre-recorded videos), pretending to be Shakespeare. The class, pretending to be actors in Romeo and Juliet, will get a virtual tour of The Globe Theater, Hampton Court Palace, and a virtual visit to an Elizabethan doctor's office. This activity is an immersive way for them to learn about the period, how it relates to the world of the play, and how Shakespeare changed theater.
Intro image for my “Immersive Guide to Shakespeare’s London.”
3. “Shakespeare: The Lost Play:”
You must find the lost play of William Shakespeare before a mystery thief destroys it! Solve the clues and learn about Shakespeare’s writing and theater to uncover a historical mystery!
4. “Gravity Falls-Inspired Escape Room:”
Save the Mystery Shack from Bill Cypher, and learn about secret codes!
5. THe Violent Rhetoric of Julius Caesar (Asynchronous Edition)
Using self-paced online activities, and a helpful handout, your child(ren) will analyze the rhetoric and persuasive power in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” The course will also cover the history and culture of ancient Rome.
Digital business card for my online classes with a QR code if you want to know more
I’ve been reading this wonderful picture book about the history of the color blue- a color that evokes deep emotions and has a rich and sometimes tragic history. Here’s a video of the book being read:
Blue: A History of the Color As Deep As the Sea and Wide As the Sky by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
In identifying an “outstanding” book for children, the committee members will consider the following:
• Accuracy of presentation in both text and illustrative material, as well as appropriate documentation, avoidance of anthropomorphism and teleology, distinction between fact and theory, and balanced treatment. • Organization of material (e.g., general to specific; specific to general) that contributes to clarity and accessibility. • Style of writing that is engaging and distinctive in its use of language. • Style of illustration that is engaging, informative, and complementary to the text. • Appropriateness of book design based on the topic or subject and with respect to the different age groups for which the topic or subject may be appropriate. • Potential contribution to the K-8 curriculum.
National Council of Teachers of English Website: Orbis Pictus Website.
As I mentioned in my Coronation post, the colors blue and purple have been associated with power (earthly or heavenly) because for centuries they have been hard to produce, and the book tells that history extremely well while highlighting the people and cultures that created those dyes by harvesting shellfish and collecting indigo plants:
A few good reasons to appreciate the color blue. Throughout history, humans have captured, cultivated, and coaxed the color blue out of everything from mollusks to rocks to plants. In this fascinating exploration of our relationship to this once-precious color, Brew-Hammond begins by discussing its elusive nature: Seawater is blue, but the color disappears when water is cupped in ones hand; similarly, crushing iris petals yields blue, but the hue quickly dissipates when soaked in water. Readers learn that the earliest known use of blue dates back to about 4500 B.C.E. in Afghanistans Sar-e-Sang Valley and that ancient Egyptians used it, too. But blue has been found worldwide. It was extracted from the bellies of particular shellfish in coastal Japan, Central America, the Mediterranean, and Mexico and harvested from plants in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Because of its rarity, blue has been considered a royal color reserved for use by the wealthy and privileged. Laced with insights, Brew-Hammonds meditative verse covers a wide range of cultures, time periods, and geographical locations, while Minters mesmerizing images highlight the significance of blue to diverse groups of people through culturally specific visuals such as hairstyles and clothing design. The highly textured backgrounds add life and movement to the focal images in the foreground. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Stunning and informativeand as profoundly rich as the color blue. (authors note, facts about blue, selected sources)
Kirkus Reviws
As the review above shows, the book doesn’t focus on European royals or colonialist countries that bought and wore blue clothing, it focuses on the countries that make blue in places like Africa, Asia, and Central or South America. It also doesn’t disguise the fact that the slave trade in America was partially used to gather indigo plants, which the illustrator poignantly represents on the page where slaves are painted with blue dye- they lived and died for the color of their skin, and for the color they were forced to cultivate.
Fortunately, the book doesn’t end on the exploitation of people for the sake of a color, it also celebrates the triumph of science as chemist Adolph Von Baeyer labors to develop an artificial dye- one that would make such backbreaking labor unnecessary. Von Baeyer began working in 1865, the same year the American Civil War ended.
So what does this have to do with Shakespeare?
Brew-Hammond explores the history and culture surrounding blue powders and dyes, a rare and prized commodity until recently. She details how the ancient Egyptians ground lapis lazuli rocks from Afghanistan to make blue pigment for royals; later, sea snails were used by dyers until the indigo plant became a more practical solution for large quantities; and finally, Adolf von Baeyer created chemical blue, which led to widespread availability of this color. She also touches on some concepts and emotions associated with this hue: feeling blue (sad), blues music, out of the blue (unexpected), royal blue, and blue ribbons (extraordinary). Minter’s acrylic-wash illustrations depict predominantly Black figures, a nod to the key role played by West African dyers in developing these tinctures, and the importance of enslaved Africans whose toil made possible the North American indigo industry. Blue tints appear in every spread, but often as a spotlight color; reds, yellows, and greens do the heavy lifting, allowing the blue tones to stand out. A fascinating look at an underreported topic.
What’s really wonderful about this book is that it doesn’t just detail the history of the color blue, it also delves into its poetic history- the way we use blue as an adjective, in expressions, and many other daily occurrences. Terms like ‘feeling blue,’ or ‘blue blood,’ and the connotations of the sky and ocean make blue a color that is grand and vast, but hard to catch. This quality of tantalizing beauty has inspired many poets, including Shakespeare:
CLEOPATRA: Here My bluest veins to kiss; a hand that kings Have lipp’d, and trembled kissing.
Antony and Cleopatra
Rosalind. There is none of my uncle’s marks upon you; he taught me how to know a man in love; in which cage of rushes I am sure you are not prisoner.1455
Rosalind. A lean cheek, which you have not; a blue eye and sunken, which you have not;
As You Like It
Under these windows, white and azure laced With blue of heaven’s own tinct.
Cymbeline
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead Till of this flat a mountain you have made T’ o’ertop old Pelion or the skyish head Of blue Olympus.
Hamlet
Also, apparently, there is a shade of blue CALLED “SHAKESPEARE!”
So, I hope you enjoyed this look into the complex history and mystery of the color blue. Like Shakespeare, blue is mysterious but pervasive- hard to pin down in history books, but admired and celebrated to this very day.
I was excited from the beginning to hear that the Try guys were going to bring Shakespeare to YouTube in a way that was fun and accessible. My expectations were that they would make fun of the play with care; I was hoping that they wouldn’t mock Shakespeare, (or mock people who like Shakespeare). I was also hoping that they would critique the characters without outright mocking them and find ways to make the play connect to modern audiences. I think they achieved all those things and more!
Zach Kornfield, Eugene Yang, and Keith Habersberger known collectively as “The Try Guys” are a group of friends who seek out new experiences and share them with the world. They thrive on taking themselves out of their comfort zone and learning about the world through experiencing it firsthand in a funny, lighthearted way. As I said before, what could be more adventurous, daring, informative, and out of YouTube’s comfort zone than doing Shakespeare?
In a series of videos they explored Elizabethan clothing, stage combat, learning how to speak Shakespearean verse, and finally on August 10th, 2023, they performed “Romeo and Juliet” live on Youtube, with suggestions from the audience! With this post, I will discuss the evolution from these three videos, to the final show, which I got to see live on YouTube. I will discuss what I think worked, what didn’t, and how this production might influence future Shakespeare productions going forward!
Podcast About the SHow:
My Top Ten Moments:
Background on the Show
The original pitch for the play made it sound like a live YouTube event, but they made it even better by including a voting option where viewers could change some of the action and chose for instance, if they fought with swords or some other object, thus engaging the audience the whole time. This is what made this experience unique, (perhaps more than any other production), and I think in many ways this production could be an inspiration to educators and theater practitioners! My main critcism of the show is that, though it can be enjoyed by almost anybody, it is definitely not suitable for children, and nobody could get away with showing it in a classroom environment.
Costumes and Sets
The set for “Romeo and Juliet,” seems like an ordinary YouTube TV studio, in that it’s fairly small and it does not suggest any particular period. It kind of suggests somewhat of a dream-like environment; there are cardboard cut outs with some clouds, the lighting is warm with a few pink colors . Most of all it reminds me of a fractured fairytale more than classic tragedy, (which I suppose is clever in itself because it sets up that the Try Guys are going to fracture Shakespeare the same way people like the Muppets fractured fairy tales.
The costumes don’t seem as elaborate or historically accurate as the ones in the previous video, which is a shame because it would’ve been really nice to see the Try Guys walk, fight, and dance in the same costumes that they experimented with in the previous video. That said, the costumes certainly are functional within the story. Eugene as Mercutio has a stylish striking black outfit that certainly suggests somebody you don’t want to mess with. Zach as Romeo has an amusing long wig (romantically disheveled of course) and a blue doublet (though I miss the pumpkin pants in the previous video). As in other productions, the Montegues wear blue and the Capulets mostly wear red. I would be surprised if the director had seen the famous Franco Zephirelli film (or at least Gnomio and Juliet).
The director Keith Habersberger also keeps the best costumes for himself both as the Prince and Juliet; he’s wearing a beautiful ordinate gold costume as the Prince and Juliet herself has lovely rose-colored gowns. Even her shift in Act Four is it’s tasteful. I’ll talk more about Keith’s portrayal of Juliet later, but let’s just say that the clothes do not make him look like a man in women’s garb, they make him look like Juliet.
Stage Combat
The stage combat episode is great, and as a Stage Combat junkie myself, I watch a lot of channels like Skalgrim, Forged In Fire, HEMA videos, and of course my own stage combat videos. Consuming this combat content, I know that there are lots of avenues for education and for entertainment watching these 3 guys who have never done sage combat before, try out swords. I was very delighted to see them putter around with swords and then learn a short stage combat scene in which they then put on put their own spin on by improvising a scene where Romeo & Juliet sword fight with a guy who cut the cut in front of them while they were trying to get ice Cream. The video is fun, ludicrous, but also it’s just as informative as videos from the Folger Shakespeare Library.
Unfortunately, The Try Guys didn’t make much use of the swordplay they learned in this video during the final performance. Imagine my disappointment when, during the climactic duel between Tybalt and Mercutio, the audience voted to replace the swords with…something that was definitely NSFW. I’ll discuss this choice in depth later on my podcast but let’s just say it made the training they did in the previous episode seem like a waste of time.
The Cameos
Did you hear about this guy Romeo? He’s the talk of the town
Link Neal from Good Mythical Morning
One aspect of the production that I deeply loved was that instead of doing the whole play, The Try Guys did a 90-minute abridged version using multiple narrators to fill in with bits of exposition and commentary. The Reduced Shakespeare Company did this before in their show, but since The Try Guys are very popular in the YouTube Community, they got a bunch of their fellow Youtubers to be their narrators like Rhett and Link, Smosh Games, Rosario Pansino from Nerdy Nummies, and Mat Pat from Game Theory. It was absolutely delightful to hear more of my favorite YouTubers talk about my favorite writer, each one telling the story with their own brand of humor!
Romeo runs to Friar Laurence, mascara all smeared!
Manny Mua
The Performances:
Finally, let’s talk about the acting in the final performance and how the Try Guys succeded in bringing Shakespeare to You Tube.
Keith Habensburger as Juliet
Keith carries the show as Juliet. As he mentions in the video above, he has performed in Shakespeare before, and his passion for performing shines. It’s actually a bit shocking to see him drop his usual persona as an easy-going funny guy and become a tragic heroine! In addition, he has a clear vision for the character- I suspected that he would probably exploit the comedy of him being a man playing a woman and being taller than Zach and he does in the earlier scenes, but once Tybalt dies, Keith plays Juliet absolutely straight- he is absolutely committed to playing Juliet’s anguish and desperation and it’s really moving to watch!
Eugene As The Nurse/ Mercutio
Eugene was a natural choice for Mercutio- his Try Guys persona is very much the wild card, sometimes friendly and sometimes fierce and he clearly loves Shakespearean language as you can see in the earlier video where he plays Edmund from “King Lear.” Honestly, though, I think his performances in the final play are a bit under-dramatized- I don’t quite know what he was going for as either The Nurse or Mercutio, which might be a result of limited time or lack of direction. That said, he does a good job for having never done Shakespeare professionally before.
Zach as Romeo or “A Bro wearing Hose”
Zach admits in the Shakespeare Acadamy video that he doesn’t “get Shakespeare,” and I get the sense that he doesn’t really like Romeo, so his performance seems like an intentional parody of romantic leading men. Honestly, this is fine. Romeo isn’t my favorite Shakespearean character either, and yes, The Try Guys are treating this as a real show, but at the same time it is still an experiment; they are trying something they wouldn’t normally do, so Zach is dealing with the awkwardness of playing Romeo with the same self-deprecating sense of humor that he uses when baking without a recipe or trying ballet. He knows that he would never get cast as Romeo in real life, so he’s having a laugh while he does it onstage, all the while being the best Romeo he can be.
The Format
One of the biggest challenges any Shakespeare practitioner has to face with a modern audience is the problem of engagement. The age of social media has changed how we consume content- we don’t passively watch anymore, we engage with it, comment on it, share it, and sometimes even manipulate it for ourselves. In Shakespeare’s day, there was no division between actors and audiences so in a way, his plays work well for this kind of live choose-the-outcome YouTube Event and I’m interested to see if it influences future performances going forward. In any case, I’m grateful that I was able to see this fun-frenetic, once-in-a-lifetime evening of live theater!
If you would like to learn Shakespeare like the Try Guys, I have a series of online clases in acting, stage combat, Shakespearean comedies, tragedies, and of course, “Romeo and Juliet.” You can enroll in one of these classes now or schedule one with me by visiting my Outschool.com page:
I’m so excited! One of my favorite Youtube channels is doing a series of videos where they try Shakespeare for the first time! Zach Kornfield, Eugene Yang, and Keith Habersberger known collectively as “The Try Guys” are a group of friends who seek out new experiences and share them with the world. They thrive on taking themselves out of their comfort zone and learning about the world through experiencing it firsthand in a funny, lighthearted way.
So, what could be more adventurous, daring, informative, and out of YouTube’s comfort zone than doing Shakespeare? So in a series of videos they are going to explore Elizabethan clothing, stage combat, learning how to speak Shakespearean verse, and finally on August 10th, 2023, they will perform “Romeo and Juliet” live on Youtube, with suggestions from the audience!
This post will be a reaction to the humor and information on Elizabethan clothing from part one of the series with my notes on Elizabethan fashion, and the costumes worn by Shakespeare’s company
Background on Elizabethan Clothing
I’ve written a series of posts about Elizabethan fashions. If you’re unfamiliar with the period, Queen Elizabeth reigned from 1558 to 1603. This was one of the most prosperous and cosmopolitan times in English history and the fashions of the time reflected this.
Report of fashions in proud Italy, Whose manners still our tardy apish nation Limps after in base imitation.
Richard II, Act II, Scene i
Clothing of this period was very hierarchical- if you were lower class, the garments had drab colors, were functional rather than fashionable, and were not tailored for individual people. On the other hand, upper-class people literally wore their wealth and status on their sleeves- clothes were tailor-made, colors were bright and hard to produce, and fashion styles represented the far reach and sophistication of the English court. One way the court proclaimed this was by importing fashions from Italy, as the quote above indicates. This might be one reason why so many of Shakespeare’s plays are set in Italy; the public wanted to see the exotic upper-class fashions in this play set in romantic, sophisticated Italy. In a way, Shakespearean plays were sort of a fashion show in the 16th century.
If they [Elizabethans] saw a onesie, their heads would explode!
Keith
Keith’s remark is referencing the fact that nowadays our clothes are stitched together on the spot by machines. If you buy pants or a shirt, it comes as one complete garment, but this is a luxury the Elizabethans did not have. Costumes came in pieces like ruffled collars, sleeves, skirts, kirtles, foreskirts, etc. All these pieces would need to be assembled by a patient lady or gentleman in waiting, which is why Elizabethan nobles couldn’t get dressed by themselves, as you can see in this graduate thesis video by my friend Anna Gonzales:
Keith Habensburger as Juliet
One of the best parts of the video is Keith trying on various upper-class Elizabethan ladies’ garments from dresses to skirts. The Try Guys have a long history of trying on female garments so in a way, they’re perfectly suited to try Shakespearean costumes.
Keith’s favorite Elizabethan costume piece is the famous neck ruff- a piece of rolled linen that goes around the neck worn by men and women. Ruffs were very popular in the Tudor court, so it became a symbol of Elizabethan fashion.
“A Shirt and a Smock”
In Anna’s thesis, she points out how Elizabethan undergarments came in the form of long shirts for men and a long linen one called a smock for women. In the video, Keith is puzzled by the garments and wonders if it would be at all erotic to see an Elizabethan in their not-at-all revealing shirts or smocks. As Anna points out in her thesis, these garments were worn close to the body, coming into contact with all the sweat and grime of daily life. So NO Keith, it wasn’t sexy to see an Elizabethan in his or her shirt or smock.
“THe Devil Himself Could Invent such stuff”- Elizabethan Corsets.
Every age has a new definition of the ‘ideal silhouette,’ that is, the figure that is most appealing in women that the clothes either create or accentuate. Elizabethan women were expected to have slim waists, small chests and wide hips. This look was accomplished through the use of a corset, which tightened the waist and compressed the chest.
Under the Hood- Farthingale, bum rolls, and petticoats
To create the wider hip look of Elizabethan women, bum rolls tied around the waist, and wooden farthingales created a bell shape for the hips and skirt. On top of that went the petticoat, kirtle, and skirt.
Eugene wears a petticoat on top of his corset and bum roll that is done up with red bows. Zach wears a lace collar that partly covers his head. Eugene’s sleeves were added separately.
Eugene As THe Nurse
Eugene’s clothing as The Nurse, reflects the fact that lower-class people had fewer and fewer fancy options in terms of fabrics, styles, and colors. The costume is a simple linen shirt, a basic corset, and grey clothes. I suspect that The Nurse was also helping Juliet get dressed, like the ladies in this video:
Men’s fashion- Zach as Romeo or “Bros wearing Hose”
Men in this period also wore custom garments- the sleeves were added separately and the pants had to be attached at the points. Unlike women, young men didn’t cover their stockings (hose) and enjoyed showing off the shape of their legs. Stockings were often brightly colored and sometimes padded to make the man wearing it look more muscular.
God Save the King! In case you didn’t know, over the weekend, Charles Windsor, (formerly known as Prince Charles) became King Charles III at Westminster Abbey, The ceremony called upon many ancient royal traditions, many of which Shakespeare would’ve been familiar with. So this week, in addition to my traditional celebration of Mother’s Day, I am going to look at this ceremony and give you a behind-the-scenes look at royal coronations and how they looked in Shakespeare’s time and our own.
First, enjoy this video produced by Westminster Abbey, the ancient hall where King Charles was crowned on Saturday, May 6th, 2023:
Just for fun, I found this superhero creator website, and decided to create a Shakespeare character from it:
I put the real Shakespeare’s coat of arms on his chest, and decided to use the same color scheme. Hence, the black cape, the black mask that looks like an eagle, (since in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, the god Jupiter appears on an eagle. I also gave him yellow tights as a nod to Malvolio from Twelfth Night. I also kept colors that hint at Batman, since of course, Batman is partly inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
If I were to make a full comic book of this character, I’d probably make Shakespeare’s quill magic and either cover people with ink, or temporarily control their actions. He can also throw a wooden Globe at criminals and cram them inside it (an homage to the Prologue of Henry V.
I’d make Shakespeare a detective who can solve crimes because of his great storytelling abilities.
What do you think? Should I make a full comic of Shakespeare Man? Who should his nemesis be? And would this be something that you would enjoy seeing on this blog on a regular basis?
I can think of no better wrapup to my play of the month “Twelfth Night,” than by reporting on my visit to an actual Twelfth night Party, presented by the Society For Creative Anachronism.
What’s a Twelfth Night Party?
If you took my class on Shakespearean Christmas traditions or read my blog posts, you know that, back in Shakespeare’s day, Twelfth Night was a party to end the Christmas season. It was presided over by a Lord of Misrule, who would lead people in games and songs. The party would also have a Twelfth Night Cake with a bean in the center. If you found the bean, you’d have good luck for the year! So I was pleased to come to a real-life Twelfth Night party and see these traditions come to life!
What is the society for Creative anachronism?
The short answer is- it’s LARPING for history nerds. Rather than creating a D&D persona and then getting arms and armor to play-fight in the backyard, SCA members create personas based on real medieval history, make or buy real historical arms and armor, (or arts and crafts as the case may be) and spend years of their lives studying and perfecting their immersion in that character’s life. SCA-ers learn how to fight with swords, daggers, spears, etc, how to sing medieval songs, medieval dances, and many other medieval ‘mysteries,’ which in this case means arts, crafts, and professions.
The Shire of Owlsherst
Owlsherst is the SCA’s local chapter in York PA. They have a number of dedicated members who specialize in textiles to rapier-dagger fighting. I’ve posted some videos of their fighting demonstrations on Youtube and Tiktok and their archery master has his own Tiktok channel. They hosted this year’s Twelfth Nigh party and have many other events throughout the year. For more information on this chapter, go to https://owlsherst.eastkingdom.org/
My reaction
Every SCA event is a great way to celebrate people who are passionate about history and have talents for arts and crafts. Everything from the tapestries to the to the food, to the adorable owl toys, was made by hand by these dedicated people (most of whom brought their own medieval costumes). More members were doing live demonstrations of rapier/ dagger fights, binding books in cow leather, and singing medieval Christmas songs. I was inspired by everyone’s dedication and hard work to put this together. I also wonder if this is how Shakespeare himself felt when, as a child, he went to sheep shearing fairs and saw his friends and fellow artisans put on amateur bible plays on medieval pageant wagons.
That said…
I should warn you that, like a lot of historical reenacting societies like Civil War reenactors, etc, this society is more aimed at hardcore history nerds, than anyone else. This isn’t Medieval Times or a big-budget renaissance fair which is aimed at children and casual fun seekers. As such, it wasn’t really family-friendly. There aren’t many activities for kids and many of the arts and crafts are too delicate for toddlers and young kids. Also, this event isn’t particularly immersive or organized. People mostly just mingled, ate, and watched the various demonstrations. Keep in mind, this is just one chapter and just one event, which means your experience may vary. Nevertheless, because of the organization’s amateur historical nature, I would caution you to manage your expectations. Like I said before, this isn’t some big-budget Disney theme-park ride, but it is a chance for hardcore history nerds to get together, share their knowledge, and celebrate the traditions of a bygone era. If that’s your thing, I highly recommend it!
Hello everyone! I’m back from break and happy to celebrate one of my favorite holidays with you- the one that gave its name to one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies- Twelfth Night
I’ve been in this play three times and I’m continually struck by how fun, romantic, and progressive it is. It raises questions about gender roles, social norms, bullying, and even catfishing and heteronormativity! It’s a fascinating and thought-provoking play and it’s my favorite of Shakespeare’s comedies!
Shakespeare’s early comedies are about young love, infatuation, and being ‘madly in love’ (sometimes literally). His middle plays are about mature relationships between men and women and the need for commitment. I would argue that Twelfth Night, (and possibly Much Ado About Nothing), are the best examples of Shakespeare telling meaningful stories about romantic relationships.
Images from various productions and paintings of “Twelfth Night.”
In honor of “Twelfth Night,” I’ve created a coupon for my course on Shakespeare’s comedies from now till January 31st: Get $10 off my class “Shakespeare’s Comic Plays” with coupon code HTHESYTIT110 until Jan 31, 2023. Get started at https://outschool.com/classes/shakespeares-comic-plays-868BR5hg and enter the coupon code at checkout.
To finish I wanted to give you a complete production of Twelfth Night for your viewing pleasure, but I can’t decide which one, so I will post a bunch today!
1. 1996 TV movie starring Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean)
The Shakespearean Student 