Teaching one Shakespeare play in a school year can be challenging enough, what with mandated curriculums, standardized testing, holidays, and school activities which take a cavalcade of kids out of class on a regular basis. I choose to do two plays in a year with my senior classes, a tragedy and a comedy. I want… Continue Reading »
Posts Categorized: Shakespeares-plays/henry-v
We love actor Louis Butelli’s posts for the Folger Theatre Production Diary. Recently, he wrote about his discovery—after a long run here playing Cassius in Julius Caesar (closing Sun, Dec 7)—that whether Shakespeare’s set a play in Elsinore or Agincourt or Rome he can’t resist talking about the theater. Enjoy this player’s perspective. One of… Continue Reading »
By Kevin J. Costa This past June, I attended the Michael Chekhov Association’s annual International Conference and Workshop in New London, CT. MICHA is an international organization that offers, among other things, intensive actor training each summer for people interested in Chekhov’s psycho-physical approach to the art of acting. While Chekhov’s approach owes considerable debt… Continue Reading »
Folger Theater will soon start rehearsals for Henry V. The Folger Education team meets ahead of the rehearsal kick-off to brainstorm ideas for the study guide. We create a study guide for each of the Shakespeare plays that gets produced at the Folger and archive them on our study guide web page for teachers to… Continue Reading »
Shakespeare’s England was not overseen by a democratic government. Monarchs ruled for life, and successors were chosen based on royal bloodlines or who won which war. Despite this, Shakespeare knew that the public’s perception of a monarch went a long way towards the success of their reign. He gave his characters the power of language… Continue Reading »
By Carol Kelly Arguably there are two memorable film productions of Henry V. Thefirst appeared in 1944 and was directed and produced by Laurence Olivier who also took the title role. The film was produced during World War 2 and sets a patriotic, even jingoistic note, with the beleaguered English troops on the eve of… Continue Reading »
One quote we hear from students over and over again is “Shakespeare doesn’t relate to my life.” In a sense, they could be right: Shakespeare wrote his plays 400 years ago, often about subject matter even older than that! However, the topics he explored inside of the action are what keep us coming back. Quoted out… Continue Reading »