Shakespeare with Children: Six Scripts for Young Players

by Elizabeth Weinstein

Does your class or children's group need a jump start in producing thrilling, engrossing, lively theater?

Joy, greed, love, fear, and gluttony are just a few of the elements woven into Shakespeare's plays; these timeless topics provide endless fascination for children of any age.

In Shakespeare with Six Scripts for Young Players , Elizabeth Weinstein retains the beauty of Shakespeare s original language and the sheer fun of acting onstage, while substantially shortening and adapting six plays for children ages eight to thirteen.

These forty-minute scripts come with an arsenal of practical suggestions for simple productions. Teachers (and parents) will find ideas for easy back-of-the-closet costume pieces, as well as for sets, props, and music. Historical and literary background is also provided.


Acknowledgments
Introduction
Why Perform Classroom Plays?
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Macbeth
King Henry IV, Part I
Twelfth Night
Romeo and Juliet
The Tempest
Appendix A. About Shakespeare
Appendix B. Bibliography
Appendix C. Sample Letter Home

Weinstein has created an amazing resource for teachers who want to introduce their own students to the richness and wonder of the Bard. Her beautifully adapted texts are especially well served by the wonderfully useful suggestions for staging and music. Hurray for Shakespeare with Children! -- Bruce Coville , Author of William Shakespeare's Hamlet (and other Shakespeare picture books), My Teacher Is an Alien, Song of the Wanderer, and many other books for children.

As a fifth-grade teacher, I am thrilled that I can use this wonderful resource to introduce my students to the beautiful language, marvelous characters, intriguing plots, and fascinating history in Shakespeare's plays. The adaptations in this well-chosen collection lend themselves beautifully to cross-curricular connections among social studies, reading, language arts, music, and art. It is hard to imagine a better way to hook young students on Shakespeare than by having them read and act in these delightful versions of the Bard's work. -- Elizabeth Ester , North Shore Country Day School, Winnetka, Illinois

Ms. Weinstein's book is a must for every creative elementary classroom. She gives you all the tools you need to build a beautiful production of six different Shakespearean classics including comedy ( A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, The Tempest ), tragedy ( Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet ), and history ( King Henry IV, Part I ). The book provides a detailed blueprint that includes a synopsis and ideas for music, props, backdrops, and costumes, as well as a hard-to-find pronunciation key for each character. A great gift for teachers that will benefit their students forever. -- Ronald Bell , Artistic Director, Syracuse

221 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2008

Reviews

[Lynette Liberge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our community theater drama camp performed A Midsummer Night's Dream from this book. It was a huge success. The actors--ranging from 3rd to 12th grade--got so much out of it.

[Erin Cupp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our homeschool enrichment program just performed A Midsummer Night's Dream using the script from this book, and we had such a great time! The actors (grades 4-8) were able to understand the story and come up with their own ideas of how to create their characters. The audience laughed at all the right parts, and the actors really got that sense of becoming a "company" through this play. We are looking forward to using this as a resource for next year's play!