Download Debate 456 - First News for Schools

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FirstNews
The Weekly Debate
Issue 456
13 - 19 March 2015
The Dilemma Why is Shakespeare still so popular?
Background
Shakespeare Week runs from 16–22 March 2015, a week-long primary school
celebration of the life and times of the English writer William Shakespeare. The
event brings together over 3,000 schools and organisations to introduce primaryage children to Shakespeare in a fun way.
Shakespeare died in 1616, which is almost 400 years ago, so why do primary
school children need to be introduced to this long-dead man? The simple answer is
The portrait of Shakespeare
that he is widely considered to be the greatest writer of all time. He wrote dozens
from the First Folio, published
of great plays in three different genres – history, tragedy and comedy – as well as
in 1623
writing 154 sonnets and having an enormous influence on the
English language.
He is the most famous writer of all time and has been
performed, read and studied all over the world for the past
400 years. His writing has been translated into almost every
language on Earth and even some made-up alien ones: two of
Genres – Types of literature or art in general, such as
Shakespeare’s plays have been adapted into Klingon, a language
tragedy, comedy, romance and history.
in the Star Trek sci-fi franchise. Shakespeare festivals take place
all over the world and it is likely that every day of every year,
Sonnets – Short, 14-line poems that originated in Italy
somewhere in the world, a Shakespeare play is being performed.
and became popular in England in the 16th/17th
But what exactly makes Shakespeare, whose nickname is The
centuries.
Bard, so popular to this day, and his influence on drama so huge?
Shakespearean – Something relating to Shakespeare.
glossary
Shakespeare in Numbers
Shakespeare lived at the end of the 16th century and start of
the 17th century. He died 399 years ago on 23rd April 1616.
The Bard wrote 16 comedies, 10 history plays and 12 tragedies.
He also wrote 5 poems and 154 sonnets.
There are over 400 film and TV versions of Shakespeare plays.
Shakespeare was just 52 when he died, though at the time this
wasn’t considered a particularly young age.
It is believed that Shakespeare’s works have racked up sales of
4 billion+, making him the best-selling playwright of all time.
The Shakespeare character with the most lines is Hamlet. He
has an incredible 1,495 lines and over 11,000 words! The play
itself is the longest of all The Bard’s works at over 4,000 lines.
According to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, The Bard
appears in the school curriculums of 65% of countries worldwide
and is studied by around half of the world’s schoolchildren
every year.
The MYSTERY
W
ILLIAM Shakespeare was born in
Stratford-upon-Avon, a Midlands
market town, in 1564. His exact date of birth is
unknown, as are many aspects of Shakespeare’s
life. At the time, it was not usual to keep precise
records of theatrical events, and many documents
have been lost or destroyed in the hundreds of
years since Shakespeare lived. So theatre experts
and historians have painstakingly tried to piece
together different scraps of evidence – and
sometimes guesswork – to figure out exactly
what Shakespeare did and when. However, there
is almost no evidence about Shakespeare’s life
between 1578, when he left school, and 1582
when he got married, and also between 1585,
when his twins were born, and
1592, when he was succeeding
as
a playwright in London.
These periods are known as “the
lost years”.
KLY
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The Weekly Debate
FirstNews
Issue 456
13 - 19 March 2015
The Dilemma Why is Shakespeare still so popular?
Acting and writing
It is thought that
Shakespeare came to work
in London in around 1590.
He joined an acting company
before beginning to write
plays that were performed in
the new theatres that were
opening up around London
at the time. Shakespeare
joined a theatre group called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men
soon after they were founded in 1594 and was a member
throughout the rest of his career. It was with the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men that Shakespeare’s plays were first
performed. He would take on some of the smaller roles,
while
a famous actor, Richard Burbage, played
some of
Shakespeare’s
main characters, such as
Hamlet, Romeo
and King Lear. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men became
the most important company in London. When King
James I became King of England and Ireland in 1603,
the company’s named switched to the King’s Men.
Shakespeare regularly saw his plays performed in the Royal
Courts of both Elizabeth I and James I.
Classic Shakespeare
The best way to experience Shakespeare is to go and watch
a play. Here are just three of his most famous ones…
Macbeth – Macbeth is a Scottish
nobleman and brave
soldier. Encouraged by his crafty
wife, Lady Macbeth, he
kills the King of Scotland, Duncan, and takes the throne
himself. As ruler, he resorts to violence and terror and
further murders to keep his power. Macbeth ends the play
dying in combat.
Romeo and Juliet – A tragic love story, Romeo and
Juliet are very much in love but their families hate each
other, making the relationship impossible. Romeo thinks
that Juliet has died, and so drinks a deadly poison. But
Juliet was, in fact, only asleep. When she wakes to find the
love of her life dead, she stabs herself with his dagger.
Hamlet – Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, begins
the play deeply saddened by the death of his father, the
king. His father’s ghost tells Hamlet that he was murdered
by Claudius, who is Hamlet’s uncle and the new king of
Denmark. Hamlet vows revenge, but as the play goes on, he
slowly goes mad as does his one true love, Opehelia, who
ends up drowning.
Shakespeare’s Brilliance
Quantity
Quality: success was hard
Language
What makes Shakespeare such
a good writer? There were other
wonderful writers at the time,
such as Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe, whose works are
also still produced worldwide.
But Shakespeare was amazingly
prolific, which means he managed to produce a lot of work.
In fact, he averaged 1.5 plays per
year between 1589 and 1613. He
was also pretty productive when
it came to poetry – he managed to
write over 150 sonnets, published
as a collection in 1609. Although it
wasn’t until the 19th century that
Shakespeare’s sonnets received a
lot of attention and praise, they
are now some of the most popular
pieces of poetry of all time.
Even though the theatre scene in England was
new and exciting, it wasn’t easy to win over
an audience. A play had to be really strong,
because if the rowdy crowd didn’t like what they
saw they made their views known – often by
throwing fruit at the actors or shouting their
disapproval! Shakespeare managed to capture
his audience’s attention and thrill them, whether
with a tragedy, comedy or history play. He knew
how to write great pieces of drama with tension,
humour and really exciting, detailed plots. Like
any good writer, he understood people and
used his plays to reflect truths. In other words,
Shakespeare was a great storyteller. He was
popular with a very broad audience: poor and
rich, royals and peasants – his plays appealed to
all sections of society. At the time, people could
see a play for about the cost of a loaf of bread.
Nowadays, an average top price theatre ticket in
London’s West End costs about £85!
The Bard wrote his plays in the English that was spoken at the time, which
may seem a little daunting nowadays.
Shakespeare Week says that it wants
to take away the fear of understanding
Shakespeare’s language. The language
has changed a lot over the centuries into
the form that we use now, but hundreds
of the words and phrases Shakespeare
invented are still in use today. In fact, no
writer has contributed more words to
the English language than Shakespeare.
He coined new words such as assassin
(somebody who is paid to kill another
person) and courtship (when two people
are going out with each other) as well as
inventing phrases that are very common
in modern English, such as good riddance, foul play and all’s well that
ends well.
KLY
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The Weekly Debate
FirstNews
Issue 456
13 - 19 March 2015
The Dilemma Why is Shakespeare still so popular?
The Legacy
Although Shakespeare was a popular writer within his lifetime, it is
after his death that his work became appreciated on a large scale. This
was largely thanks to the publication of the First Folio – a collection
of Shakespeare’s plays put together by two actors from The Lord
Chamberlain’s Men. The First Folio, which also contains one of two
portraits of Shakespeare widely thought to be accurate and genuine,
was published in 1623, seven years after The Bard died. A total of 36
plays appeared in it, 17 of which were appearing in print for the first
time. The folio was titled Comedies, Tragedies, Histories and it cost 15
shillings. Playwriting and public theatre was still a relatively new form
of entertainment and literature at the time, so Shakespeare’s grand
collection stood out and his work soon became admired far and wide.
Thousands of editions of Shakespeare’s plays have since been published.
The First Folio
Shakespeare Off-stage
With the advent of cinema in the 20th century, Shakespeare was re-born for
a new, bigger audience. As theatre has become less accessible to a wide
audience, mainly due to the cost of tickets, Shakespeare has seen his popularity
boom in cinemas and on TV. With over 400 adaptations of his work for the
screen, it’s clear that Shakespeare still appeals to a lot of people. What’s more,
many famous film and TV actors have turned their hands to The Bard’s plays:
Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Judi Dench, Patrick Stewart, Russell
Brand and Kate Winslet have all played Shakespearean roles. Another of
the reasons that Shakespeare is still so important is that he has written some
of the best characters in theatrical history. It is most male actors’ dream to
play Hamlet, and most female actors’ dream to play Lady Macbeth, two of
Shakespeare’s most famous tragic roles. Actors love to sink their teeth into
these classic characters and their wonderful dialogue. A great performance
of one of Shakespeare’s characters can turn an unknown performer into an
instant star.
Why Celebrate Shakespeare?
Shakespeare Week is co-ordinated by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, an
organisation that preserves homes and buildings connected to Shakespeare in
Stratford-upon-Avon. The Trust makes it possible for the public to visit the home
Shakespeare grew up in and other buildings in the area. The organisation believes
that, “Shakespeare is not only for all time, but for everyone, and that having a great
first experience of Shakespeare should be something every child experiences.” The
Trust says that it is important to introduce children to Shakespeare so as to understand his plays and not regard his language as difficult.
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women
merely players;
They have their exits and
their entrances,
And one man in his time
plays many parts”
– William Shakespeare, As You
Like It,
act II, scene VII
KLY
WEE ATE
DEB
The Weekly Debate
FirstNews
Issue 456
13 - 19 March 2015
The Dilemma Why is Shakespeare still so popular?
Adrian Lester as Hamlet
X-Men star Patrick Stewart in a
production of Macbeth
1. Have you seen a Shakespeare play
or film?
2. What is it about Shakespeare that
interests you?
3. What is it about Shakespeare that
puts you off or that you find a little
scary?
4. What would make Shakespeare
easier for you to get into?
The cover of Shakespeare’s
sonnets, published in 1609
5. Would you like to see a production
of a Shakespeare play? If so, why, and
if not, why not?
The Stratford-upon-Avon house
Shakespeare grew up in, which you can
visit
The portrait of Shakespeare
from the First Folio, published
in 1623
A sketch of a typical theatre in
Shakespeare’s day
The First Folio
KLY
WEE ATE
DEB
The Weekly Debate
FirstNews
Issue 456
13 - 19 March 2015
The Dilemma Why is Shakespeare still so popular?
I think Shakespeare should be introduced to
children for the following reasons:
Introducing Shakespeare to children has the
following problems:
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
FINDING FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT SHAKESPEARE
I think the following facts about Shakespeare’s life and writing are the most interesting:
My reasoned opinion
The dilemma: Why is Shakespeare still so popular?
In my opinion, the main reasons why Shakespeare is still so popular, are:
FirstNews
To mark almost 400 years since the death of
England’s greatest ever playwright, First News is taking
an in-depth look at the fascinating life and times of
Shakespeare with a 32-page special edition. In Focus:
Shakespeare explores what we know about Shakespeare
himself (his birth, death, marriage and creative writing) while putting his life into context by looking
at Tudor society and big news stories that broke throughout his lifetime – from the plague to the
Gunpowder Plot and everything in between. It contains everything you need to know about England’s
beloved playwright, who went on to become an international legend with writing that’s still relevant
today.
IN FOCUS
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