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What age to start Shakespeare?


Lisbeth
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I have an 11-year old daughter who is taking Latin 1 (Wheelock) and Latin and Greek work roots also. She is advanced in her Grammar and about average in math, probably a year or so ahead in other subjects. What age should I start Shakespeare? I feel like if she can handle an aggressive Latin program at this age, she should be ok with Willy... any opinions? I hate to pile on too much also, so that is a consideration. I was thinking of just going slowly, with "Shakespeare Saturdays" - maybe an hour per week. :confused1:

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My daughter attended her first Shakespeare in the park performance in a stroller. She doesn't remember that one, of course, but the point is that we started taking her pretty much right away.

 

The year my kids were six and three, we all dressed up as fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream, because it was the kids' favorite movie. (My son used to call Kevin Kline as Bottom "Donkey Boy.")

 

Each kid has had his/her own season ticket for the Shakepeare theatre from about age eight.

 

I look at Shakespeare as being kind of like a second language: The earlier you start, the easier it is to understand and learn.

 

Why wait?

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We started reading it in 6th grade at my school. Tale it slow, enjoy the language and have fun. Get the folger library editions. They have a synopsis of each scenec and definitions of unfamiliar words amd phrases on the right hand page and the text on the left. Don't read to fully interpret amd understand right away. Read it outloud to get the feel for the style, rhythm, and language. Use the synopsis to help woth plot, but just uear the words. When she is older she can read it again and analyze. For now, you need to get her into the language.

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I took my kids to a professional Shakespeare performance at age 5 for the first time and they loved it, so I think you're good. I do think that one should start by actually watching Shakespeare or at least listening to it, not reading it. Why not start with a film? That's hardly a piling on. Or you could get a CD. We have the Arkangel recordings, which are very good and feature a lot of RSC performances, IIRC.

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Definitely go for it. In my opinion, Midsummer Night's Dream is a great play to start with.

 

You can always use the Nesbit and/or Lamb children's narrative versions to sketch out the story and distinguish the characters, making it easier to tackle the play. The beautiful picture books by Bruce Coville would be a fun supplement to the plays. There are some great cartoon versions that were commissioned by BBC. They're fascinating, with an unusual diversity of animation techniques. They were created by Russian animators, and then voiced by British actors. We borrowed one of the DVDs from the library, but many can also be viewed on YouTube. For Midsummer Night's Dream, find them here: part 1, part 2, part 3.

 

Oh, but you might also want to see if there are any upcoming Shakespeare productions in your area. If there are, that might influence your choice of play!

Edited by jplain
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Definitely go for it. In my opinion, Midsummer Night's Dream is a great play to start with.

 

You an always use the Nesbit and/or Lamb children's narrative versions to sketch out the story and distinguish the characters, making it easier to tackle the play. The beautiful picture books by Bruce Coville would be a fun supplement to the plays. There are some great cartoon versions that were commissioned by BBC. They're fascinating, with an unusual diversity of animation techniques. They were created by Russian animators, and then voiced by British actors. We borrowed one of the DVDs from the library, but many can also be viewed on YouTube. For Midsummer Night's Dream, find them here: part 1, part 2, part 3.

 

Oh, but you might also want to see if there are any upcoming Shakespeare productions in your area. If there are, that might influence your choice of play!

 

 

:iagree: This post saved me a lot of typing. :lol:

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Absolutely. In fact, the earlier the better, really. My kids have been attending live Shakespeare performances since they were roughly K age.

 

I would start her by reading a story version. Since she's a little older, my favorite would be Leon Garfield's "Shakespeare Stories". They're written in a dynamic, enjoyable way, and weave a number of lines from the plays right in.

 

After she's familiar with the story (of whichever play you choose), *then* watch it performed -- either a film or, if you can manage it, a live stage version.

 

THEN, only after she's familiar with the story and seen it performed (well -- bad Shakespeare is so painful!), go ahead and read the play aloud together. I particularly like the Oxford School Shakespeare editions. The print is large and clear (compared to many of the tiny editions out there), and the definitions and explanatory notes right there on the layout can be very, very helpful.

 

(There are also some good audio versions -- particularly put out by the BBC -- that you can listen to as you read as another step between reading a summary/story-retelling and reading/discussing the text.)

 

There are several good plays to start with. For histories, Henry V is good 'cause the Branagh film is so great. Much Ado About Nothing and Midsummer Night's Dream are typical comedies to start with (and there are adequate film versions available for each). For tragedies, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet are standard choices and ones my kids both like. Obviously, your choice will depend a lot on your daughter. :)

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Last year, my 7yo and 9yo were on a Shakespeare kick. They listened to recordings, and watched a few plays on DVD. 9yo had read some summaries, and could follow the story lines. She also enjoyed reading some books that have the original language on one side of the page and a modern retelling on the other side. 7yo said she didn't understand much, but it was beautiful to listen to. They both enjoyed Shakespeare at their own level, and will bring very positive feelings to any future study of his works. :001_smile:

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We read the Nesbit versions starting in first grade. The Jim Weiss CD is pretty good for younger children, also.

 

During this year, I'm going to begin reading a couple of plays with ds. We will either start with, or follow up with, one of the older (tamer) movie versions.

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I worked Shakespeare into our studies of the Renaissance last year. My 9yo LOVED it. I began with the stories, but we watched several of the plays. Even my 5yo watched, though she didn't of course understand it all. Even so, she was a trooper.

 

He especially enjoyed Henry V, Much Ado about Nothing, and one other, but Hamlet was a bit long--he hung with it, but it was much harder to understand. Reading the story first in plain English makes the play much more enjoyable. I kept the text handy so that if we needed to clarify or look something up we could.

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My daughter attended her first Shakespeare in the park performance in a stroller. She doesn't remember that one, of course, but the point is that we started taking her pretty much right away.

 

The year my kids were six and three, we all dressed up as fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream, because it was the kids' favorite movie. (My son used to call Kevin Kline as Bottom "Donkey Boy.")

 

Each kid has had his/her own season ticket for the Shakepeare theatre from about age eight.

 

I look at Shakespeare as being kind of like a second language: The earlier you start, the easier it is to understand and learn.

 

Why wait?

:iagree:

We're a family of Shakespeare lovers, so I really have no idea when we started "doing" Shakespeare, it's just always been a natural part of life. An 11 year old is plenty old enough to be reading, acting, and enjoying Shakespeare.

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I second Lamb's/Nesbit's. We've only used Lamb's, but I hear Nesbit's is good for the very young. What we do is pick one play for the year. I read Lamb's to both my kids (9 and 12). I keep cut up cereal box rectangles handy and permanent marker to have one of the kids draw a picture/name each character...hard to remember! Then I read the original to my eldest. I have "No Fear" Shakespeare...side-by-side original/modern language. It's our first year doing this and I hear that the modern can be a bit bawdy at times, so it's only for my reference to aid understanding. I also hope to watch the play before doing the original. And if you can pick a play based on what might be playing locally, even better! HTH some:) Gina

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