The Elizabethan Theatre

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 INDEX

THE LIFE OF A PLAYWRIGHT

What was life like for the Elizabethan Playwright?

PLAYWRIGHTS (OTHER THAN SHAKESPEARE)

Who were they? Why aren’t we familiar with them?

SHAKESPEARE
And now, Shakespeare.

FOUR PLAYS
Exercises and activities from four of Shakespeare’s plays.

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 The Life of a Playwright
“The First generation of playwrights, men such as Marlowe, Kyd, Greene, Peele, and
Shakespeare, born in the decade 1555-66 and maturing in the 1580’s, had demonstrated that
playwriting could be a viable, even successful, career. Younger authors like Thomas Heywood,
Ben Jonson, John Marston or Thomas Dekker, coming to London in the early 1590’s and
hoping to make a reputation with their pens found in the public theatres a unique opportunity.
Not only did writing for the stage provide the first real possibility of literary professionalism but
the increasing support of the theatre by the Court meant that the profession was beginning to
acquire a moderate respectability.”
~ A Companion to Henslowe’s Diary, Cambridge University Press, 1988

It’s only speculation, but the Elizabethan era must have been a fascinating time to be a playwright. This era
sees the rise of buildings for the sole purpose of theatrical production, the rise of the career playwright, the
rise of theatre companies presenting multiple plays in a week, the rise of secular theatre into the popular art
form that we are familiar with today, not to mention the era in which Shakespeare was born, wrote, and
thrived. He was lucky to have grown up in this exact time period in Elizabethan England. Any earlier and
the job of professional playwright didn’t exist. Any later and the Puritans would have stamped out any
attempts.

The Elizabethan Playwright wrote his (no ladies yet) plays

for a company or patron. And so, once the plays were written,
most playwrights did not retain control over their work. The
play belonged to the company. There is not a lot of written
evidence of what playwrights made for their work, what
we know comes mostly from the diary of the owner of the
Rose theatre - Phillip Henslowe. Henslowe kept haphazard
accounts from 1591 to 1609 of what was bought for the Rose
and then the Fortune Theatre including fees paid to writers.
For example, playwright Robert Daborne wrote Machiavelli
and the Devil for the theatre and received 6 pounds for the
“first instalment,” 4 pounds for three acts and 10 pounds for
the final scene. (A Companion to Henslowe’s Diary, pg 55)

Another source, William Shakespeare: A Literary

Biography states on the subject of playwrights’ fees that
Henslowe gave playwrights “on average from 4 to 8 pounds”
and it was not until “1613 that the payments rose from 12 to 20
pounds.” (pg 227)

It is not known if the way Henslowe ran his theatre was

the norm. Shakespeare was fortunate in that he was also a
shareholder in his company. He would have made a share of
the money coming in, and not just a straight fee for writing
his plays.

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Not only did playwrights not own their work, their plays were often printed without their permission.
There was no notion of a writer “publishing” their work, as we know today. And when plays were printed,
they often didn’t include the name of the playwright. Copyright protection did not exist. Quartos of
Shakespeare’s plays started appearing in the late 1590’s:

“An almost regular publication of his plays began in 1597, with the first quartos of Romeo and
Juliet, Richard II, and Richard III. Romeo and Juliet is now described as a ‘bad’ quarto, with a
text thought to be a memorial reconstruction.”
~Treasures in Full Shakespeare in Quarto, British Library

What is a Quarto?
A book in which sheets are printed 8 pages to each sheet (4 to a side) then folded twice for 8 book pages.

Another reason that publication was discouraged was theft. As copyright didn’t exist, theft was pretty
common among companies, even among writers. Many of Shakespeare’s stories come from other sources,
and not necessarily as far back as Greek or Roman times. When a script was ready to perform there was only
one full copy made. Actors would only receive their particular lines.

Why didn’t Elizabethan Writers write about

current events?
Writers would have faced a lot of censorship. There were many things that a writer could not write about
on pain of death. For example, anything that was slanted negatively toward Queen Elizabeth. Religion
and politics were the two big areas that would have been censored at the time. Theatre in this era actually
had power – it could deliver a message to a large group of people in one sitting. Therefore all plays had to
be vetted by the Master of Revels before they could be performed. Even still, playwrights could get into to
trouble once their work hit the stage.

The Isle of Dogs

An example of this censorship is The Isle of Dogs by Ben Jonson and Thomas Nash. This play was
performed in 1597. The play itself is lost but the suggestion in various sources is that the text contained
a satire of the Queen. The consequences were swift: the play was judged as “lewd” and immediately
cancelled. All theatres were closed for three months as punishment. Three actors were sent to jail as was
Jonson. Nash’s home was ransacked but Nash himself fled the country. All of Nash’s papers were taken and
destroyed.

Restrain the Abuses of the Players

Here is another example of censorship during this time. In 1606 a law was proclaimed to curb swearing and
taking the name of the Lord in vain. The Act to Restrain the Abuses of the Players charged playwrights 10
pounds for every offence. Playwrights had to go back and make changes to earlier works.

Activities:
• In groups discuss the concept of censorship. What is it? What does it achieve? Is it ever appropriate? Why
or why not?
• Create a scene in which a group of teens have to stand in front of a principal who wants to censor their
work. Who wins and why?
• Create a scene in which a playwright is imprisoned for writing poorly about the leader of a country.
• Create a scene in which a group of playwrights discusses the Act to Restrain the Players.

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 Playwrights
(Other than Shakespeare)
It is important to realize that Shakespeare was not the only writer during this time period. Names such as Ben
Jonson, Thomas Kyd, and Christopher Marlowe may not be as well-remembered as Shakespeare’s but they have
as much to do with the development of the Elizabethan Era and the development of theatre as Shakespeare did.
And indeed, writing for the theatre as a profession began before Shakespeare was established in London.

The first comedy of the Elizabethan age is attributed to Ralph Roister Doister by Nicholas Udall in 1552 –
As for drama, Gorboduc written by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville in 1561 is often cited as the first
tragedy in blank verse. It’s also the first play in blank verse. It was performed for Queen Elizabeth in 1562.

In the 1580’s the craft of playwriting started to take off when a group of university educated young men
(Oxford and Cambridge) decided to write for the stage. They were called the “University Wits.” Some of the
writers in this group were Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene, and John Lyly.

Who were some of Shakespeare’s Contemporaries?

“Fools that will laugh on earth, most weep in hell.” — Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus

Christopher Marlowe
Marlowe (1564-1593) was the son of a shoemaker and born the same
year as Shakespeare. His family was middle class and was able to
send him to school and off to Cambridge. He had a brief and vivid
life. It is alleged that while at Cambridge, he spent time as a secret
agent for the Queen. He spoke out about being an atheist, which
was not done in those days, and he wrote about the inconsistencies
in the Bible, which was definitely not done. The writing landed him
with the charge of heresy in 1593. A trial was set but Marlowe was
mysteriously murdered in a bar fight. Rumour has it that the fight was
no random incident and that he was assassinated.

What else?
Marlowe was one of the University Wits. His plays were mostly
performed by the Admiral’s Men and his work was very popular in
his day. A Short History of the Theatre states that his play The Jew of Malta was performed “thirty-six times
in four years, which in those days was an unusual record.” (pg 221, Martha Fletcher Bellinger, 1927) He is
known for writing in blank verse and really developing the form. Ben Jonson referred to Marlowe’s writing
of blank verse as “the mighty line” meaning he was able to put great impact into one line of verse:

Was this the face that launched a thousand ships

And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.
Her lips suck forth my soul: see where it flies! - Doctor Faustus (12.81-84)

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Some Works
• Doctor Faustus
• Tamburlaine the Great
• The Jew of Malta
• The Massacre of Paris
• Edward II
• Hero and Leander (poem)

Marlowe was not only known for blank verse but for creating vivid and flawed protagonists. Both Faustus
and Tamburlaine are larger than life characters. His most successful plays were dramas, focusing on the
tragic hero.

What did he think of Shakespeare?

There is no mention of what Marlowe thought of Shakespeare, but Shakespeare makes a clear reference to
Marlowe in Act 3 of As You Like It.

PHEBE: Dead Shepherd, now I find thy saw of might,

‘Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?’

Phebe is quoting a line from Marlowe’s poem Hero and Leander.

And also in Act Three comes these lines from Touchstone:

TOUCHSTONE: When a man’s verses cannot be understood, nor a

man’s good wit seconded with the forward child
Understanding, it strikes a man more dead than a
great reckoning in a little room. Truly, I would
the gods had made thee poetical.

It is alleged that Shakespeare here is directly referring to Marlowe’s death and the mystery around it – the
great reckoning in a little room – Marlowe was stabbed to death in a small room in a pub supposedly over
the bill (a reckoning is another word for bill, the statement of an account).

Is he Shakespeare?
“I am Envy. I cannot read and therefore wish all books burned.”
— Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus.

There is a pretty healthy conspiracy that Shakespeare didn’t and couldn’t have written his plays. There
are a number of playwrights brought up as the true author, Marlowe being one of them. Did he fake his
own death and continue to write in hiding? Is he Shakespeare? No one knows for certain. What do you
think?

Activities:
• In groups create a scene based on the above quote from Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. What kind of
character is Envy? What ideas come out of the image of burning books?
• In groups, create a debate between those who believe Shakespeare is the true and only writer of his works,
and those who believe Marlowe is the secret writer.

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Ben Jonson
Jonson lived from 1572-1637 and came from a poor family. His father died
before he was born. He did not go to university and did not start out as a
writer. Jonson worked as a bricklayer and a soldier first. Though he was
extremely well read, he also had some rebellion in him. Some would say
a lot of rebellion. He was arrested multiple times, once for killing an
actor. He was jailed more than once because of his plays.

Jonson started out as an actor for the Admiral’s Men but when he proved
a poor actor, he switched to playwriting. There is mention made in Philip
Henslowe’s diary that Jonson was paid a very small sum to deliver a
script to him but Jonson’s breakout play Every Man in His Humour was
performed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Jonson specialized in satire
and the comedy of humours. He also wrote a great deal of poetry and was
named Poet Laureate in 1616. Later in his career he focused on writing
masques for King James court.

What is the comedy of humours?

It is based on the medical thought of Greek and Medieval time that the body was made up of ‘humors’ -
blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. If the humors are balanced, so is the personality/mood of a person.
The characters in Jonson’s plays were imbalanced, with one of the humors more pronounced in an extreme
comedic way.

I do honour the very flea of his dog.

~Every Man in his Humour IV iv

Some Works
• The Isle of Dogs
• Volpone
• Bartholomew Fair
• Every Man in his Humour
• The Alchemist
• Eastward Ho

Self publisher
In an era when gathering your writing together under your own name was rare (Shakespeare
didn’t do it) Jonson is also known for putting together a Folio of his work, known as
The Workes of Beniamin Jonson in 1616. It held nine plays as well as some of his poetry
and masques. Interestingly, the use of the word “works” was usually only used in cases
of classical literature. Jonson was taking quite the bold move (not surprising given his
personality) to put his writing into a Folio and giving it such a title. (Meisei University
Shakespeare Database)

What is a Folio?
A book in which the sheets of paper were folded in two to make four printed pages.

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What did he think of Shakespeare?
There is some thought that Jonson and Shakespeare were bitter rivals. A quote attributed to Jonson says
that Shakespeare knew “small Latin and less Greek.” But this relationship was perhaps not adversarial
and more brotherly. Jonson wrote “In Memory of My Beloved Master William Shakespeare and What
He Hath Left Us” which was printed in the preface of the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare’s Work.

….Sweet Swan of Avon! What a sight it were

To see thee in our waters yet appear,
And make those flights upon the banks of Thames,
That so did take Eliza, and our James!
But stay, I see thee in the hemisphere
Advanced, and made a constellation there!
Shine forth, thou Star of Poets, and with rage
Or influence, chide or cheer the drooping stage,
Which, since thy flight from hence, hath mourned like night,
And despairs day, but for thy volume’s light.

Little known fact: When Every Man in his Humour was performed at the Globe, Shakespeare was one of
its actors.

Second little known fact: When Jonson killed the actor, he escaped execution by pleading “benefit of the
clergy.” This meant he was able to quote from the Latin Bible.

Activities:
• The four humours are blood, phlegm, yellow bile (melancholy) and black bile (cholera). They are also
related to the four elements of Water, Fire, Air, and Earth. Do some research on the humours.
• Knowing these concepts, create scenes in groups with characters that represent each of the four humours.
Where are they? What do they want?
• In a second exercise, create scenes in which only one of the characters in the scene has an imbalance of one
of the four humours. How does that affect the scene?

John Webster
“Webster was much possessed by death and saw the skull beneath the skin.” — T. S. Eliot

It is thought that John Webster was born in 1580 and died in 1634. The exact times are unknown and he was
probably born in London. He often collaborated with other writers of the time (Thomas Dekker, Thomas
Middleton) and is mentioned in Philip Henslowe’s diary as being paid for a collaboration on a play called
Caesar’s Fall.

Do you not weep?

Other sins only speak; murder shrieks out.
The element of water moistens the earth,
But blood flies upwards and bedews the heavens.
~ Duchess of Malfi, IV ii

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Webster is known for his two tragedies, The Duchess of
Malfi and The White Devil. The former was performed
by the Lord Chamberlain’s men (by this time they were
the King’s Men) at the Blackfriars Theatre, then later
at the Red Bull Theatre. Both plays come from Italian
stories and were quite violent, morbid treaties on revenge.

Thomas Kyd
“O eyes, no eyes, but fountains fraught
with tears; O life, no life, but lively form of
death; O world, no world, but mass of public
wrongs, Confused and filled with murder and
misdeeds!” ~ The Spanish Tragedy, III,ii

There is little known about Kyd (1558-1594), though he

was thought to be a respected dramatist. His work The
Spanish Tragedy was often performed and set the stage
for revenge plays. Unfortunately, due to his association
with Christopher Marlowe (the two were roommates) he
was arrested and accused of heresy in 1593. Under intense
torture he broke and declared that the atheist papers
found in his place were Marlowe’s. Though released, his
career was ruined. He died broke in 1594.

Little known fact: Kyd wrote a version of Hamlet that influenced Shakespeare’s version of the story.

Activities:
• In groups create a scene in which Kyd, Marlowe, Webster and Johnson are sitting in a tavern. Have them
trash (or praise) one of Shakespeare’s plays.
• In groups discuss why Shakespeare is studied in school. If Shakespeare was removed from the
curriculum, which writer’s body of work could equal his?

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 Shakespeare
When Shakespeare was twelve years old the first public playhouse was built in London....
By the time that Shakespeare was twenty-five, Lyly, Peele, and Greene had made comedies
that were at once popular and literary; Kyd had written a tragedy that crowded the pit;
and Marlowe had brought poetry and genius to triumph on the common stage... The
development of the Elizabethan drama for the next twenty-five years is of exceptional
interest to students of literary history, for in this brief period, in connection with the half-
dozen theaters of a growing city and the demands of its varied population, we may trace
the beginning, growth, florescence, and decay of many kinds of plays, and of many great
careers.
~ The Facts about Shakespeare William Allan Nielson and Ashley Horace Thorndike, 1927

And now Shakespeare. Obviously, Shakespeare is well-known. Some

might say he’s shoved down our throats, but I think there’s a reason
for that. There’s a reason that he is known in greater detail than his
contemporaries. Some of it was luck, he was born at the right place and
the right time. One of Shakespeare’s greatest rivals, Marlowe, was killed
before he reached the full potential of his writing ability.

Some of it was Shakespeare’s own attitude in terms of how he presented

his plays – he didn’t anger the wrong people as Jonson often did. He
stayed away from contemporary religion and politics.

A lot of it comes down to the plays themselves: the way he told familiar
stories and the characters he created. Not only did Shakespeare write
across genres (Marlowe was really only known for tragedies and Jonson
for comedies) he created wonderful characters with emotional cores.
That more than anything is what I think made Shakespeare stick century
after century.

Did Shakespeare write his plays? Does it matter? There is no concrete proof one way or the other, and
until some document is found in an underground tomb that claims true authorship, the point is moot. The
plays and the poetry live on.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, again, he gives us a most amusing picture of the straits to
which theatrical managers of his day were reduced by the want of proper scenery. In fact, it is
impossible to read him without seeing that he is constantly protesting against the two special
limitations of the Elizabethan stage - the lack of suitable scenery, and the fashion of men
playing women’s parts, just as he protests against other difficulties with which managers of
theatres have still to contend, such as actors who do not understand their words; actors who miss
their cues; actors who overact their parts; actors who mouth; actors who gag; actors who play to
the gallery, and amateur actors. ~Oscar Wilde, 1885

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Quick Shakespeare Facts
• Parents were John and Mary Shakespeare.
• Born in 1564 and he died in 1616.
• Went to school at the King’s New School in Stratford.
• Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and she was 26 in 1582. First child was born six months later.
• There is no documentation that Shakespeare went to university.
• His daughter Susanna was born in 1583 and twins Hamnet and Judith were born in 1585. Hamnet died
in 1596.
• 1585 to 1592 are often called “the Lost Years” as there is little known about what Shakespeare did during
this time.
• He spent time as an actor. There is evidence he acted in Ben Jonson’s Every Man in his Humour in 1598
and was still acting by 1605.
• The first known play produced in London was Henry VI Part II perhaps in 1590-1591.
• Quatro of Titus Andronicus appears in 1594.
• In 1596 he applied for a Coat of Arms.
• In 1597 he bought the largest house in Stratford and bought three more properties over the next eight
years.
• Quatros of his plays with his name on the title page start cropping up in 1598.
• Became a shareholder of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in 1599.
• He probably returned to Stratford in either 1610 or 1611.
• Died in April 1616.

Shakespeare Oddities
• There is no proof that Shakespeare’s wife or children ever joined him during his time in London.
• In his will, Shakespeare left most of his estate to his daughter and left his wife his ‘second best bed.’ Is this
an insult? Is this the bed they always slept in with the best bed kept for company?
• There is a curse on his tombstone: “Good Friend for Jesus sake forbeare, to digg the dust encloased
here, bleste be ye man yt (that) spares thes stones, and curst be he yt moves my bones.”

Activities:
• As a teenager Shakespeare would have seen plays put on by travelling companies. Write a monologue
from the perspective of that teenager on what it was like to see a play for the first time. Think about
sowing the seeds for his future life as an actor and a playwright.
• Write the moment between Shakespeare and his wife when he tells her that he’s going to London. Do
some research on Ann – would she have been open to Shakespeare pursuing a life of the theatre?
• There is a story that Shakespeare left Stratford because he got into trouble with a landowner, Sir Thomas
Lucy, when he mocked the man in poem: “If lousy is Lucy as some folks miscall it/Then Lucy is lousy
whatever befall it” Imagine that Lucy decided to respond in kind: Write a poem that mocks Shakespeare.
• In groups create scenes or tableaux that demonstrate what happened to Shakespeare during his “lost
years.”

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• Write the moment when Shakespeare returns to Stratford for good. Is his wife happy to see him?
• Create a scene in which Ann Hathaway learns of the ‘second-best’ bed item in Shakespeare’s will. What is
her response? Is she resentful or relieved that Shakespeare went to London without her?

Critical Opinions of Shakespeare

Not everybody loved Shakespeare without reservation. Read on for some anti-Shakespeare opinions.

“I remember the astonishment I felt when I first read Shakespeare. I expected to receive
a powerful esthetic pleasure, but having read, one after the other, works regarded as his
best:King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth, not only did I feel no delight, but I
felt an irresistible repulsion and tedium... Several times I read the dramas and the comedies
and historical plays, and I invariably underwent the same feelings: repulsion, weariness, and
bewilderment.” ~Leo Tolstoy, 1906.
“I have striven hard to open English eyes to the emptiness of Shakespeare’s philosophy, to
the superficiality and second-handedness of his morality, to his weakness and incoherence as a
thinker, to his snobbery, his vulgar prejudices, his ignorance, his disqualifications of all sorts for
the philosophic eminence claimed for him.” ~ George Bernard Shaw, 1906
“...To the King’s Theatre, where we saw Midsummer’s Night’s Dream[sic], which I had never
seen before, nor shall ever again, for it is the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my
life.” ~ Samuel Pepys, 1662
“When I read Shakespeare I am struck with wonder that such trivial people should muse
and thunder in such lovely language.” ~ DH Lawrence, from the poem “When I read
Shakespeare.”1929
“...for there is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers hart wrapt in
a Players hyde, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you:
and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in a
countrey.” ~ Robert Greene, 1592.

This last quote is important for a number of reasons. First, it places Shakespeare in London and places him
as an actor and a writer. When Greene talks about OUR feathers, he’s referring to the fact that Shakespeare,
an actor, has dared to write plays. That, along with the fact that Shakespeare was not university educated,
would have irked Greene no end. The “Tygers hart” line is a play on a line from Henry IV Part 3: O tiger’s
heart wrapt in a woman’s hide!

Activities:
• Discuss in groups the validity of these Shakespeare criticisms. Why do these writers appear to hate
Shakespeare? Do you have the same feelings? Why or why not?
• Do some research on Robert Green. Imagine you are him and you’ve just gone to a Shakespeare play
and you are spitting mad that this “actor” has taken it upon himself to become a playwright. Write a
conversation where he rants to his wife Doll about this “upstart crow.”
• And on the other side, write a scene between Shakespeare and Ben Jonson where they read the pamphlet in
which Greene published his words. In general, Shakespeare was known for not getting too upset and Jonson
was known for getting very upset. Take these personality traits into consideration during the conversation.
• Write your own scathing review of a Shakespeare play.

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 Exercises For Four Plays
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. In this section it’s all exercises, all the time. There isn’t the space
to look at every play, so we’ll look at four that are commonly taught in high school: Hamlet, Romeo and
Juliet, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, and Macbeth.

Romeo and Juliet

Two households both alike in dignity, In fair Verona,
where we lay our scene. From Ancient grudge break to
new mutiny, Where civil blood make civil hands unclean.
~ Prologue

Romeo and Juliet is the story of two teenagers from feuding families
who fall in love. Their love is full of tragic consequence resulting in
avoidable deaths and the suicides of both Romeo and Juliet.

Exercises:
• Show students a video of the Prologue from a “classic” theatrical
production of Romeo and Juliet. And then to contrast, show a
video of the Prologue from the 1996 film version. Discuss the
differences between the two as well as how Shakespeare can be
relevant and accessible.
• Further to the above, have students write (and film, if possible)
a trailer for Romeo and Juliet. Think about what is visual and
engaging about the story. Keep trailers under a minute in length.
• Discuss the original grudge that brought about the war between the Capulets and the Montagues. Was it
something monumental, or something petty and not worth fighting about? Stage that fight.
• Discuss in groups the nature of “love at first sight.” Is it possible? Is it believable? Is it believable that
Romeo, after declaring his love for Rosaline, so easily forgets her for Juliet? Why or why not? After the
discussion, have students write a scene in which two people fall in love the instant that they meet. Discuss
afterwards if the scene was hard to write or easy.
• Discuss the nature of fate and the idea that Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed lovers,” What does that
mean? Does it mean their their relationship is destined to fail? Do you believe in fate and destiny? Were
Romeo and Juliet doomed from the start?
• Pretend that Romeo and Juliet ended as planned – with Romeo getting the note about Juliet, sneaking
into the tomb and the two of them running off together. Have each character write letters home to their
parents explaining their actions and why they should be together.
• Give groups a scene from the play. Each group is to present that scene in modern English and in
a modern setting. This pushes students to understand the original text and connect it in a modern
context.

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Some sample scenes:
Romeo and his friends on the way to the Capulet’s party (I, iv)

Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting at the party (I, v)

Juliet and the Nurse after the Nurse has been to see Romeo (II, v)

The brawl where Tybalt and Mercutio die (III, i)

Capulet tells Juliet she will marry Paris or else (III, v)

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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Angels and ministers of grace defend us!
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn’d,
Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,
Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
Thou comest in such a questionable shape
That I will speak to thee: I’ll call thee Hamlet,
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me!
~ Hamlet, I, iv

Hamlet is a story of revenge. The Prince is upset that his

mother has married his uncle shortly after the death of his
father. But this is just the beginning of Hamlet’s troubles. He
finds out (from a source that may or may not be legitimate
depending on your view of ghosts) that his uncle murdered his father. His father wants Hamlet to kill the
uncle. This proves more difficult for Hamlet than you can imagine. In the end, all the major players are dead.

Exercises:
• Write your own soliloquy. A simple definition of a soliloquy is that it is the act of speaking one’s
thoughts. The character isn’t just telling a story, they are sharing something deep, something troubling,
something on their mind, that usually wouldn’t be said aloud. Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” speech is
about Hamlet’s struggle with the idea of suicide. Is it better to live or to die? In the end it is the fear of the
afterlife that stops him. Keep this in mind as you write your own soliloquy. The character must
share something they’ve been keeping inside: a problem, something with consequences. Decide what path
your character will take with this problem by the end of the soliloquy.
• Hamlet gives very specific advice to the players who come to the castle. He talks about actors talking too
loudly, too quietly, with too many gestures, with too much overacting, and too much improvising. We can
assume that Shakespeare is specifically thinking about the bad acting he’s seen. What does the speech tell
you about Elizabethan acting? Create a scene that shows all the bad habits Hamlet mentions.
• Discuss in groups the notion of friendship. What makes a good friend? Have you ever been betrayed by a friend?
What is your longest friendship and why do you think it has lasted? Hamlet experiences a number of friendships
throughout the play – Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Ophelia. Horatio is the only friend who sticks by
Hamlet from beginning to end. Discuss how Hamlet is affected by those who betray him in the play.
• Write a modern scene based on the conversation between Hamlet and the ghost of his father. In the
21st century, how would a character react to being told that his uncle murdered his father and that his
father’s ghost wants him to kill his uncle? Would the notion of modern law weigh on this character? What
decision will this character make?
• The family unit is pretty screwed up in Hamlet. Dead dads, uncles who become stepfathers, fathers who
use their daughters as bait, sons who are asked to murder relatives. The family is the one place you’re
supposed to feel safe, and no one feels safe in this play within their family unit. In groups look at the two
families: Hamlet/Claudius/Gertrude/Hamlet Sr and Polonius/Ophelia/Laertes. Knowing what you
know about the story, create “family photos” that explore the lack of safety in these two families. Don’t be
afraid to get abstract – is Ophelia a tug of war rope??
• It’s the end of the play and everyone is dead. Imagine that there is a trial in the afterlife about what has
happened – everyone is there! Divide up the dead characters and decide in groups how the characters would
describe the events leading to their deaths. Who would your character blame as the cause of all the trouble?
Who would your character want “locked up?” Use the play to support your character’s point of view.

Drama Teacher Academy © 2015 Lindsay Price 15

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The course of true love never did run smooth. - Lysander, I,i

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedic love adventure.

Four young lovers end up lost in the woods along with a group
of amateur actors. They each unknowingly come into contact
with a band of fairies – the king and queen of which are in a
feud. Mix in a little love juice and magic happens!

Exercises:
• Helena and Hermia have problems. Helena is despondent
over the fact that Demetrius has fallen out of love for her and
fallen in love with Hermia. Hermia must choose between
marrying Demetrius or being forced to join a convent. Write
a modern scene in which two friends discuss how a boy
has fallen in love with one girl, and out of love with another.
• The great thing about the fairy characters is that they’re wide
open to interpretation. The sky’s the limit. Do a Google
image search on the character of Oberon. Look at the
different interpretations, the different actor types playing the
character and the different costumes. What conclusions can you draw based on the different portrayals of
the same character?
• Write a scene in which two guys have been given a love potion to fall in love with the first girl they see.
They both fall in love with the same girl, who thinks the boys are teasing and mocking her. After reading
these scenes aloud, compare it to Act III scene ii in which the same thing happens.
• In groups, go through the play and write tweets for each of the four lovers after each scene.
• Discuss the notion of love in the play. Are any of the characters really in love? Does Hippolyta love
Theseus, and if she doesn’t, what does that mean for their marriage? Why doesn’t Egeus care that Hermia
loves Lysander? What kind of person is Demetrius that he can switch his feelings from Helena to Hermia
to easily? Did he ever truly love Helena? Are Oberon and Titania in love? What does it say about their
relationship that Oberon wants to trick Titania into falling in love with a creature? And what about the
love juice? Is it fair to put people under a spell to make them fall in love? Does the Pyramus and Thisbe
scene in Act V mock love?
• There is a lot of room for slapstick humour with the mechanicals. Research slapstick (e.g. Three
Stooges) and then stage the Pyramus and Thisbe scene with that in mind.
• Imagine that Bottom wrote a song about his time in the forest with Titania. Write that song. Keep
Bottom’s character in mind when you do; he’s foolish and doesn’t always match his words with their
appropriate meaning.

Drama Teacher Academy © 2015 Lindsay Price 16

Macbeth
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still - Macbeth II, i

Macbeth is a story of ambition and greed. Once

Macbeth gets a taste of power (and once his wife tells
him to man up and start killing) he goes all the way to
the top to become King. But the celebration is brief as
the bodies start to pile up.

Exercises:
• Write a modern version of this story that
takes place in your school. Macbeth is on student
council but his girlfriend wants him to be
president. What does he do to get it? Instead
of three witches, have three lunch ladies tell
Macbeth his fate.
• In groups discuss the notion of ambition.
When is ambition good and when is it bad? Is there
a difference between greed and ambition? Who is
a modern equivalent to Macbeth? Who historically
has climbed their way to the top, not caring who
they step on along the way? Create a collage that
visually shows the similarities between this figure
and Macbeth.
• Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth change
dramatically from the beginning to the end of the
play based on their actions. Think about what these two characters were like before the events of the
play. In groups, create scenes that show the couple at the beginning of their relationship.
What do they wish for? What did they want when they were younger?
• It would seem that Lady Macbeth is the colder of the pair. “Screw your courage to the sticking post and
we’ll not fail!” But it is Lady Macbeth who goes mad and eventually kills herself. “Out, damned spot! out,
I say!--One: two: why, then, ‘tis time to do’t.--Hell is murky!” We see Lady M as strong, then as weak,
but never in-between. Write a monologue that takes place between the two states where she begins to
doubt what she’s done. Perhaps she tells Macbeth that she’s changed her mind. What would that moment
be like? What’s she like right before she loses her mind?
• Macbeth is inspired by the historical account of King Macbeth who ruled Scotland in the 11th
century. Research the differences between history and Shakespeare’s play. For example, it is
thought that Shakespeare softened the character of Banquo because he was a distant relative of
King James.

Drama Teacher Academy © 2015 Lindsay Price 17

How do I get past the language?
How do you get past the fact that Shakespeare is hard to understand? How do you get students to engage in
the story and the characters behind the language?

1. Watch a Shakespeare scene with the sound muted – just watch the action. What do the blocking, the
body language and the facial expressions of the characters tell you about what’s going on in the scene?
Discuss.
2. Second time around, have everyone close their eyes and listen to the scene. But they’re not listening
to the words, they’re listening for the tone of voice. What does the tone of voice tell you about the
characters?
3. Based on the physical information and the tonal information, have students write out what they think
the scene is about. Don’t get caught up in the right or the wrong, let them act on their instincts based on
what they see and what they hear.
4. Now introduce the story. Tell students the story of what’s happening in the scene in modern words –
does this match or conflict with the students’ interpretations?
5. Watch the scene again, now focusing on the words. What words don’t make sense to the modern ear?
6. Discuss with students if they have a clearer understanding of the scene.

Drama Teacher Academy © 2015 Lindsay Price 18