March 26, 2012
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1 Fun weekend.
2 No internet to speak of.
3 Spent the weekend with Dad. His house has no access to the outside world save for a landline telephone and a loud teevee. Oh, and access to reading paper stuff, newspapers and books.
4 SO refreshing.
5 We actually got to have conversations rather than texts.
6 I got to conversate and get a lot of work done. I am at the height of my Shakespeare unit, so I have been a complete and total nerd for the past week. It spilled a bit into the weekend because I am bringing Midsummer to a close this week.
7 Two weeks ago, through show of hands, I saw that about eighty per cent of my students couldn’t even function in the world of Shakespeare. One poor cat declared Shakespeare a “nuisance.”
8 No saving the patient.
9 On Friday, I showed the students the wonderful forest mud fight, followed by Puck’s excellent work at wearing the lovers down.
10 My students sat on the floor, laughed, lapped it up, and rocked to the Duke’s discovery of the naked lovers in the forest, followed by his awakening call, “St. Valentine’s has passed.”
11 I used Michael Hoffman’s now definitive version of Midsummer, which I have affectionately dubbed The Bicycle Version. From a teacher’s perspective, it is the easiest. It will also define Midsummer for years to come. I’m fine with it.
12 The exposition of Midsummer is a bit tedious, something I never noticed as a director. But once it gets rolling, Shakespeare takes over in any version.
13 Romeo and Juliet is much easier to teach, because we have mainly two versions that are now signature: Franco Zeffirelli’s lush version that was THE definitive Romeo and Juliet for years, and Baz Luhrmann’s cockeyed piece that is way over the top, but that still brings the story home. Both leave out remarkable scenes, but that’s what we are stuck with as teachers.
14 To be fair, Romeo and Juliet isn’t that great of a story to begin with. But it remains a classic, and perhaps remains the single most-read Shakespearean play, with Julius Caesar perhaps taking a distant second. And most teachers are at the mercy of whatever Hollywood decides to do with them.
15 The chief trouble with Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, for example, is the butt-and-boob scenes that flash for about one second. These directors must know that the majority of people who will see their work would be students. How many people subsequently rent Shakespeare after they have seen it once? They will rent Titanic periodically through the years, same basic plot only with a ship, and the same Romeo. It’s making a comeback. But it they made a 3-D version of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, you can bet almost nobody would go see it.
16 Some people might watch a 3-D version of Zeffirelli’s, because of Olivia Hussey, who inevitably prompts fifteen-year old freshman boys to declare, “She’s not fourteen!” No fellows, especially not in 3-D. Good thing you’re wearing glasses.
17 Fortunately I have my comrade Mr. Censor well at hand. He is a stick figure I penned with a Sharpie one year and stuck on my teevee screen with static from the screen proper. I take on the roll of a bible-thumper protecting the very moral fibre of young America. The kids inevitably laugh, because every now and again Mr. Censor slides down the screen as the static diminishes. I put on a panic scene, often with some wonderfully impromtu moments. It is live theatre at its absolute worst.
18 Michael Hoffman’s Midsummer (The Bicycle Version) is pretty careful about those sorts of moments, putting plants and flowers in front of offensive nudity, making it a bit easier on the teacher. He still gives us enough that I can roughhouse with Mssr. Censor, but in a fun sort of way.
19 I’ve grown to like it, clanky bicycles and all. It has a really fun, fast cast, with Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, and Calista Flockhart delivering most of the goods, and a wonderfully seductive Titania brought vividly to life by Michelle Pfeiffer.
20 The Pyramus and Thisbe scene that brings it home does just that. I had students staying in at lunch to watch the end of it. At the end of the day on Friday, I Googled Mendelsshon’s Nocturne, and let the room bathe itself in a sort of afternoon cleansing.
21 With Midsummer doing a conquering song, I switched over to Much Ado About Nothing this weekend at Dad’s. During the waking hours, I was able to watch movies, chat, and work on reading Much Ado while creating a vocabulary list using dictionaries, flash cards, and the notes in the text. No internet. I was able to read it, and in the wee hours of the morning, watch it on my computer using a DVD I purchased a few weeks ago for something like five dollars. I captioned it to give my vocabulary list a test Disney ride. It passed.
22 I realized that I definitely had to add the words “blithe” and “bonny” and remove a few others that were just sort of hanging around. And I’m still on the hunt for the rumours about the “hey nonny nonny.” I’ve heard horror stories!
23 The nice thing was, I was able to chat and visit with Dad. Helene came with me and learned some excellent recipes that would work with his diet, and we had a charmingly wonderful weekend, albeit a tad nerdy on my end.
24 I was able to slip out to Barnes and Noble and purchase a Folger’s copy of Much Ado, which dovetailed beautifully with my lessons and confirmed that left to my own devices, I can finally read and understand Shakespeare sans internet.
25 How deliciously nerdy!
26 The Folger’s series is aimed at students and Shakespeare novices. It translates most of the stuff that your average guy wouldn’t know and makes for a nice resource. I got both Much Ado and Shrew out the door for under eleven dollars.
27 So it’s Monday.
28 Sigh no more, ladies; sigh no more.
29 I can’t wait to go in today. Honestly. The Pyramus and Thisby scene rocks.
30 I’m awake early, but really, up and ready for action. Looking forward to this week, and feeling refreshed after spending time at Dad’s
31 Have a glorious day.
32 See you soon.
33 Peace.
~H~
