The Improvised Shakespeare Company

At some point in our school years, we are exposed to Shakespeare and his plays.  I managed to get "MacBeth" three out of four years in high school.  I missed Julius Caesar or King Lear.

I really didn't like it when I had to study it in high school or in college but once I saw the plays in movie form done by people who knew the language and how to read it with all its proper inflections rather than reading in a bored monotone, I enjoyed it.

The other day, I spoke with a friend who told me that if I every got a chance to see The Improvised Shakespeare Company.  This is a group who create plays based on a title provided by the audience.

Once they have a title, they take off and perform a play in the style of Shakespeare while using Shakespearean language so you feel as if you are in the past.

This group of men play all the parts including the women just like they did in Shakespeare's time except they don't dress up in a woman's costume.  They have the young lady, the young lad, the father and all the other usual characters you find in these plays.

Their "plays". are not very long so they are actually more like skits but they manage to cover almost all the high points that one would see in a play.  The one I saw had the two lovers who meet for the first time in three years because he has been off to war and the girl is still kind of shy.  They begin to get close but then dad arrives on the scene and soon a fight ensues between the father and the boyfriend.  Dad gets hurt and mom comes out asking him to come back to bed but before you know it, the priest is out to marry them and they live happily ever after.

You can check this group on YouTube to see the types of things they do but be warned, they play may not be quite PG rated but they are funny, talented, and awesome.  I think if I'd see Shakespeare performed in this manner, I would have enjoyed them.  I think students might find it these short skits more fun and interesting as a way to introduce people to Shakespeare.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.