Shakespeare's Comic Plays

Theme- Shakespeare’s comedies started out as fluff, but they gradually became a way to look at the world through satire, parody, and romance. Studying these plays encourages critical thinking about both Shakespeare's world and our own.  This class will demonstrate the evolution of Shakespeare's art through his comedies. We'll see how he tackles complex plots, creates memorable characters, witty jokes, and uses clever commentary to discuss topics like women's roles, colonialism, and religious tolerance.
The class is designed to be ala carte- you can learn about all these plays, choose a specific play to focus on, or do the entire course.

Each class will have:
An Immersive activity like online tours, web quests, and or digital escape rooms. 
An online game of some kind
A summary of the plays and a close reading of famous speeches using video clips, pictures, and Google slides
Assessment- each class concludes with an interactive quiz in the form of a game with power-ups, lifelines, and experience points.


Weekly Summary:

Week Of April 9th:  The Early Comedies- "Comedy Of Errors," Two Gentlemen Of Verona"
We'll talk about the influences on Shakespeare's early plays- stock character types from the Roman plays of Plautus, and scenarios from the Italian improv comedy of "Commedia Dell 'Arte." Students will learn about the stock character types in the plays and get a chance to improvise a short scene using a real Commedia scenario. I'll also briefly summarize the complicated plots of the two plays, (which was a hallmark of Shakespeare's early comedies), and demonstrate how these character and plot tropes contributed to "Comedy" and "Two Gentlemen."

Week Of April 16th: Spotlight- "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
- I'll discuss in detail the characters and plot of the play.
- We'll ponder together the ideas and themes Shakespeare writes in "Dream" 
- Art project, design your own fairy!
- The students will get to read lines from the single most perfect comic scene ever- the play-within-a-play in Act V.
- We'll try to answer the big question- was the play real, or just a dream?

Week Of April 23: The Romantic Comedies- "Taming of the Shrew," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Love's Labors Lost," "Twelfth Night," and "As You Like It" 
-I'll compare and contrast the heroines of Shakespeare's comedies like Viola and Beatrice and discuss how they were subversive and challenged women's roles in the 1590s. 
- I'll discuss the way the heroes like Petruccio and Benedick go from being egotistical and self-centered to committed married men, who support their wives in a major way. 
- I'll briefly spotlight "Twelfth Night" and talk about its themes and plot, and the journey of its supporting characters Malvolio and Feste, (which I have a rare insight into since I have played them both).

Week Of April 30th: Spotlight- "Much Ado About Nothing." 
- We'll talk about the multiple meeting behind the play's title. 
- We'll see how the love between Benedick and Beatrice blossoms during the course of the play.
- We'll contrast the main plot with the plot of Hero and how she nearly loses everything because of one man's slander.
- We'll show how different directors have represented the play on film, (Kenneth Branaugh, Joss Whedon, etc).
- Students will get to enact the play's main plot point- people being tricked into confessing their feelings with a fun social media activity.

Week Of May 7th: The Problem Plays- "Merchant Of Venice," "As You Like It," and "Measure For Measure"
-We'll confront the most controversial plays Shakespeare wrote, which deal with such heavy topics as corruption, racism, and sexism, with some historical context for how women, non-Christians, and people of color were treated in the late 1590s.

- I will provide dramatic readings for characters like Shylock and Angelo and we will examine the journey of these men who start out good, but turn into bloodthirsty villains.

- We'll do a short mock trial for Portia, where the students play jury and I play prosecutor, examining her motives and reasoning for judging Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice."  The students will judge whether Portia was justified in her punishing Shylock and hopefully gain an appreciation for how complex and relevant this play is even today. 

Week Of May 14th: The Romances- "Pericles", "Cymbeline," and "The Winter's Tale." 
- We'll journey through the themes of family and endurance in Shakespeare's Romances.
- I'll talk about the complicated plot of "Cymbeline," and discuss how I consider this play to be Shakespeare's version of "Snow White."
- As a fun activity, I'll show the students how to make father's day cards for the fictional fathers in the Romance plays.

Week Of May 21st: Spotlight- "The Tempest"
- I'll discuss the lasting legacy of this play, (which many scholars believe to be Shakespeare's final play), and has inspired hundreds of new interpretations from books to science fiction films, to many creative and innovative stage productions. 
- The students will play director and design a concept for the setting, characters, and costumes of "The Tempest" 

Week Of May 28th: Finale
-We'll do a final, open-note quiz about the comedies
- The students get to do an online Board game  where they will have to complete quotes, do silly improv, and or answer questions about Shakespeare's comedies in order to be crowned "Lord of Misrule."