Macbeth: The 30-Minute Shakespeare - Softcover

Shakespeare, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1935550020 ISBN 13: 9781935550020

Publisher: Nicolo Whimsey Press, 2010

Synopsis

Planning a school or amateur Shakespeare production? The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited.

"The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the story” of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare’s language intact. Specific stage directions and character suggestions give even inexperienced actors the tools to perform Shakespeare with confidence, understanding, and fun!

This cutting of MACBETH is edited to seven key scenes, opening with the Weird Sisters predicting Macbeth's fate. Also included are Macbeth and his villainous wife plotting to murder King Duncan, the appearance of Banquo's ghost at the banquet, the Witches' unforgettable "double double toil and trouble" scene, and Lady Macbeth's riveting "out, damned spot" sleepwalk. In the finale, the entire cast recites Macbeth's poignant "tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow" speech in unison.

The edition also includes an essay by editor Nick Newlin on how to produce a Shakespeare play with novice actors, and notes about the original production of this abridgement at the Folger Shakespeare Library's annual Student Shakespeare Festival.

About this title

About the Author

Nick Newlin: Nick Newlin has been a performer, writer and arts educator for international audiences for 30 years. Since 1996, he has conducted an annual Play Directing residency affiliated with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. Nick has a BA from Harvard University with Honors 1982 and an MA in Theater from The University of Maryland with an emphasis on Play Directing. Mr. Newlin now has 20 plays in The 30-Minute Shakespeare series, plus The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology: 18 Student Scenes with Monologues. In 2017 Mr. Newlin collaborated with Emmy Award winning The Simpsons writer Mike Reiss on a new play "Shakespeare's Worst", which had its world premiere at Bristol Shakespeare Festival in the UK in 2017. Shakespeare's Worst played in Summer 2018 at Utah Shakespeare Festival. Summer 2019 Shakespeare's Worst will be produced by Capital Fringe Festival at Washington DC's Arena Stage. The Nicolo Whimsey Show has performed at The Smithsonian's Discovery Theatre where they were honored with Legacy Artist award, The National Theatre in Washington, DC, and the White House

William Shakespeare 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist.He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 39 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[ Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. . Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best work produced in these genres. Until about 1608, he wrote mainly tragedies, among them Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, Shakespeare's works have been continually adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain popular and are studied, performed, and reinterpreted through various cultural and political contexts around the world.

Review

What people are saying about The 30-Minute Shakespeare series:

“...A truly fun, emotional, and sometimes magical first experience...guided by a sagacious, knowledgeable, and intuitive educator.”―Library Journal

“A master at engaging students in the
process of performing a Shakespeare
scene.” --Janet Field-Pickering, head of
education, Folger Shakespeare Library

“Wonderfully informative and fun.
You can’t do better.” –Charles P. Lord,
Headmaster, St. Timothy’s School
Baltimore, MD

“Truly an advocate of the child, of the arts and of humanity.”
--Tia Powell Harris
Education, Kennedy Center

'From a teacher's perspective, this book was a great way to introduce students to a Shakespeare play they otherwise might never have encountered in high school... much more fun working with the adaptation than it might have been if i had tackled the full script. I strongly recommend this book (and the rest of the series) to educators who want to introduce a variety of Shakespeare plays to their students in a limited amount of time.
--James Brendlinger, Chairman, Department of Arts and Communications
Lake Lowell High School, Winter Park, FL

“Nick Newlin’s 30-minute play cuttings
are perfect for students who have no
experience with Shakespeare. Each 30-minute mini-play
is a play in itself with a beginning, middle, and end.”―Michael
Ellis-Tolaydo,
Chairman, Dept. of Theatre St. Mary’s College, Maryland


What people are saying about The 30-Minute Shakespeare series:

A truly fun, emotional, and sometimes magical first experience guided by a sagacious, knowledgeable, and intuitive educator.” Library Journal

A master at engaging students in the
process of performing a Shakespeare
scene.” --Janet Field-Pickering, head of
education, Folger Shakespeare Library

Wonderfully informative and fun.
You can’t do better.” Charles P. Lord,
Headmaster, St. Timothy’s School
Baltimore, MD

Truly an advocate of the child, of the arts and of humanity.”
--Tia Powell Harris
Education, Kennedy Center

'From a teacher's perspective, this book was a great way to introduce students to a Shakespeare play they otherwise might never have encountered in high school much more fun working with the adaptation than it might have been if i had tackled the full script. I strongly recommend this book (and the rest of the series) to educators who want to introduce a variety of Shakespeare plays to their students in a limited amount of time.
--James Brendlinger, Chairman, Department of Arts and Communications
Lake Lowell High School, Winter Park, FL

Nick Newlin’s 30-minute play cuttings
are perfect for students who have no
experience with Shakespeare. Each 30-minute mini-play
is a play in itself with a beginning, middle, and end.” Michael
Ellis-Tolaydo,
Chairman, Dept. of Theatre St. Mary’s College, Maryland

About this edition

• Publisher: Nicolo Whimsey Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1935550020
• ISBN 13: 9781935550020
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 72
• Editor: Newlin Nick