As you’d expect, I see a lot of Shakespeare in Los Angeles, especially in the summertime when you can find a myriad of productions being performed outdoors under the stars. This past summer, two of our friends cancelled at the last minute so we found ourselves with a couple of open chairs for Independent Shakespeare Co.’s production of Twelfth Night. The Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival is a tremendously popular destination for families so the crowd was quite large on that particular night. Not wanting the chairs to go to waste, I walked to the back edges of the crowd and randomly asked a young family of three if they would like to join us.
Surprised, but happy to see it from closer up, they joined us and we ended up having a lovely conversation about Shakespeare (they had a young daughter). Turns out they’ve gone to many productions around the city and are always on the lookout for those that would be fun for the whole family. What are the chances, right?
It shouldn’t have surprised me because if there’s one thing you can be sure of at an ISC production, it’s that you’re bound to meet your neighbors on the blanket next to you and even make new friends when you least expect it. That’s the community fellowship ISC has always encouraged. (And thanks, Kelley, Juliana and Robb Fritz for becoming our new Shakespeare friends!)
Kelley shared a few of her favorite juvenile Shakespeare resources with us and I thought those of you with children might also be interested in them. Enjoy!
Animated Video
BBC Shakespeare: The Animated Tales www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006v9mm or
www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Animated-Tales-AlecMcCowen/dp/B0002CHJS2/
You can sample them HERE
Books
How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig
Tales From Shakespeare by Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb (Authors), Joëlle Jolivet (Illustrator)
Naxos Audiobooks
Stories from Shakespeare v. 1, 2, 3 and The Plantagenets
www.naxosaudiobooks.com/335112.htm
www.naxosaudiobooks.com/340912.htm
www.naxosaudiobooks.com/387312.htm
www.naxosaudiobooks.com/391912.htm
And if you’re looking for some fun Shakespeare projects that are downloadable for free to pass the time over the holidays, here are a few links you might like to check out that I’ve found on my online travels. Happy Holidays one and all!
Make a color or B&W Paper Model of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London
Download a Shakespeare Plays Word Search Puzzle
Print or color online a William Shakespeare Coloring Page
Download a set of 5 Shakespeare Notebook Pages
Become the Bard with this Free Shakespeare Mask
Shakespeare in LA 