Glorious Shakespeare
A Review by Dr. Jerry Flack
William Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s greatest ever playwright. His plays have been translated into every known living language. Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, and is believed to have died in the year 1616, also on April 23. He was a prolific playwright and poet. He produced, directed, and acted in many of his thirty-six plays. He was most prominent during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During Shakespeare’s lifetime, scripts for plays were published inexpensively and were discarded after the run of each drama.
Seven years after Shakespeare’s death, two of his friends and colleagues, John Heminges and Henry Condell published an expensive and elaborate First Folio in 1623 that preserved forever the thirty-six great scripts of Shakespeare’s comedies, histories, and tragedies. Many of Shakespeare’s greatest masterpieces such as The Tempest, Twelfth Night, and Macbeth would have been lost to the world forever had they not been preserved in the extraordinary First Folio.
To celebrate the four-hundredth anniversary of the publication of the First Folio, Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust has created a sumptuous recreation of the original manuscript in a special adaptation for children. The abridgments of Shakespeare’s plays are presented as eight-to-twelve-page play scripts so that young readers can both enjoy some of the greatest literature ever written and also act out pivotal scenes from The Bard’s extraordinary dramatic oeuvre. The presentation of the abridgments is perfect for readers from ages seven and above. The book is one of the most exquisite publications for children in the past decade. It is sure to remain a classic in homes, classrooms, and libraries.
Many of the elements of the original First Folio are replicated in the same fashion as they first appeared as published four hundred years ago. A verse tribute to Shakespeare opens this splendid collection. In this anniversary edition, the ode is penned by contemporary poet, Michael Rosen. It is paired with a magnificent new portrait of Mr. William Shakespeare by illustrator Emily Sutton.
In her introduction, Shakespeare scholar, Anjna Chouhan writes that her abridgments include changes in vocabulary that reflect language changes over the lengthy period of four hundred years. Every line of Shakespeare’s thirty-six plays has been carefully scrutinized to excise long speeches that are not relevant to the dramatic passages that she does highlight. The task of abridgment has not been easy. This new edition in play script format limits the thirty-six plays to approximately one-tenth of their original length. Dr. Chouhan notes in her abridgments of plays that she has attempted to keep the rich language of Shakespeare while also replacing or excising original lines that referred to adult content and any traces of racism that would not be appropriate for contemporary childhood audiences. Chouhan further writes that First Folio Shakespeare scholars will note her inclusion of lines that did not appear in the original publication four centuries past. One example is the opening chorus of Romeo and Juliet that begins:
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
The full chorus was not included in the First Folio, but it has become so popular and well known in productions over time that she includes it in her abridgment of the famed romantic tragedy.
The illustrations of Emily Sutton are among the most beautiful and glorious artwork found in any recent children’s picture book. Her illustrations are also authentic. She conducted extensive research at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Each of the fourteen comedies, ten histories, and twelve tragedies is introduced with a lavish full title page that highlights scenes, locations, characters, and plot elements found in each play. On the following page, Sutton presents brilliant characterizations of leading players. In all, the artist has created more that 300 such portraits. Happily, the characters represent cast members from multiple races. Her sketches are also faithful to the historical time frame of every play. Further, nearly every page of the thirty-six scripts contains additional scenes that highlight the content and vocabulary of the abridged plays.
Color codes are helpful for younger readers. A brief summary of each play plus stage directions are revealed in blue ink while the names of the speaking characters on stage are shown in red and their speeches are presented in black ink.
Home & School Activities
Shakespeare’s Life. At the beginning of the present millennium historians vied with one another to name the man (or woman) who had been the most influential person in the preceding one thousand years. In addition to such persons as Leonardo da Vinci, Martin Luther, Christopher Columbus, Isaac Newton, Johann Gutenberg, and Albert Einstein, scholars also named William Shakespeare. The Bard of Avon may well be the individual about whom the greatest number of biographies have been written in the past four hundred years. Both print and more recently digital biographical volumes have been produced for readers of all ages. The First Folio presents The Bard’s thirty-six plays. It does not contain a biography of Shakespeare. Readers can enjoy producing the plays, but they can also research the life of the playwright and write and illustrate their own brief biographies. One especially user-friendly guide isThe Shakespeare Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained (DK Big Ideas, 2019).
Comparisons and Contrasts. In her excellent introduction to the First Folio, Dr. Anjna Chouhan notes that her abridgment for this special edition for children represents a sum of ten percent of the total words found in the complete plays of Shakespeare. This beautiful volume contains the most essential elements of each play, its characters, and their stage lines. Older students can read Chouhan’s abridged version of Macbeth, a play script of eight pages, and then read the complete drama that actors call “The Scottish Play” and compare and contrast the two dramatic versions. What crucial scenes, for example, are not found in the abridged edition? Are vital characters, scenes, and passages excised too severely? Perhaps secondary readers can create their own summing-up of one of the greatest plays ever written. Encourage mature students to also present visual splendor with their scripts. Perhaps mature readers can use a graphic novel format to present their own versions of Macbeth.
Family Dramas. Shakespeare’s First Folio should be a permanent addition to homes of gifted readers and budding actors and actresses. Histories such as The Tempest present riveting stories; they also offer children the chance to follow a short script that preserves the essence of a great comedy. Consider inventive time frames for the plays. The Tragedy of Hamlet, for example, has been staged as a modern business world drama in which the scenery, costumes, and even language are contemporary.
How Accurate Was Shakespeare? One of the best English mystery novels of the twentieth century is Josephine Tey’s, The Daughter of Time (Collier Books, 1951, 1988). A Scotland Yard investigator is bedfast in a London hospital as he recuperates from a broken leg. He cannot physically investigate the historical case of Richard III whom Shakespeare presents as an evil monarch. But the contemporary sleuth comes to wonder if the popular and accepted modern-day view of the abominable and flawed king as presented by Shakespeare was biased due to Shakespeare's patrons. The detective, Alan Grant, seeks to find out the “truth” of Richard III as presented in Shakespeare’s history, The Life and Death of Richard III. Shakespeare’s play was written more than a century after the death of Richard III. Inspector Grant might attribute Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard III as “Tudor Propaganda.” He proposes an alternative story. Compare genres. Read both Shakespeare’s historical play and Tey’s twentieth-century mystery that examines and questions Tudor-era scholarship. Which portrayal of Richard III, the last king of Plantagenet dynasty, is likely to be the most accurate portrayal?
Stage Fright? Even at home with family or in a welcoming classroom, many readers do not aspire to be actors. A Shakespeare production involves much more than memorizing lines and giving stage performances. Any production involves multiple endeavors, many of which are artistic in nature. Abridged play scripts for actors may be an invitation for other young artists to create scenery, design and fashion costumes, make props for actors (e.g., cardboard swords), and create theater programs for play performances. Emily Sutton provides more than three-hundred-character portraits that are exquisite. She does not present full-body paintings of the major performers. Readers only view her splendid facial portrait of Hamlet, for example. Artistically gifted students can create full-body recreations of any of Shakespeare’s more than three-hundred characters featured in the thirty-six plays that make up the First Folio. Creative visual artists will imagine other valuable means to contribute to home and school Shakespeare performances.
Shakespeare Adaptations. Shakespeare’s plays are literary miracles. His stories and plot lines resonate with popular culture and have done so for centuries. Ballets, operas, and movies of The Bard’s stories have been performed all around the globe. A magnificent example of one hugely successful adaptation is the Broadway musical and movie, West Side Story, that is based on the enormously popular tale of Romeo and Juliet. The original stage production of West Side Story (c. 1960) places the drama in New York City and for the storied rivalry of the Capulets and Montagues substitutes two street gangs to represent the contender families of the original drama. The incomparable Leonard Bernstein composed the music for West Side Story that won the Best Picture Academy Award in 1962. Invite today’s youth to retell one of Shakespeare’s stories in a present-day setting. One example: How might The Merchant of Venice be recreated as a contemporary political campaign.
Maillard, Kevin Noble. Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story. Illus. by Juana Martinez-Neal. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2019. American Library Association Robert F. Sibert Medal (gold), 2020.
