The Two Gentlemen of Verona: The 30-Minute Shakespeare. William Shakespeare
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Название: The Two Gentlemen of Verona: The 30-Minute Shakespeare

Автор: William Shakespeare

Издательство: Ingram

Жанр: Учебная литература

Серия: The 30-Minute Shakespeare

isbn: 9781935550273

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ up on the action. The stage directions are built into this script so that young actors do not have to stand in one place; they can move and tell the story with their actions as well as their words. And it can all be done in a classroom during class time!

      That is where this book was born: not in a research library, a graduate school lecture, a professional stage, or even an after-school drama club. All of the play cuttings in The 30-Minute Shakespeare were first rehearsed in a D.C. public high school English class, and performed successfully at the Folger Shakespeare Library’s annual Secondary School Shakespeare Festival. The players were not necessarily “actor types.” For many of them, this was their first performance in a play.

      Something almost miraculous happens when students perform Shakespeare. They “get” it. By occupying the characters and speaking the words out loud, students gain a level of understanding and appreciation that is unachievable by simply reading the text. That is the magic of a performance-based method of learning Shakespeare, and this book makes the formerly daunting task of staging a Shakespeare play possible for anybody.

      With The 30-Minute Shakespeare book series I hope to help teachers and students produce a Shakespeare play in a short amount of time, thus jump-starting the process of discovering the beauty, magic, and fun of the Bard. Plot, theme, and language reveal themselves through the performance of these half-hour play cuttings, and everybody involved receives the priceless gift of “owning” a piece of Shakespeare. The result is an experience that is fun and engaging, and one that we can all carry with us as we play out our own lives on the stages of the world.

       NICK NEWLIN

       Brandywine, MD

       March 2010

       CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY

      The following is a list of characters that appear in this cutting of The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

      Nineteen actors performed in the original production. This number can be increased to about thirty or decreased to about thirteen by having actors share or double roles.

      For the full breakdown of characters, see Sample Program.

      JULIA: Beloved of Proteus; disguises herself as Sebastian

      LUCETTA: Seamstress; waiting woman to Julia

      LAUNCE: Clownish servant to Proteus, joined by his dog Crab

      CRAB: Launce’s dog

      SPEED: Servant to Valentine

      SILVIA: Daughter to the Duke of Milan; beloved of Valentine

      VALENTINE: A gentleman of Verona who woos Silvia and is banished by the Duke

      PROTEUS: A gentleman of Verona; in love with Julia, then Silvia DUKE OF MILAN: Father to Silvia; banishes Valentine for wooing Silvia

       MUSICIANS

       NARRATOR

      

SCENE 1. (ACT I, SCENE II)

      Verona. Julia’s garden.

      STAGEHANDS set table and two chairs center stage, placing flowers, tea pot, and cups atop table.

      Enter NARRATOR from stage rear, coming downstage center.

       NARRATOR

      Our play begins in Julia’s garden, where Julia

      receives a love letter from Proteus. Lucetta, Julia’s

      woman-in-waiting deals with Julia’s mixed feelings.

      SOUND OPERATOR plays Sound Cue #1 (“Merry domestic music”).

      Exit NARRATOR stage left.

      Enter JULIA and LUCETTA from stage right. JULIA sits in chair stage left; LUCETTA sits in chair stage right.

       JULIA

      But say, Lucetta, now we are alone,

      Wouldst thou then counsel me to fall in love?

       LUCETTA

      Ay, madam; so you stumble not unheedfully. (dusts)

       JULIA

      Of all the fair resort of gentlemen

      That every day with parle encounter me,

      In thy opinion which is worthiest love?

       LUCETTA

      Please you repeat their names, I’ll show my mind

      According to my shallow simple skill.

       JULIA

      What think’st thou of the rich Mercatio?

       LUCETTA

      Well of his wealth; but of himself, so-so.

       JULIA

      What think’st thou of the gentle Proteus?

       LUCETTA

      Of many good I think him best.

       JULIA

      Why, he, of all the rest, hath never moved me.

       LUCETTA

      Yet he, of all the rest, I think, best loves ye.

       (mysteriously)

      Peruse this paper, madam.

      LUCETTA gives JULIA a letter. JULIA

      Say, say, who gave it thee?

      JULIA opens the letter and glances at it.

       LUCETTA

      Sir Valentine’s page; and sent, I think, from Proteus.

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