Aquila Theatre in Shakespeare’s
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Grades 9-12
This timeless comedy has delighted audiences for centuries and Aquila Theatre’s imaginative interpretation renews the magic of Shakespeare’s plot. Set against a classical Athenian backdrop, "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" deals with the universal theme of love and its attendant complications: passion, lust, frustration, depression, confusion and marriage. A must-see for students reading Shakespeare!
California Content Standards easily applied in your classroom:
- 9-10.EN.RE.3.3: Analyze interactions between main and subordinate characters in a literary text (e.g., internal and external conflicts, motivations, relationships, influences) and explain the way those interactions affect the plot.
- 9-10.EN.RE.3.6: Analyze and trace an author’s development of time and sequence, including the use of complex literary devices (e.g., foreshadowing, flashbacks).
- 11-12.EN.3.3: Analyze the ways in which irony, tone, mood, the author’s style, and the “sound” of language achieve specific rhetorical or aesthetic purposes or both.
LESSON PLAN IDEA: Students choose a scene from a Shakespearean play, identify characterization, and role-play using modern issues.
Visit the artist's website at www.aquilatheatre.com.
ADD ARTISTS IN THE SCHOOLS!
Literature & Drama: Exploring the Rhythm of Shakespeare
INCLUDES THREE VISITS TO YOUR CLASSROOM!
Grades 9-12
Led by Clark Houston Lewis, the Artistic Director of Roustabout Theater, and featuring company artists, students will explore their visceral responses to Shakespearean text. Using select scenes from "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", students will leave their desks behind with the aid of musical instruments and physical exercises and find themselves immediately engrossed in the world of classic comedy. By examining their rhythmic, musical and aural reactions to each piece, students will more fully connect to and understand Shakespeare’s work.
California Content Standards
- 9-10.EN.RE.3.7: Recognize and understand the significance of various literary devices, including figurative language, imagery, allegory, and symbolism, and explain their appeal.
- 11-12.EN.3.4: Analyze ways in which poets use imagery, personification, figures of speech, and sounds to evoke readers’ emotions.