How NOT to Hate Shakespeare | Rob Crisell | TEDxTemecula

Summary

This talk highlights the enduring relevance of Shakespeare's works, 400 years after his death. The speaker, an actor and educator, emphasizes the importance of experiencing Shakespeare through performance, especially for young students. By acting out Shakespeare's characters, students better understand his complex language and themes, building confidence and learning valuable life lessons. The talk also addresses how Shakespeare's plays should be enjoyed as living performances, rather than as texts to analyze, and suggests practical ways for teachers and parents to make his works accessible and joyful for children.

Takeaways

• 🎭 Shakespeare's influence is still felt globally 400 years after his death, with his plays translated into 118 languages and over 2 billion copies sold.
• 😀 The speaker engages students with Shakespeare by having them experience the plays through performance, making it more accessible and exciting.
• 💡 Shakespeare's works resonate with universal human experiences, which helps students understand deep emotions and life lessons through the characters they portray.
• 😴 Shakespeare often gets a negative reputation in schools due to how it's taught, making students bored or intimidated rather than inspired.
• 🎬 Plays should be watched, acted, and performed, not merely read or analyzed. Shakespeare’s works are meant to be experienced as living art.
• 🌍 Shakespeare invented over 2,000 words and many famous phrases, contributing significantly to the English language.
• 👩‍🎓 Acting out Shakespeare's plays helps students build confidence, improve public speaking, and develop emotional intelligence.
• ❤️ Shakespeare's stories allow students to explore intense emotions, from love to grief, which helps them connect with others and express themselves creatively.
• 🤔 The speaker suggests Shakespeare is often misrepresented in education, and emphasizes the importance of performance in understanding his works.
• 🎉 Shakespeare should be a source of joy and inspiration, providing students with an opportunity for creative expression, confidence building, and emotional exploration.

Q & A

What is the central theme of the speaker's presentation?

The central theme is the importance of experiencing Shakespeare’s plays through performance rather than just reading them, as performance allows for a deeper understanding and appreciation of his work.

How does the speaker initially engage students when teaching Shakespeare?

The speaker has a student spit on him as part of a dramatic re-enactment from 'The Merchant of Venice,' which grabs the students' attention and immerses them in Shakespeare’s world.

Why does the speaker believe Shakespeare should be performed and not just read?

The speaker believes Shakespeare’s plays were written to be acted out and experienced, not just read silently. Performance allows students to connect with the characters, emotions, and language in ways that reading alone cannot achieve.

What are some benefits of teaching Shakespeare through performance according to the speaker?

The speaker lists several benefits: students understand Shakespeare better, it builds confidence, improves public speaking skills, channels passion, and teaches universal life lessons through the exploration of characters.

Why does the speaker reference a poster showing a concentration camp when discussing Shylock's speech from 'The Merchant of Venice'?

The speaker uses the poster to illustrate the real-world impact of prejudice, drawing a parallel between Shylock’s speech about discrimination and the atrocities of the Holocaust, making the play's themes resonate more deeply with the students.

What is the significance of the student named Maria in the presentation?

Maria is highlighted as a student who found joy and confidence in performing Shakespeare, despite personal hardships. Her story exemplifies how Shakespeare’s characters can provide an emotional outlet and help students cope with challenges.

Why does the speaker think many students struggle with Shakespeare in school?

The speaker believes that the struggle stems from how Shakespeare is traditionally taught—by focusing too much on analysis and exams, rather than letting students experience the plays through performance and immersion in the text.

How does the speaker propose teachers make Shakespeare more accessible to students?

The speaker suggests that teachers should have students perform scenes, watch performances on YouTube, and invite actors to the classroom to make Shakespeare more engaging and less intimidating.

What advice does the speaker give to parents who want to introduce Shakespeare to their children?

The speaker advises parents to read a synopsis of the play beforehand, familiarize themselves and their children with key characters and lines, and sit close to the stage to fully experience the energy of the performance.

What message does the speaker hope to convey about Shakespeare's relevance today?

The speaker emphasizes that Shakespeare’s plays are not outdated relics but are full of universal themes and emotions that remain relevant. Through performance, students can learn empathy, creativity, and life lessons, making Shakespeare a source of joy and inspiration.

Outlines

00:00

🎭 Shakespeare’s Timeless Legacy

The speaker reflects on Shakespeare's enduring legacy, noting that 400 years after his death, his plays are still widely read, performed, and studied globally. He humorously suggests Shakespeare would want to know who is cashing his royalty checks. The speaker, as an actor and teacher, shares how engaging students with Shakespeare is easy, starting with an unexpected technique: having a student spit in his face. This approach immediately engages students, turning Shakespeare from a boring figure into a relatable character, allowing them to connect emotionally with the material.

05:01

🎬 The Power of Performing Shakespeare

The speaker emphasizes the importance of experiencing Shakespeare through performance rather than just reading. He explains how acting out Shakespeare's text helps students understand and appreciate it on a deeper level. Performing Shakespeare builds confidence, enhances public speaking skills, and channels students' emotions. Additionally, it teaches universal life lessons, allowing students to explore new facets of human experience. Although many students are initially intimidated by Shakespeare, performance helps them connect with his works, turning the learning process into a meaningful and empowering experience.

10:02

💬 Shakespeare's Words and Influence

Shakespeare’s influence on the English language and culture is unparalleled. The speaker highlights how Shakespeare's characters and sayings have become ingrained in our cultural consciousness, even for those unfamiliar with his plays. His inventive use of language introduced thousands of words into the English lexicon. The speaker humorously points out the difference between experiencing Shakespeare through live performance versus how it's typically taught in school—through dry analysis. He argues that this disconnect in teaching methods often leads to students developing a dislike for Shakespeare, which could be avoided by making his plays enjoyable and engaging.

15:04

🎭 Experiencing Shakespeare as It Was Meant to Be

The speaker discusses how Shakespeare's plays were meant to be heard and performed, not read in silence. He compares studying Shakespeare’s plays to analyzing lyrics without ever hearing the music—an incomplete experience. Shakespeare's works are about performance, and watching them come to life helps students truly understand and enjoy his words. The speaker shares a poignant story about Maria, a seventh-grader who found solace in Shakespeare after experiencing personal tragedy. By performing Shakespeare, Maria could express emotions she couldn’t verbalize, showing the transformative power of the playwright’s works.

🌟 Making Shakespeare an Opportunity for Joy

The speaker encourages both educators and parents to embrace Shakespeare as a source of joy rather than a difficult, obligatory subject. He offers practical tips for preparing students to watch a Shakespeare play, such as reading a synopsis beforehand and sitting close to the stage to fully experience the action. While Shakespeare's language may initially overwhelm, it is meant to be enjoyed rather than fully understood. The speaker concludes by emphasizing that Shakespeare, when taught and experienced correctly, can bring joy to students’ lives and help them navigate the challenges of both school and life.

Keywords

💡Shakespeare

Shakespeare refers to William Shakespeare, the renowned playwright whose works are the focus of the video. The speaker highlights how Shakespeare's plays, despite being over 400 years old, continue to resonate across cultures and languages. The speaker's main message revolves around teaching and appreciating Shakespeare's work through performance rather than just reading.

💡Performance

Performance is a core concept in the video, as the speaker emphasizes that Shakespeare's plays were written to be performed, not merely read. The speaker suggests that students can better understand and connect with Shakespeare by acting out his plays, which brings the characters and language to life. Performance helps students grasp complex emotions and ideas embedded in the text.

💡Education

Education is a central theme, as the speaker discusses how Shakespeare is taught in schools and how it can often be a daunting or uninspiring experience for students. The speaker advocates for a more engaging approach that incorporates performance to help students appreciate and love Shakespeare’s works, rather than seeing them as difficult or boring.

💡Relatability

Relatability is highlighted when the speaker explains that Shakespeare's characters and themes are timeless and universally human. Even though his works are centuries old, the emotions and experiences—such as love, revenge, and grief—are still relevant today. The speaker shows how students, through acting, can see themselves in Shakespeare's characters, making the material more accessible.

💡Universal life lessons

Universal life lessons refer to the valuable insights into human nature that Shakespeare's plays offer. The speaker explains that by performing Shakespeare, students can explore complex human emotions and experiences like love, betrayal, and power struggles, without having to live them directly. This provides an opportunity for personal growth and empathy.

💡Public speaking

Public speaking is one of the skills that students develop by performing Shakespeare. The speaker notes that acting out scenes from plays like 'Hamlet' or 'Julius Caesar' helps students build confidence in speaking in front of others, which is a valuable skill both in and out of the classroom. This activity enhances their ability to express themselves clearly and persuasively.

💡Engagement

Engagement refers to the way performance keeps students actively involved with the material. The speaker argues that reading Shakespeare alone can be dull, but when students perform or watch others perform the plays, they become more invested in the characters and stories. The speaker gives an example of a student named Maria, who found joy and expression through performing Shakespeare.

💡Emotion

Emotion plays a crucial role in both Shakespeare's plays and the speaker's teaching method. The speaker emphasizes that Shakespeare captures intense human emotions, and acting allows students to explore these feelings. By portraying characters like King Lear or Juliet, students experience emotions like love, grief, and anger, which helps them connect with the material on a deeper level.

💡Language

Language is a key concept, as Shakespeare is famous for his inventive and rich use of English. The speaker mentions that Shakespeare introduced over 2,000 new words and phrases to the language. However, these words can make his works seem difficult to modern readers. The speaker argues that performance helps demystify Shakespeare's language by allowing students to experience the rhythm and meaning in context.

💡Joy

Joy is the ultimate goal the speaker seeks to achieve through teaching Shakespeare. The speaker believes that experiencing Shakespeare’s plays through performance should be a joyful experience, not a tedious academic exercise. Joy can make the difference between students engaging with their education and feeling disconnected from it. The speaker closes by expressing that Shakespeare can provide joy in learning and in life.

Highlights

The speaker opens by marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death and highlights the global impact of his work, being translated into 118 languages and selling over 2 billion copies.

The speaker shares a humorous anecdote, speculating on Shakespeare's reaction to someone else cashing his royalty checks if he were alive today.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of engaging students with Shakespeare through performance rather than just reading his works.

A key teaching technique the speaker uses is to have a student spit in his face to grab the class’s attention and demonstrate a scene from 'The Merchant of Venice.'

Shakespeare’s characters are described as 'alive,' with timeless secrets to share that are only revealed through performance, not through being confined to ink and paper.

Performing Shakespeare helps students appreciate his plays more deeply, as combining reading, listening, and acting brings the language to life.

Shakespeare teaches universal life lessons, and acting out his stories allows students to explore new possibilities without living them directly.

The speaker asserts that the problem with Shakespeare isn't his writing but how he’s been traditionally taught, often making it seem like a burdensome task.

Shakespeare's influence is highlighted by listing some of his well-known invented words, like 'cold-blooded,' 'bedazzled,' and 'assassination.'

The speaker connects Shakespeare's relevance to modern audiences, pointing out his well-known phrases and how they still permeate everyday language.

The speaker shares the story of Maria, a student who found confidence and joy in acting out Shakespeare, helping her cope with personal tragedies.

Shakespeare allows students to experience emotions and situations like grief, love, and depression through his characters in a way that might be difficult to express on their own.

The speaker encourages teachers to get students to act out Shakespeare's works, not just analyze them, as it enhances their learning and public speaking skills.

Parents are encouraged to prepare for a Shakespeare play by reading synopses and familiarizing themselves with characters to make the experience more enjoyable for children.

The speaker concludes by emphasizing that Shakespeare should be an opportunity for joy, especially for children facing difficulties in life and school, and that joy can be transformative.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

all the world's a stage and all the men

and women merely players welcome my

fellow players this year marks the 400th

anniversary of William Shakespeare's

death and millions of people are still

watching acting and reading his plays in

118 different languages all around the

world and more than 2 billion copies of

his plays have been sold somebody once

asked me what I thought Shakespeare

would say if he gave a TED talk I said I

had no idea but he would definitely want

to know who's been cashing all his

royalty checks right when he was that

man some money as a visiting actor and

instructor I have the great privilege of

teaching Shakespeare's plays to teenage

and preteen students in my experience

getting kids to appreciate and even love

him is easy this is what I do when I

first get to a classroom before I have a

chance to say a single word I have one

of the students come up to me and spit

in my face this accomplishes two things

one it wakes up the class doesn't it

that's important because so many people

hear the name Shakespeare and they're

seized with a sudden urge to sleep

right or worse to throw up it's no

wonder that the two most popular

translations of his plays in the modern

English are called no fear Shakespeare

and no sweat

Shakespeare fear and sweat sounds like

fun doesn't it but my surprise spitting

serves another purpose it transforms me

from some boring bald guy with a

Shakespeare shirt into from the

Merchant of Venice and has just

been spit upon for the last time by that

smug hypocritical anti-semite Antonio

they have disgraced me

don't hindered me half a million laughed

at my losses mocked at my gains scorned

my nation forted my bargains cooled my

friends heated mine enemies and what's

his reason I am a Jew hath not a Jew

eyes have not at you hands organs

dimensions senses affections passions if

you prick us do we not bleed if you

tickle us do we not laugh if you poison

us do we not die and if you wrong us

shall we not revenge if we are like you

in the rest we will resemble you in that

an angry man thank you but maybe

he has good reason to be I was teaching

a class of high school seniors recently

and as I was waiting there for my

designated spitter to turn me into

I noticed some posters on the

wall they were covered with pictures of

bombed-out cities troops and formation

Nazi flags tanks and so on one poster

was entitled the brutal human it showed

emaciated prisoners at Auschwitz

concentration camp and a lampshade made

of human skin so when I became

and I asked if you poison us do we not

die I pointed right at that poster and

in that moment in that suddenly silent

room every kid got they got

Shakespeare Shakespeare's plays aren't

relics they aren't fossilized bones that

we dig up scrutinize and catalog the

characters he created are alive leave

secrets to tell us even after all these

years but we can only learn their

secrets by listening to them by watching

them by becoming them and none of that's

possible if we can find them to ink and

paper if we want children to appreciate

and even love Shakespeare they need to

experience his plays through performance

so is the point to turn every kid into

the next Matt Damon or Natalie Portman

no although most of the kids wouldn't

mind that at all

the point is wonderful things happen

when we get kids on their feet to act

out Shakespeare's text first and

foremost they understand him reading by

itself is never enough but when you

combine

reading with listening and watching and

acting suddenly Shakespeare's characters

in his language had come to light it

exposes them to the most powerful most

influential writing in the English

language it builds confidence if a

student can unravel and act out a scene

or a speech from Hamlet or Julius Caesar

or much ado about nothing

lots of other tasks might seem

relatively easy strengthens public

speaking abilities again if a student

can get in front of an audience and move

them with their words with their acting

that's a skill they'll be able to use

for the rest of their lives five it

channels passion children can be intense

emotional people and their attentions

can be fleeting Shakespeare keeps them

engaged and gives them a healthy and

creative means of expressing themselves

and finally six shakespeare teaches

universal life lessons when children

become his characters when they act out

his stories they get to explore new

possibilities of existence without

having to live them first in other words

while Shakespeare won't always turn kids

into great actors he can help turn them

into great people now I suspect that

most of us forced to study Shakespeare

in our youth didn't receive all these

miraculous benefits but let's find out

by show of hands who read the following

plays in high school or junior high

Julius Caesar all right

Midsummer Night's Dream

Oh few more hands Romeo and Juliet oh

that's nearly everybody did did anybody

have to analyze a summit oh I'm so sorry

all those for whom Shakespeare was a

source of delight and inspiration in

school

let me hear a hearty huzzah ready okay

not bad but many fewer let's face it for

most of us

Shakespeare in school was uncomfortable

unwelcome and of uncertain value a sort

of literary enema right I mean that's

what it felt like for me I knew I was

supposed to like him I just couldn't he

was too awful it wasn't until after

college when I realized that the

playwright I learned to hate in the

classroom was nothing like the loved one

I learned to love in the theater what

I'm saying is it Shakespeare isn't the

problem the problem is how he's been

taught he's the world's most famous

author for good reason no writer not

Homer not Dante not Cervantes not JK

Rowling rivals him in terms of his art

or influence his his characters become

part of our mental landscape for example

even if you haven't read or seen a

single play you might be familiar with

this man right that would be Hamlet and

this woman and maybe this guy right here

that would be bottom Midsummer Night's

Dream sort of an ass bottom yeah

and of course these two star-crossed

lovers and how about all his words

Shakespeare wrote 884 thousand of them

he's credited with being the first to

use or inventing more than two thousand

here are a few of them I recognize some

in their cold-blooded bedroom bedazzled

assassination affliction for today's

purposes however may be the most

important word he was among the first to

use is our theme reverberate yeah TEDx

2016 brought to you by our sponsor

William Shakespeare

yeah he's not getting paid for it but

there he is and finally how about all

those famous sayings he's easily the

most quoted author of all times if we

had everyone I mean if we were able to

list every one of his you know

well-known sayings we'd be here forever

and a day okay so let's start with

forever in a day here are a few more you

probably know a few of those up there

few my personal favorites to thine own

self be true

hmm brevity is the soul of wit something

wicked this way comes that's a good one

for Halloween brave new world and of

course the granddaddy of them all we're

gonna do this one together right ready

to be or not to be yes case you didn't

get the memo

that is the question yes

so if Shakespeare so brilliant

why is he also such a pain for students

for many teachers and I think for many

of you listening to me right now here's

a hint where his plays meant to be bred

silently or aloud what do you think

aloud right wrong trick question

his plays weren't meant to be read at

all they were meant to be heard and

watched and acted they were meant to be

experienced he wasn't a historian he

wasn't even a novelist he was a

playwright and plays should be performed

I mean does that make sense imagine

trying to appreciate Adele or dr. Dre

Billy Joel or Prince by studying their

lyrics but never listening to or singing

one of their songs or would all those

fans of the latest blockbuster Hollywood

hit really pay good money to go into a

theater and analyze the script and I

think so

and yet that's what we do to Shakespeare

when we treat his plays merely as fodder

for exams and essays instead of

they could be opportunities for joy when

I first began teaching Shakespeare I met

a seventh-grade girl called Maria Maria

was a natural actress captivating

confident intuitive vulnerable when she

would play Juliet it was like she'd

written the lines herself it was

wonderful

her teacher told me that Maria had been

through a lot of personal tragedy

her mother had left when she was little

her father had recently died of a drug

overdose she was quiet and shy didn't

fit in not a good student but when she

got in front of the class and performs

Shakespeare

she radiated a happiness that everyone

can see and she was fabulous so I was

new at this back then and so I was

curious so I asked her one day but it

was about Shakespeare she enjoyed so

much cheerfully without hesitation she

said because I can pretend to be

somebody else for a while

Maria's answer for me is at the heart of

why learning Shakespeare through

performance is so valuable when children

become his characters or see another

person become one of his characters when

they mourn the loss of a loved one as

King Lear or wrestle with depression as

Hamlet or fall hopelessly in love as

Juliet they get a chance to feel what

they might not be able to express in

words in Shakespeare's words they

learned that they are not all alone

unhappy in this world that Beauty lives

with kindness that there's a divinity

that shapes their ends that their life

is a miracle

so a few action items before I leave you

for all my wonderful English teachers

out there I know you have a million

things to do during the school year and

I hope Shakespeare play is one of them I

encourage you to view him not as another

bitter pill your students have to

swallow but as an extraordinary teaching

opportunity get your kids on their feet

to act out his text you know don't just

have them analyze a passage have them

also memorize and perform it make them

watch a few scenes on YouTube maybe

invite an actor to class I hear they

don't have much to do during the day I

know if you do these things you're gonna

be pleasantly surprised for my parents

grandparents and all those traumatised

by high school memories of Shakespeare

give the man another chance

treat yourself treat your kids to one of

his plays some tips before you get to

the theater read a synopsis of the play

hmm figure out who the characters are

maybe find a few famous lines and talk

about them with your kids then sit as

close to the action as you can right in

the splash zone hmm and though panic

when the wave of words washes over you

because it will that's kind of the point

besides nobody understands every word of

a Shakespeare play easy comprehension

has never been his goal his goal is

simple to make the coming hour overflow

with joy and pleasure drown the brim joy

can be a scarce commodity for some

children as it can be for all of us

school is difficult life is difficult

and difficult things are often

unpleasant but Shakespeare should always

be an opportunity for joy and joy can be

the difference between a child hard

trying and trying hard between dropping

out and showing up between hiding in the

shadows off stage and embracing their

unique role in this epic production

called life all the world's a stage hmm

thank

you

[Music]