I'm planning to take my students, of course. But when it comes to my own family, I'm a little uncertain. Should this be my eight-year-old son's first Shakespeare performance?
I feel pretty good about taking his eleven-year-old sister, who's seen a bunch of Shakespeare already. But a third-grade boy? A Shakespeare first-timer?
When my daughter was his age, I knew exactly what to do. Midsummer was perfect for a fairy-loving girl. But it's not necessarily the right first play for a boy's boy--a sport-playing son. That's why I thought that Macbeth and all its masculine/competitive/angst-y themes might work well.
Please, Lord, do not let him turn against Shakespeare. Please give me guidance as I select the right productions for him. That's all I ask. Amen.
I think Macbeth is a very good choice. I read my son the opening scene to Hamlet< with he was about 5 or 6 and really into ghost stories. That was also great. I had to gloss a lot of words, but he loved it. I would NOT, however, take him to see Hamlet for obvious reasons of seriously long length. I would have thought that Midsummer was good for a boy, too, though, because of all the donkey shenanigans. Have fun. And be prepared for a few days of sword-fighting at home afterwards.
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