Monday, August 20, 2012

Suburbs of Our Discontent

I am extremely excited about the Actors' Shakespeare Project's upcoming performance of Macbeth, which begins on October 3rd.

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. 


1 comment:

  1. 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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