MB UNIUD

A Webquest about Shakespeare

Me: "Good morning, Mr. Shakespeare!"

S.:  "Good morning!"

Me: "Thank you for this interview... As you know, I will ask you some question about you, but above all, I'll ask you about your job and your plays!"

S.:  "I'll be happy to tell to you all about my plays..."

Me: "Thank you very much!...First of all...what about going to theatre in your days? Was it like today or different?"

S.: "Oh, it was a completely different experience than it is today!! Today, you go to theatre and actors can be free of recite, without absent mindedness...in my days there were a riotous crowd who could purchase food and drink from strolling vendors during the course of performance!..."

Me: "Oh, my God... So, recite was difficult, isn't it?"

S.: "Yes, it was...but for a playwright, was difficult to catch the attention of the audience by the start until the end of the play..."

Me: "Is this the reason why you use fantastic elements in some of your plays?"

S. : "I think so...An example of this kind of play is A Midsummer Night's Dream: in this play I uses a lots of contrasting elements, like reality and illusion, waking and dreaming, change and transformation..."

Me: "Oh, yes, you are right, this is a very interesting play...when did you write it?

S.: "I wrote it between 1594 and 1596 and it was first published in 1600."

Me: "Do you write this play for a particular event?"

S.: "Yes, I do...I wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream in celebration of a particular wedding of that time..."

Me: "The play takings place in May...Why did you call it Midsummer?"

S.: "Well...In my days, only three seasons were recognized: autumn, winter and summer; Summer began in March, so the play can be call Midsummer because it takings place on the eve of May Day...a time of year when spirits of the woods, like Puck and the fairies, were thought to be out..."

Me: "About characters...are all yours or did you keep some ideas by others plays?"

S.: "Some of my characters are traceable to a variety of works...for example, Chaucer and Plutarch used the character of Theseus, Athens's duke...But I can assure you that the play is my original idea!"

Me: "Indeed!...and tell me...what about music and dance in this play?"

S.: "I used music in the fairy scenes since their words are in free forms, which are suitable for singing."

Me: "And what about dance?"

S.: "The end of the play is a dance, in typical Elizabethan finale."

Me: "After the first performance, the play undergone a lots of change...it is become a ballet too...what do you think about it?" 

S.: "I think that it mean that my play is not dead...contrary, it continues to live and it continue to excite the audience... Maybe, the first man who wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream's  ballet was jealous of my talent and he tried to reach the top of my success!!"

Me: "Hahaha..very funny!!!...Thank you for your informations, Mr. Shakespeare...You are a great playwright!!"

S.: "Thank you too!!"