Shakespeare for the Silly

Project Proposal/Ideas:

So I really really liked the kid history idea we had in our class. I also liked the idea of mixing and mashing Shakespeare plays--characters, themes, etc.--what if we combined the 2? Kids are super good at confusing and mixing things up, and humorous when telling their version of stories. What if we got a bunch of kids and then asked them to tell us about Shakespeare plays, or showed them some Wishbone episodes or told them stories (like Katie did babysitting) and then asked them to recount them back to us? Then we could use that as our script and act it out. To test out how this might work, I called my 10 year old sister and 13 year old sister and asked them each to tell me what they knew about Shakespeare. It was great! I only talked to them for a couple minutes but I was first off impressed by how much they knew, and second off interested in what parts stuck in their memories, and third off thoroughly entertained by their versions. I think my favorite was when I asked my 10 year old sister which Shakespeare plays she knew and she said Romeo and Juliet and Hamelton. Then she gave me great renditions that captured the essential elements of the plot. So I think it would work. And I think it would be hilarious. And not only that, but I also think it would be instructive. For me, taking this class was in large measure motivated by a desire to understand Shakespeare from a cultural standpoint--to understand when people are quoting/referencing/alluding to Shakespeare and what they imply by doing so, to be able to make reference to various plays myself, and to be aware what people are thinking about when they mention different plays. Seeing Shakespeare through the eyes of a child, whose understanding of Shakespeare has been taught wholly by society, would be super interesting. It would certainly fall into the category of gaining Shakespeare literacy--we would have to pick out (or have picked out by them) the essential elements of one or many plays. It would definitely be a creative engagement. It would be an awesome way to share Shakespeare meaningfully--most of the kid history videos have over a million views, and this is something I think people would love to watch. We could post the video on our blogs, on youtube, and facebook. I would be proud to display such a thing on my facebook wall. :) Creating the videos and sharing them would require digital literacy. I'm not sure how well it would fit with critically analyzing Shakespeare, but we could look at the "essential elements" or the parts that society picks out to focus on from the plays and analyze why they have become famous and how they have become a part of our collective cultural background. I'm sure there are other things as well. I think it would be awesome and I'd love to be a part of a project like this.

PS In case you have not had the blessed privelege of watching kid history, here is some of kid history. Watch it for your cultural and social education.