For Teachers
A surprisingly modern play about power which offers the chance for thought-provoking discourse on the roles of government and citizenship.
NOW TAKING RESERVATIONS
And don’t forget to schedule your FREE in-class workshop for the first two weeks of February or the first week of March
We offer student matinees hosted by area highschools, as well as in-classroom workshops. For more information, to make a reservation, or to schedule a workshop, call 603-986-6253 or email becca@advicetotheplayers.org.
School Performances (9AM)
Tuesday, March 19 • Loynd Auditorium, Kennett High School, North Conway
Wednesday, March 20 • Kingswood Arts Center, Wolfeboro
Thursday, March 21 • Community Auditorium, Inter-Lakes High School, Meredith
Resources
Please download the printable program for distribution to your students:
You may also be interested in downloading the version of the script that we are using to prepare your students for the production.
Workshop Description
Classroom workshops can be tailored to take a whole or a part of any class period; i.e. 30 – 45 minutes. The workshop is completely participatory, designed to get students on their feet and using Shakespeare’s language. It includes fun exercises that familiarize students with iambic pentameter, as well as a ‘Twenty Minute Julius Caesar’ that involves every student in the acting out of lines from the play in small improv groups. It’s a great way to introduce a play, get kids involved in the action and the words, and gives them ownership of the material that will enhance their enjoyment of the production they will see in March.
All of the exercises used have been developed by the Folger Shakespeare Library and Shakespeare & Company as a means to introduce Shakespeare to students in an active and participatory way.
Workshops are FREE to those schools bringing a group to the performance, and can be scheduled for class periods during the 1st two weeks of February or the 1st week of March.
Director’s Notes
from Director Caroline Nesbitt:
William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is the ultimate political drama. You can dress it however you want, you can set it in any country, in any time period, and it is still a universal examination of and rumination on political power. Who has it? Who abuses it? Who takes it? Who fumbles it? Who is triumphant within its twists, turns, and changes? And then what happens? Using the assassination of Julius Caesar as a jumping-off point for his most famous political thriller, Shakespeare looked at a period of time that took Rome and its people from a relatively democratic Republic to an increasingly centrally-controlled Empire.
Writing in an England under an extraordinary Queen who played France and Spain in a high-stakes political game of cat-and-mouse that resulted in a massive increase of power for England, was he using his play as a lens through which to see the turbulent current events of his time? Perhaps. He could never have known that he was also writing a play that speaks uniquely and powerfully about the politics of power in our modern age, but that, in fact, is what he did.
In doing so, Shakespeare did not neglect humanity. There are no cardboard villains in Julius Caesar; just human beings with all of their many-faceted complexities of emotion, desire, ambition, greed, generosity, vision, weakness, and yes, love.
Julius Caesar rings very true today, in a world increasingly turbulent, politically fractured, and uncertain. Advice To The Players is excited to bring this potent material to life for our audiences, and we look forward to meaty post-show discussions.
Sponsored by Spider Web Gardens with support from New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
Student Matinees sponsored by Bank of New Hampshire
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