Kevin Long, associate professor of theatre and speech at Harper College, and his co-author Mary Christel have written a book, Bring on the Bard, which offers active drama approaches that position students to engage with Shakespeare’s text through low-risk speaking and improvisation activities as a part of any ELA classroom.

Bring on the Bard
As Shakespeare remains a staple of English language arts curricula, evolving standards challenge teachers to put students—not a text—at the center of a reading experience in order to support diverse readers and learners. Active drama approaches position students to engage with a rich text through low-risk speaking and improvisation activities as a part of any ELA classroom.

The Folio Technique builds on those activities and introduces students to the clues Shakespeare built into his text that allow actors to efficiently understand their characters’ text, context, and subtext. Teachers can use excerpts from the First Folio of 1623 along with a mass market paperback or digital edition of a play to get closer to Shakespeare’s intentions and to explore the challenges the Bard’s modern editors face.

This text offers suggestions for using parallel text, graphic, and abridged editions of Shakespeare’s works as well as activities using “cue scripts” and a variety of viewing experiences.

Questions? Contact Kevin Long at klong@harpercollege.edu.