teacher`s guide - California Shakespeare Theater

TEACHER’S GUIDE
May/June 2008
Guide compiled by Trish Tillman
Prep your students for the show–
Book your pre- or post-show
Classroom Workshop!
Contact the Artistic Learning
Administrator at 510.548.3422x105
for more info.
Jonathan Moscone - Artistic Director
Debbie Chinn - Managing Director
Tara Misra - Collaborations and Marketing Manager
Emily Morrison - Programs and Outreach Manager
Samantha Fryer - Artistic Learning Administrator
Artistic Learning Sponsor:
Student Discovery Program Title Sponsor:
Our Mission
We strive for everyone, regardless of age, circumstance, or background, to discover and express
the relevance of Shakespeare and the classics in their lives.
• We make boldly imagined and deeply entertaining interpretations of Shakespeare and the classics.
• We provide in-depth, far-reaching artistic learning programs for learners of all ages and circumstances.
• We bring disparate communities together around the creation of new American plays that reflect the cultural diversity of the Bay Area.
Our Funders and Sponsors
Artistic Learning programs are underwritten by generous support from The Dale Family
Fund, Education Fund of Orinda, Walter and Elise Haas Fund, Oakland Fund for the Arts, and
The San Francisco Foundation.
Artistic Learning Sponsor:
Student Discovery Matinee Sponsors:
Season Sponsors:
Presenting Sponsors: Additional season underwriting is provided by The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation,
and the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation.
California Shakespeare Theater
701 Heinz Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
510.548.3422
www.calshakes.org
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
ARTISTIC LEARNING PROGRAMS AT CAL SHAKES
Artistic Learning represents the California Shakespeare Theater’s commitment to integrate our artistic and education
efforts. The vision of Artistic Learning is to become a leading Bay Area citizen, creating a culture of life-long learners
and nourishing imaginations in preparation for the work of life. Listed below are some of our many programs for youth
both in and out of the classroom.
CLASSES
Cal Shakes offers a variety of theater programs taught by theater professionals throughout the school year and summer.
¾ Classes on-site at Cal Shakes are offered in many aspects of theater including acting, stage combat, and
improvisation.
¾ Cal Shakes also hosts two summer theater camps in which students study with Cal Shakes professional actors and
artists. Limited scholarships are available.
¾ After-school programs are also available at your school’s site.
For more information or to register for classes and summer camp, call the Artistic Learning Administrator at
510.548.3422 ext. 105 or email sfryer@calshakes.org.
STUDENT MATINEES (Field trips)
Our well-rounded approach to Student Matinees consists of multiple offerings, including a free Teacher/Student Guide,
optional pre and post-show classroom visits by teaching Artists, a lively pre-performance engagement at the theater, and a
Q&A session with actors immediately following the show. This multi-pronged approach offers a unique opportunity for
students to develop a lasting appreciation of theater and of Shakespeare through dynamic presentation and the experience
of a live work of art.
For more information, to book your class for a student matinee performance, or to learn more about the invaluable
opportunity to enrich the classroom experience of Shakespeare for your students, please call the Programs and Outreach
Manager at 510.548.3422 ext. 127, or email learn@calshakes.org.
TEACHER’S GUIDES AND STUDENT ACTIVITY GUIDES
Teaching and student activity guides are available for each Shakespeare mainstage production. These are available free of
charge to all classrooms regardless of whether or not a class attends a student matinee.
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
To support student achievement and teacher professional development, Cal Shakes brings working artists into the schools
to teach with the aim of developing students’ creative minds and voices. Collaborations can be based on established
school and teacher curriculum (called Arts Integration), or can be rooted in theater-related disciplines, such as acting,
Shakespeare, or stage combat.
For more information or to schedule a residency please call the Collaborations and Marketing Manager at 510.548.3422
ext. 136 or email tmisra@calshakes.org.
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
PERICLES: Increasing Wonder
In this guide….
Teachers,
Welcome! We are thrilled to have you and your students join us for this season’s student matinee production of Pericles:
Prince of Tyre at the Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda. It is our goal to engage students with the play on a variety of levels
in addition to the live performance, including this Teacher’s Guide. We also offer pre- and post-show classroom visits by
Teaching Artists. If you have not scheduled a visit to your classroom, please contact the Programs and Outreach Manager
at 510-548-3422 ext. 127 or email learn@calshakes.org.
Students who are prepared are more engaged. Please spend some time using this study guide to prepare for both the story
and for the experience of live theater.
Contents:
1. Artistic Learning Support
2. Artistic Learning Programs
3. In this Guide…
4. What to Expect at the Bruns Theater
5. A Note to Teachers: Difficult Subject Matter in Pericles
6. Pericles: Increasing Wonder – Background Information for Teachers
7. Elizabethan Culture: Some of the Basics
8. Shakespeare’s Language: Lost in Translation?
9. Frontispiece of 1611 Quarto Publication of Pericles, Prince of Tyre
10. Pericles: Plot Synopsis
11. Pericles Map of the Journey
12-14. Who’s Who in the Cast
15. Seeing Pericles: Before and After
16-17. First Port of Call: A Talk with Joel Sass, director of Pericles
18. Second Port: A Visual Language: Costumes, Set and Staging
19. Third Port: Pericles’ Background
20. Fourth Port: Gower as our Guide
21-22. Fifth Port: The Hero’s Quest
23. Sixth Port: The Sea
24. Final Port: Shakespeare Resources
Plus:
25. Classroom-Ready Activities Guide
Highlights include ready-to-copy worksheets and lesson plans.
48-49. “You’re the Critic”: Cal Shakes Play Critique Worksheets
50. Additional Resources (books and websites)
51-54. CA Content Standards
It has been our experience that not every student attending live theater is familiar with the etiquette of this art form. On
page 4 we outline basic theater etiquette as well as rules of safety that are unique to the Bruns Amphitheater.
Please distribute this to, and go over it with, all your students. Please be sure that you have an appropriate number of
chaperones with your group (a 10 to 1 ratio is recommended). Students who engage in disruptive activity will be asked to
leave the theater.
Editor:
Managing Editor:
Senior Editor:
Consulting Editor:
Trish Tillman
Tara Misra
Bronwyn Eisenberg
Carole Rathfon
Contributors:
Bronwyn Eisenberg, Philippa Kelly, Tara Misra,
Carole Rathfon, Lynne Soffer, Trish Tillman
Layout and Graphics: Tara Misra and Ilsa Brink
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
What to Expect at the Bruns Theater
(Please copy and distribute to each student and chaperone)
What do I wear? Wear comfortable layers and bring a sun hat and jacket. It can be sunny and hot or cold and foggy.
How do we get there? Your teacher will make sure you have a signed permission slip from a parent/guardian and will
make the arrangements to get you to the theater. If you teacher makes arrangements ahead of time, the Cal Shakes bus
(maximum 15 people) will pick you up at the Orinda BART loading area.
Where do we park? You will park your car or bus in the dirt lot marked on your teacher’s map. Walk up the hill along
the path to the right. Handicapped students may be dropped off at the top of the driveway near the theater.
Who will meet us when we arrive? Cal Shakes staff and greeters will be outside to meet you. They might have special
directions for you, so listen and follow their directions.
Pre- and Post- Show Activities: On the day of the performance, in addition to the production, you will be treated to a
lively pre-performance engagement at the theater as well as a Question & Answer session with the actors immediately
following the show. It is important that you arrive on time for the performance. Should you need to leave prior to the
Q&A, please do so quickly and quietly following the performance and before the talk begins.
Who shows us where we sit? The ushers will walk you to your seats. Please take the first seat available. If you need to
make a trip to the restroom before the show starts, ask your teacher. You should not need to get up during the
performance.
How will I know the show is starting? You will know that the show is starting because you will hear a bell and a staff
person will come out on stage to say hello. He or she will introduce the performance.
What do I do during the show? Everyone is expected to be a good audience member. This keeps the show fun for
everyone. Good audience members…
- Turn off cell phones
- Are good listeners
- Keep their hands and feet to themselves
- Do not talk or whisper during the performance
- Do not text message
- Do not get up unless it is an emergency. Take bathroom breaks before the show and at intermission.
- Unwrap any noisy food items BEFORE the performance begins.
- Laugh at the parts that are funny
- Stay in their seats during the performance
- Do not disturb their neighbors or other schools in attendance
- As a general rule, if you can hear and see the actors, they can hear and see you. Unnecessary talking and
movement is distracting to them as well as other audience members.
How do I show that I liked what I saw and heard? The audience shows appreciation by clapping after the show is
completely finished. This is called applause and it shows how much you liked the show. Applause says “Thank you!
You’re great!” If you really enjoy the show, give the performers a standing ovation by standing up and clapping during
the bows.
How can I let the performers know what I thought? We want to know what you thought of your experience at a Cal
Shakes matinee. After the performance, we hope that you will be able to discuss what you saw with your class. What did
your friends enjoy? What didn’t they like? What did they learn from the show? Tell us about your experiences in a
letter, review or drawing. We can share your feedback with artists and funders who make these productions possible.
Please send your opinions, letters, or artwork to: Cal Shakes Artistic Learning, 701 Heinz St., Berkeley, CA 94701
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PERICLES: Increasing Wonder
A note about difficult subject matter in the play
A few of the subjects that this play touches upon may present difficulty in explaining to your students.
Pericles contains two issues that are challenging to bring up in a school setting. At the very beginning of the
play, a riddle is solved that reveals a wicked king to be involved in an incestuous relationship with his daughter.
Later in the play, the character of Marina is sold to a brothel and threatened with prostitution. While these
scenes do not occupy a huge proportion of the story, they are pivotal to the plot development, and your students
will probably not miss the meanings of these situations.
The reference to father-daughter incest in the beginning of the play is momentary and is not visually represented
in a graphic or realistic way. The brothel scenes in the second half of the play are longer and have language that
is slightly more explicit; they are written and played as burlesque dark comedy, emphasizing the power of
Marina’s good virtues to protect her from harm and reform the wicked.
Another point to be made is that directors have different approaches to visualizing the material but that
Shakespeare is direct about raising difficult issues and, in fact, uses them to point out how a father, or ruler, or
daughter, should (and should not) behave.
None of us are in favor of censorship, but teachers must be aware of the difficulty these issues may present to
their student population. We encourage you to address this challenge clearly with your students, in accordance
with the community and school district served.
It is clearly an issue teachers must address individually according to their students, school, and professional
judgment. We would be happy to talk to anyone more fully if you would like (please see page 2 for contact
information).
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PERICLES: Increasing Wonder
A note to teachers
Say “Pericles, Prince of Tyre” to someone. Most people’s reactions are one of the following:
• Who?
• Is that one of those ancient Greeks?
• That’s not one of Shakespeare’s plays.
Surprisingly, they are all right to one degree or another. Yes, Pericles is not one of the most memorable of
Shakespeare’s characters; next to Hamlet or Othello or Falstaff his struggles are less personal than archetypal,
and his simple personality pales in comparison to the complex humanity of those noted. But he takes us on a
journey of epic and breathtaking proportion, encompassing the best and the worst in adventures and human
experience.
Yes, the play does take place in and around the Mediterranean Sea and in ancient Greek empire cities, and Isaac
Asimov has estimated a logical era as around 200 B.C. for the play to take place. The play, however, is
certainly not concerned with literal time or actual location, or even with the Greek playwrights' preoccupations
with either profound tragedy or bawdy comedy. Rather, it literally wanders through many adventures, some
outlandish, some deeply moving. This is the form known as a Romance, or, as it was called for many years, a
tragicomedy.
And yes, most critics and scholars agree that the writing in the first two acts of the play seem very unlike
Shakespeare’s usual form, but that the last three acts are quite characteristic of Shakespeare in style and content.
Hence we have the duality that is Pericles, a play not even included in the First Folio, a play many have derided
over the years as not worthy of Shakespeare’s name; yet a play that offers great fun and adventure alongside
deeply felt events of loss and reunion. There are pirates who appear from nowhere to rescue the damsel in
distress, goddesses who descend from the heavens, and amazing coincidences that pop up in the nick of time.
There are also the tragic apparent deaths of a mother and a daughter, and the wonderful discovery that they are,
in fact, still alive.
So with our overall theme, “Increasing Wonder”, we invite you to journey with your students to reach the most
fantastical and rich areas of human experience to which Shakespeare takes us.
Cerimon: …you increase our wonder, and set up
Your fame for ever.
Marina: If I should tell my history, it would seem like lies.
“The first and most important lesson… is that there are no rules about how to do
Shakespeare, just clues. Everything is negotiable.”
-Actor Antony Sher and director Greg Doran, on training in the Royal
Shakespeare Company (Woza Shakespeare! 1996)
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ELIZABETHAN CULTURE: Some of the Basics
Who was William Shakespeare? William Shakespeare is
considered one of the world’s finest playwrights of all time.
Writing in England during the late 1500’s during the reigns of
Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, he established himself as a
major poet, actor, and playwright. He mastered the comic and
tragic dramatic forms and introduced over 2,000 new vocabulary
words into the English language, such as “fashionable”, “lonely”,
“excitement”, and “luggage”. (See page 49 for a classroom
activity involving Shakespeare’s coined words.) Shakespeare is
read by nearly every American student and is perhaps best
known for Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, and A
Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Is real life in England at the time Shakespeare lived reflected
in Pericles? Even though the play is set in an imaginary world,
and Pericles is a fictional hero, we can see that Shakespeare was
reflecting the country’s concerns, and perhaps personal ones as
well. The early 1600’s were a time of great ocean exploration
and the discovery of new countries such as America, and the idea
of adventure was on everyone’s mind. In the literary world,
Image: http://pro.corbis.com
the romance flourished – the genre of fantastical elements, unlikely
heroes, and grand quests. In the personal realm, we see yet again in Shakespeare’s work the relationships of
fathers and daughters – three significant ones in Pericles alone. Other late works such as King Lear and The
Tempest are principally concerned with this relationship as well. Shakespeare’s only children were daughters
(having lost his son Hamnet in 1596) and they were grown up by the time this play was written. His
granddaughter was born in 1608, about the time of the writing of Pericles. As we have no diaries or first-hand
accounts of Shakespeare’s feelings or intentions, we can only mark the numerous father-daughter relationships
in his work to perhaps mean that to him it was an experience of great importance.
How was a “family” thought of in Shakespeare’s time? At the time that Pericles was written, circa 1608,
King James I had come from Scotland to take the throne of England after Elizabeth’s death and he believed in
the ideal of the family. The family was seen as the bedrock of society, created by God and nature. This is
reflected in Pericles most clearly in the central family of Pericles, Thaisa, and Marina, which is torn apart by
circumstances and joyfully reunited at the end of the play with the promise of a new family beginning. Set
against their triangle we see other families that are clearly portrayed as very bad or evil. These families include
Antiochus and his daughter; and Cleon, Dionyza and their daughter.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A ROMANCE MAKES
It’s important to understand a significant difference between Pericles and most other Shakespeare plays.
In this kind of story dreams are real, not metaphors, and this makes for real adventure – the dragon you face
is not your mental torment over whether or not to get revenge for your father’s death (Hamlet) or kill to
achieve power (Macbeth); it’s an actual dragon, who will kill you quite well if you don’t act first.
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SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE: Lost in Translation?
When asked the number one challenge with Shakespeare’s works, modern day audiences will almost always respond “the
language.” It’s true that the language does sound a bit different to our ears. And he uses phrases that we no longer use in
our everyday speech. But think of this: there are phrases that we use today that would baffle Shakespeare, should he
mysteriously time travel to this day and age. That’s because language is constantly transforming.
Here are some original quotes from Pericles. Can you match them to their modern-day translations?
From ancient ashes Gower is come
Assuming man’s infirmities
To glad your ear and please your eyes.
Gower, prologue
To glad her presence,
The senate house of planets all did sit
To knit in her their best perfections.
Antiochus, 1,1
I’ll take thy word for faith, not ask thine oath:
Who shuns not to break one will sure crack both.
Pericles 1,2
This world to me is like a lasting storm,
Whirring me from my friends.
Marina, 4,1
O, come, be buried
A second time within these arms.
Pericles 5,3
In feathered briefness sails are filled,
And wishes fall out as they are willed.
Gower 5.2
Where, for a monument upon thy bones
And e’er remaining lamps, the belching whale
And humming water must o’erwhelm thy corpse,
Lying with simple shells.
Pericles, 3,1
To make her beautiful, all the
heavens agreed to give her their best
gifts.
Life to me is like a never-ending storm,
one that endlessly takes my friends away.
The wind fills the sails of a boat
quickly, like birds flying away, and
all wishes are granted as soon as
they are expressed.
The whale and the water will be
your tomb, and these will make
your monument, as you rest on the
ocean floor.
I will trust your word and not ask you
to swear on it. If you would break your
word you would break a promise too.
I held you in my arms when you were
dead; and now that you are alive, let
me smother you again, but with hugs.
I have come from the past, taking on the
weaknesses of men, to tell you and show
you this story.
The English language continues to grow and change in response to current
interests and culture. You may be interested in other comparisons between
modern language and Shakespeare’s speech. Take a look at Shakespeare and
Hip Hop: http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3656/
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Pericles, Prince of Tyre: Synopsis
by Philippa Kelly
See the map of Pericles’ journey on the next page for a visual summary of the plot.
1. The play opens with a difficult riddle: King Antiochus has
decreed that suitors for the hand of his beautiful daughter must first
solve a riddle, and the price of failure is execution.
2. Having guessed the right answer to the riddle, young Prince
Pericles no longer wants the woman’s hand and is forced to run from
King Antiochus, who is furious that the riddle has been solved.
3. Noble Pericles reaches Tarsus, a city beset by famine. He gives
the rulers, Cleon and Dionyza, grain from his ship to help feed their
people.
4. Resuming his journey, he is shipwrecked at Pentapolis, where he wins the hand of Thaisa, King
Simonides’ daughter.
Pericles and Thaisa marry and set off again on the seas. Meanwhile, Pericles has learned that it is safe to return
to Tyre because Antiochus and his daughter are dead. Pericles and Thaisa set off toward Tyre. Another storm
hits as Thaisa gives birth to a daughter, Marina. Thaisa apparently dies during delivery, and Pericles agrees to
the custom of tossing a coffined body overboard.
5. Fearing that Marina could never survive with him on the seas, Pericles entrusts her to the care of Cleon
and Dionyza, his grateful friends in Tarsus.
6. Pericles returns to Tyre. Meanwhile, Thaisa’s casket lands in Ephesus, where a healer/magician, Cerimon,
sees that it is possible to revive her. Convinced that her family has perished at sea, Thaisa becomes a chaste
priestess in Diana’s temple in Ephesus.
7. The story leaps ahead 14 years, and we find Marina to be a gentle, accomplished, and beautiful young
woman. However, her talents make Dionyza jealous for the sake of her own daughter and Dionyza arranges to
have Marina killed. Before the murder can take place, Marina is kidnapped by pirates who sell her to a brothel
in Mytilene, from where she eventually makes it to a house of good repute, arranged by Lysimachus, the
governor of Mytilene, who is captivated by her virtues.
8. When Pericles comes for Marina in Tarsus, Dionyza tells him that she has died and shows him the
monument constructed in her memory. He goes back to his ship, swearing never to cut his beard or hair, and, in
his grief, loses the power of speech.
9. By chance his ship arrives in Mytilene, at which point Lysimachus suggests that a spiritual young woman
(Marina) might help him to cope with his grief. Pericles and Marina discover that they are indeed father and
daughter.
10. In a dream, the goddess Diana tells Pericles to sail to Ephesus, where he and Marina are reunited with
Thaisa. The play ends with Marina’s betrothal to Lysimachus.
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Can you trace Pericles’ journey on the map?
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WHO’S WHO
In Pericles, Prince of Tyre
In every story there is good and evil. In Pericles, it is very clear which characters are good and which are bad.
It is shown by the way they act and even in the costumes that they wear. To make it even more interesting,
most of the actors in the play will play one good character and one evil. Below, you will see each actor’s
picture, and on either side of the picture you will see the characters they play. You will be able to see which are
good and which are evil as the play goes along. See if you can recognize the actors as they change from one
part to another. Do any characters do both good and evil things?
*Note: the pronunciation guides reflect the artistic choices of the director and are not necessarily technical or historical.
Cleon (KLEE-ahn): Governor of Tarsus.
Tarsus has run out of food, and the citizens
are starving when Pericles, fleeing from
Antiochus, arrives with a supply of corn to
save them. Cleon and his wife Dionyza
later promise to take care of Marina as a
baby, but when Marina grows up and rivals
their own daughter in beauty, out of
jealousy they decide to have her killed.
Antiochus (aan-TEYE-uh-kuhs): King of
Antioch. His wife has died and he has begun
an incestuous relationship with his daughter.
He invents the riddle that reveals this, and
challenges all men who wish to marry his
daughter to solve it or die.
Ron Campbell
John Gower - The storyteller or main narrator
of the play, who guides the audience through
the story by summarizing events or introducing
“dumb shows” – silent scenes that advance the
story through action instead of words. The
character of John Gower also represents the
14th-century English poet whose story of
Apollonius of Tyre was a source of inspiration
for Shakespeare for Pericles.
Diana: Goddess of chastity. She appears to
Pericles in a dream and tells him to visit her
temple in Ephesus, where he will find Thaisa.
Lychorida (leye-KAW-rih-duh):
Thaisa's nurse. After Thaisa’s death, she
helps to raise Marina in Tarsus.
Shawn Hamilton
Pericles: The hero of the tale. He is husband
of Thaisa and father of Marina. Pericles goes
through many adventures, starting with trying
to win the hand of Antiochus’ daughter,
escaping from Thaliart, the murderer, rescuing
the kingdom of Tarsus from famine, enduring
several shipwrecks, losing both his wife and
daughter to death, and being reunited with his
family in the end.
Pander: A verb here used as a man’s
proper name, “to pander” is to cater to
someone’s lowest desires, and often means
someone who supplies prostitutes. This
Pander buys Marina from the pirates who
took her from Tarsus.
Chris Kelly
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Dionyza (deye-uh-NEYE-zuh): Wife
of Cleon. She is the one who, after
raising Marina, comes up with the plot
to kill her so Dionyza’s own daughter
can succeed to the throne. She builds a
false tomb for Marina to convince
Pericles that his daughter is dead.
Cerimon (SEH-rih-mahn): A healer in
Ephesus who brings Thaisa back to life.
Domenique Lozano
Thaisa (tay-EE-suh): Daughter of Simonides,
wife of Pericles, mother of Marina. Thaisa falls in
love with Pericles when he wins the jousting
contest. They are married, and some time later,
they set sail for Tyre. However, there is a terrible
storm, during which Thaisa gives birth to Marina
and seemingly dies. She is put in a coffin and
buried at sea, but the coffin washes up in
Ephesus. There Cerimon is able to revive her,
and she becomes a priestess in Diana's temple
there.
Marina: Daughter of Pericles and Thaisa. Her
name means “of the sea”, since she was born
during the storm that seemingly killed her
mother. She is left in Tarsus to be raised by
Cleon and Dionyza, who later plot to kill her
because she has begun to rival their own daughter
in virtue and beauty. Marina enacts the second
hero’s journey in the play, as she sets out on her
own adventure. She escapes the murderer
Leonine (hired by Dionyza), is captured by
pirates, and is sold into prostitution. However,
by her virtue and goodness she convinces all
around her not to hurt her and, eventually,
Lysimachus falls in love with her. She is
reunited with her mother and father in the end.
Bawd: A bawd is usually a woman who
runs a brothel. In this play it seems to
be the name of Pander's wife.
Delia MacDougall
Antiochus's daughter: Nameless daughter
of Antiochus. The contest of the riddle is to
win her hand in marriage.
Sarah Nealis
Lysimachus (leye-SIM-uh-kuhs):
Governor of Mytilene. He meets Marina in
the brothel in Mytilene and is impressed
with her virtue. He helps Pericles and
Marina to reunite, and later, he and Marina
are engaged to be married.
Thaliard (THAAL-yerd): Murderer. Hired by
Antiochus to kill Pericles after Pericles solves the
riddle. Thaliart isn’t able to kill Pericles in Tyre, as
he has already set sail to escape to Tarsus.
Leonine: Murderer. Dionyza pays him to try to kill
Marina.
Alex Morf
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Helicanus (heh-lih-KAY-nuhs): One of
Pericles' advisors in Tyre, Helicanus helps
Pericles decide what to do, and takes over
as temporary ruler of Tyre in his absence.
He saves the crown for Pericles and does
not want to rule in his place.
Boult: Servant to Pander and Bawd.
Simonides (seye-MAHN-uh-deez):
King of Pentapolis, father of Thaisa.
Danny Scheie
The ENSEMBLE is made up of actors who play a crucial role in filling out the world of the play as the
fishermen, knights, gentlemen, and other parts.
Kristoffer Barrera
Allison Brennan
Daniel Duque-Estrada
Mairin Lee
Exercise: Have your favorite character join a social networking site.
See page 29 for an example of Pericles’ “Facebook” page.
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PERICLES: Increasing Wonder
Pericles is an epic story, full of improbabilities, strange coincidences, and miraculous reunions. In reflecting the wide
imagination of the story, this production of the play will use fantastical elements as an integral part of the structure of the
play. For instance, only 8 actors will portray over 40 characters.
Consider the following questions before and after the show.
AFTER Viewing the Play
BEFORE Viewing the Play
What to watch for:
¾ Actors taking on different roles: can
you track which actors are playing
which characters? Does it matter
which actor plays which role?
¾ How big events such as storms at sea,
jousting tournaments, and
resurrections are shown live on stage.
¾ The role Pericles plays in his own
fate.
¾ Gower’s narration: does it help or
hinder the audience’s experience of
the play?
¾ If you are able to “suspend your
disbelief” and go on the ride with the
characters.
¾ See the Critique Page in the Activity
Appendix for more ideas about what
to watch for.
What do you think of Pericles?
¾ Is he a real hero, someone to look up to?
Do you want to be like him?
¾ Is he simply a cardboard character, just
blown from action to action for
entertainment?
¾ Which do you prefer?
Did you feel your own imagination
participating in the story?
¾ Give examples of where events were
illustrated in an abstract way. Did that
engage your imagination? How did you
feel about those choices?
What kind of picture do you think
Shakespeare is trying to paint?
¾ Is Shakespeare telling us that family is
the most important thing in the world?
¾ Or is Shakespeare saying that sometimes
plays are just for fun?
¾ Or is it some combination of the fun and
the serious? How would you describe that
combination?
¾ Did you recognize any parts of this story
from modern movies or books?
Now let us set sail deep into the waters of Pericles, the Prince of Tyre.
BON VOYAGE!
15
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
FIRST PORT OF CALL:
A Talk with Joel Sass, director of PERICLES
The world of Pericles, as Shakespeare wrote it, is set in the Greek Empire surrounding the
Mediterranean Sea around 200 BC. But Shakespeare, even though he located his plays in
specific places and times, is usually more interested in the response of his characters as they deal
with extraordinary events. Therefore Shakespeare creates a more universal experience of being
human, rather than being particularly Elizabethan, Roman, or Greek. This is one reason why
Shakespeare’s plays are so easily transferable to times and places other than the original. Every
director who stages the play must make decisions about how the setting will heighten or enhance
some element of the drama.
Our Artistic Learning Department got a chance to talk with Joel Sass about his ideas for this
production of Pericles.
Artistic Learning: What interests you about this play, and are you setting it in a time and
place other than the original?
Joel Sass: I've had a lifelong love of fairy tales, and Pericles has always seemed to me like a fairy tale for adults--a
fantastic and spiritually moving fable about adventure, romance, loss, death, and resurrection. I wanted to adapt the show
into an intimate evening of entertainment in the tradition of The Arabian Nights: a series of interlocking vignettes. Of all
the plays of Shakespeare, I have a special fondness for the 'romances'--those lesser-known plays, like Pericles, that have a
deliciously contemporary mix of tragedy and comedy, that traffic in the realm of magic and dreams. In light of this, I feel
the story of Pericles is best conveyed when set within an imaginary ancient world.
AL: What do you think are the most important themes in the play?
JS: One of the overarching motifs in Pericles is the hero's journey, both geographical and spiritual: we follow a young
prince as he travels across deserts and over the sea to exotic ports of call throughout the ancient world. His desire to find a
wife, establish a kingdom, and have children is a metaphor for those essential treasures all human beings seek for
themselves: someone to love, a sense of 'home', a legacy to leave behind. This sort of quest is never easy, of course! With
each adventure, Pericles comes to an ever-clearer understanding of what and who he is searching for, and what fate will
hold for him at journey's end.
Water, oceans, seas, and ships appear throughout the play. The sea is a
major metaphor: it buoys up the vessels that carry the characters from
“The sea is a major metaphor:
place to place; the sea also destroys these ships, pulling some characters
it buoys up the vessels that
to their death--only to wash them ashore again elsewhere, transformed
and miraculously alive. It has been said that Pericles was written for a
carry the characters from place
time when people were hungry for miracles, and I certainly agree.
to place; the sea also destroys
Pericles is still a resonant play today, because the story urges us not to
these ships, pulling some
surrender to despair, and to believe that what we have lost can be
characters to their death--only
returned to us.
AL: How will you be tackling the problems of representing the epic
events in the play such as the storms, pirates, coffins washing up on
shore, the many changes of place, etc.?
to wash them ashore again
elsewhere, transformed and
miraculously alive.”
JS: When faced with the demands of a show like Pericles, it always
helps me to remember that the ancient art of storytelling began with the village poet drawing a circle in the sand,
gathering the community around it, and then portraying every person, place, and thing the story required by using the
simplest of means. So in our production of Pericles at Cal Shakes we're rolling out the red carpet - literally! The entire
16
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
production is staged on beautiful Persian rugs laid out on the sand. The different kingdoms, shipwrecks at sea, and visions
of elephants, horses and tigers will all be illustrated using an imaginative combination of oversized props, panels of silk,
masks, and puppets--things you might see used by a troupe of village storytellers you encountered in Turkey or Morocco,
perhaps. It helps that in Pericles Shakespeare provides us with a magnificent narrator, the ancient poet Gower. He is
always there to help the audience know where we are now, and where we are going. If Gower is talking about the
drought-and-famine plagued kingdom of Tarsus while emptying a bucket of sand filled with charred animal bones onto
the carpet, it's a pretty potent visual gesture to establish where we are. Likewise, seeing Pericles 'float' a beautiful antique
toy ship atop rippling panels of blue silk can conjure a journey over water more vividly in your imagination than watching
the real thing. That, to me, is the unique power of theater as a storytelling medium.
AL: Is there something about this play that you think might resonate with students who see this production? In
other words, what do you think they might enjoy or learn about the play?
JS: I think younger audiences are “wired” with an enhanced ability to
process information at a high rate of speed...they are more interested in
“Despite being such an old
'what happens next' than in lengthy reflection on a character's
psychological situation. So, despite being such an old play, Pericles is
play, Pericles is really very
really very modern in the cinematic structure of its storytelling. It is also
modern in the cinematic
very similar to the stories we were told as children (at least, I HOPE
structure of its storytelling.”
children are still hearing them!)...the tales of the Brothers Grimm and
folktales, and the Greek myths. I would definitely encourage student
audiences to watch Pericles to identify folktale figures they recognize
from their own stories: the clever young princess, the stepmother who turns evil, the threatening king who is really kind,
and the smiling king who is your most dangerous enemy. The Cal Shakes production will have a lot of great visual
imagery, and the acting is very physical--both of which are ways to engage younger viewers. I hope that student
audiences will learn that these “old” plays can actually be very “new” and fun. I hope they learn that they don't need to be
afraid of Shakespeare.
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
Where does the director intend to set this play?
How would you describe the way the director has decided to show you this story?
What are two of the most important themes in the play?
Name three influences that the director mentions for his ideas of how to stage the play.
What are some of the figures you may recognize from folktales or stories you might have heard
growing up?
STORYTELLING RESOURCES
Storytelling forms the foundation of this play’s presentation. Stories can be used not only dramatically, but
as a way to creatively communicate your particular subject area. Here are a few places to get more
information and inspiration:
• bayareastorytelling.org is the Bay Area’s home for our annual Storytelling Festival.
• Storytelling Association of Alta California at storysaac.org.
• Heather Forest's Story Arts is still the go-to site for teachers: http://www.storyarts.org/
• http://www.storytellinginschools.org
• dmoz.org/Arts/Performing Arts/Storytelling/Festivals
17
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
SECOND PORT OF CALL: A VISUAL LANGUAGE
Costumes, Set, and Staging
How do we create the vision of an “imaginary ancient world”?
Theater combines many different mediums of understanding: the
physical, the oral, and the visual. The actors use their bodies to
express the characters’ emotions and reactions; they use their voices
to tell the story through dialogue, and the director, set designer, and
costume designer show us visually what is happening in the story and
what the world of the play looks like.
An even more interesting challenge is to represent big, noisy, messy
events – like a shipwreck – on a simple flat stage, live in front of an
audience. No digital special effects can be spliced into a live show
with real people, and it would be very difficult, expensive, and
dangerous to actually make a storm and crash a ship onstage.
Therefore, a director must choose to represent an event rather than
have it actually happen.
Costumes: Costume designer Raquel M. Barreto chose to illustrate
the world of Pericles by dressing the characters very differently
according to their location. For instance, the kingdom of Antioch is
represented by dark colors, metallics and bold lines, in keeping with
its dark secret. The kingdom of Pentapolis, where Simonides and
Thaisa live, is represented by colorful, bright and flowing clothes. This helps us understand the change in
location as well as illustrating the mood of each place and showing the kinds of people who live there.
Set: Set designer Melpomene Katakalos uses images of sand, ruins, beautiful carpets, and twisted trees to evoke
an ancient landscape wherein the storyteller and the actors can create all the events of the play. The arch in the
middle of the stage is formed by an ancient tree, which is so old that it has bowed over and re-rooted itself in the
ground, much like how the story goes full circle. Her idea was to evoke a place of Asian and African influences,
very different from America, but that blended in with the natural backdrop of the Orinda hills behind the
theater. The whole effect is to suggest the idea that in this ancient, outdoor, ruined place, the magic of the story
blooms to give us entertainment and hope.
Staging: As we said before, the director must choose to represent events rather than actually produce them. In
working with the actors, director Joel Sass felt that the actors should have a hand in creating the effects
themselves out of simple, at-hand materials – much like very young children do when they are playing
“pretend”. A box can become a cave, a ship, a house, or a trap just by calling it so and acting as if it were true.
Remember also that the actors will change from character to character very quickly, changing their costumes
and their voices. Surprisingly, this is very similar to the way that Shakespeare’s company of actors worked –
closely and creatively, using what was at hand to create the truth of the story for the audience.
See Shipwreck in the Classroom, page 31,
for further exploration of these ideas.
18
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
THIRD PORT OF CALL: Pericles’ Background
Pericles in history:
Pericles, like many of Shakespeare’s main characters,
was a real historical person, born about 490 B.C. At the
right is a picture with Pericles’ name in Greek. Pericles
was one of the foremost leaders and statesmen of
Athens in its golden age; in fact, he was one of the
main creators of a successful and thriving democracy in
that city. He restored and built many important
monuments and temples in Athens, including the
impressive Parthenon, which you can see today. He was
also an important warrior; eloquent speaker, and
supporter of arts and literature.
However, as we see in most of Shakespeare’s plays, the
character in the play is quite different from the actual person.
www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/Polis/pericles.gif
Pericles in fiction:
Pericles was a popular hero in stories before and during Shakespeare’s time. John Gower, a medieval poet, wrote
several books that are collectively known as Confessio Amatis. In the eighth book of these stories was a tale titled
Apollonius of Tyre that describes many of the events Shakespeare uses in the play. Since Shakespeare also makes
John Gower the narrator of Pericles, it is widely assumed that Gower the poet’s work served as one of the main
sources for the play.
The play’s timeline:
The play is believed to have been written around 1607 or1608, close to the estimated times of writing of
Cymbeline, The Tempest, and A Winter’s Tale. Like these other late plays, Pericles is considered not a tragedy or
comedy, but a romance: a form of literature where the primary events and characters are imaginary, fantastical,
or mythological. This is important to understand since the plot and characters in Pericles are complex and often
improbable: but it is clearly not Shakespeare’s intent to present a realistic play.
The problem of authorship:
It is generally agreed that the play is not written entirely by Shakespeare; a man named George Wilkins is
probably the author of first two acts. George Wilkins was an English poet and playwright who was associated
with the Kings’ Men (Shakespeare’s theater company).
Statistical analysis of word frequency appearing in this text as compared to other playwrights of the time also
seems to indicate that the first two acts most closely resemble Wilkins’ other writings, and that the other three
acts more closely match Shakespeare’s writing, although there are also theories that the entire play was written
by one and revised by the other.
Another fact is that Wilkins published a novel in 1608 called The Painfull Adventures of Pericles, Prynce of
Tyre, being the true history of Pericles as it was lately presented by John Gower. This novel is very similar to the
play.
Publication of Pericles:
Pericles was not included in First Folio (the first publication of Shakespeare’s collected works in 1623) perhaps
because it was almost certainly co-authored rather than being wholly written by Shakespeare. However, the play
was one of the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays in its time, printed in many editions on its own, and often
performed.
19
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
FOURTH PORT OF CALL: Gower as our Guide
Ben Johnson described Pericles as a “mouldy tale”, perhaps because it is narrated, strangely,
by a dead man. John Gower was an actual person, a fourteenth-century English poet (a
contemporary with Chaucer) who wrote many books of romance stories, often in rhyming
couplets (as Gower the character speaks in couplets in Pericles). One of the stories Gower
wrote down was a Greek story called Appollonius of Tyre which parallels many of
Pericles’ adventures. In having Gower as a character in the play, Shakespeare is almost
certainly announcing the major source of his material.
The ancient art of storytelling usually involved a central figure, a shaman or elder who invited the tribe to gather together
to hear the stories. We still do this today, even outside of storytelling festivals that go on all around the country. For
instance, when a person calls a meeting to order, or a teacher begins a class, it is a summoning of a group of people to
come together to listen. For this play, Shakespeare employs an ancient, well known figure to guide the audience through
the complicated story. This guide is John Gower.
You might notice that the quality of his speech is also quite different from what we usually hear in Shakespeare. Part of
this can be attributed to the authorship question (see Third Port of Call, page 19) but Gower is intended to represent the
medieval poet himself and to strike a noticeable difference between his narration and the stage action.
Language:
Gower speaks with archaic vocabulary (eyne meaning “eye”, pelf meaning “possessions”, iwis meaning “assuredly”),
mostly in regular rhyming couplets, and in a different rhythm than most of Shakespeare’s verse. In this version, Gower is
a musician who will actually sing the story at times.
Narrative device:
He also serves as a clear and sometimes amusing framing device for the play, constantly setting up the next episode in the
series, and even denigrating his own position as storyteller: despite his long-windedness, he usually ends a speech by
saying that the action we are about to see is much more important than his words.
Universal storyteller:
The ancient image/device/idea of the storyteller is pervasive across all cultures of the world, and Gower also serves as our
passage into the world of the imaginary, as all good storytellers do.
In this play, Gower is our village poet, inviting us to gather around and listen to the story of our humanity.
EXERCISE: First Person
Think about the people who saw something firsthand. Frank Buckles is a West Virginia man who is the last
known American veteran of World War 1 still alive. He is 107 as of this writing. There are only a few
survivors of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and most of them were too young at the time to
remember much.
The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most important documentations of what some victims of the
Holocaust in World War II had to endure; there were many other stories that never got written down. What
kinds of stories would these people tell if they could? Do we lose something when the last survivors of an
event are gone? If so, what would that be? What's the most important thing you'd like to know about
Mr. Buckles' experience in the war? What would you ask him?
Ask the oldest person in your family about an historical event they witnessed. Record their story, and then
transcribe it.
20
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
FIFTH PORT OF CALL: The Hero’s Quest (Pericles)
Joseph Campbell, in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, sets out to find the similarities between the hero stories,
myths and legends of all the cultures of the world. He found a basic pattern that threaded through all of the stories of
heroes, no matter what culture or time period. He called this common pattern the Hero’s Quest.
Let’s compare the classic format of a hero’s quest to Pericles’ journey in the play. Note that in Pericles we have two
heroes’ journeys, undertaken by Pericles in the first part of the play and Marina in the second.
1. BEGINNING OF ADVENTURE
The hero is living his everyday life. Then
he is lured, carried away, or simply decides to
begin his adventure.
Pericles sails forth to win the
daughter of Antiochus.
2. FIRST TEST
The hero runs into a difficult obstacle that must be
defeated. The hero may either defeat the threat and
continue on the journey as planned, or may be defeated
and continue the journey in another way (through
running away, or undergoing a seeming or actual death).
3. TESTS AND HELP
In the middle of the journey, the hero goes
through a world of unfamiliar yet strangely intimate
forces, some of which severely threaten him, some
of which give magical aid.
4. GAINS or REWARD
When the hero has passed his tests, he gains his reward.
The triumph may be represented in the form of a marriage,
his reconciliation with his father or parent, or even
becoming a god himself. Sometimes the hero does not
gain the reward and must begin the journey again.
Pericles is confronted by the dark riddle;
he defeats it by solving it, but is chased away
by threat of murder.
Pericles brings corn, saves a kingdom. This
kingdom is familiar (family) but will test him
with feigned death of his daughter later.
Pericles is shipwrecked, receives gift of
father’s armor and wins the hand of Thaisa in a
jousting contest. In a storm, Thaisa seemingly dies
after giving birth to Marina. Pericles leaves
Marina with Cleon and Dionyza and retires to
Tyre.
5. THE JOURNEY BACK
The final work is that of the return. Having accomplished the goal
and received reward, the hero begins the journey back towards home.
6. HERO RETURNS HOME
Upon arrival home, the hero must leave the magical or
adventurous world behind, and take his reward to heart.
14 years later Pericles sets out to
find Marina. He is told she is dead, and
he goes to Mytilene, is reunited with
Marina. He finds Thaisa at Diana’s
temple and all are reunited.
Thaisa and Pericles live the
rest of their lives together.
7. RESOLUTION
The hero is changed in some way from his original status or world view.
What did Pericles learn on his journey? How has he changed?
21
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
FIFTH PORT OF CALL continued: The Hero’s Quest (Marina)
But in this play, nothing is simple. In fact, as you have already noticed, many things happen twice or even more times. So
not only does Pericles go through the stages of a classic hero’s quest, so does his daughter Marina.
1. BEGINNING OF ADVENTURE
The hero is living her everyday life. Then
she is lured, carried away, or simply decides
to begin her adventure.
Marina is threatened with murder
by her substitute mother (Dionyza),
and is abducted by pirates.
2. FIRST TEST
The hero runs into a difficult obstacle that must be
defeated. The hero may either defeat the threat and
continue on the journey as planned, or may be defeated
and continue the journey in another way (through
running away, or undergoing a seeming or actual death).
3. TESTS AND HELP
In the middle of the journey, the hero goes
through a world of unfamiliar yet strangely intimate
forces, some of which severely threaten her (test),
some of which give magical aid (helpers).
4. GAINS or REWARD
When the hero has passed her tests, she gains her
reward. The triumph may be represented in the form of a
marriage, reconciliation with her father or parent, or even
becoming a god herself. Sometimes the hero does not gain
the reward and must begin the journey again.
Marina is put into a brothel. She defeats
the “dragon of prostitution” by remaining
completely pure.
Marina continues to battle and win against
the state of slavery she has been put into.
Marina convinces Lysimachus of her virtue
and he falls in love with her. She is recognized by
her father (back from the dead) and they are
reunited.
5. THE JOURNEY BACK
The final work is that of the return. Having accomplished the
goal and received reward, the hero begins her journey back towards
home.
6. HERO RETURNS HOME
Upon arrival home, the hero must leave the magical or
adventurous world behind, and take her reward to heart.
Marina goes with her father to find
her mother and all are reunited.
Marina marries
Lysimachus.
7. RESOLUTION
The hero is changed in some way from her original status or world view.
What did Marina learn on her journey? How has she changed?
22
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
SIXTH PORT OF CALL: The Sea
“Here be dragons…”
The sea is one of the most powerful forces of nature, and it plays a major part in Pericles. The sea was, and is
still to us today, dangerous, compelling, life-giving, and forceful. The ancients summed up these complexities
by personifying the sea in the form of the god Neptune, who could command the oceans to move at his will.
In ancient times the sea was the main barrier to exploration, and you will find history books full of famous
ships, explorations, disasters, discoveries of new lands, pirates, and battles. In fact, the sea was as difficult to
cross and as vast as outer space is to us today. Often on ancient maps the seas and
unexplored lands would be rendered simply as “terra incognita” or unknown
territory. In one famous instance, the Lenox Globe map of 1503, the
unexplored regions were noted with the phrase “hic sunt dragones” or “here
be dragons”, warning of the unknown (perhaps sinful) nature of that place.
Remember that at the time Shakespeare lived, America was beginning to
be explored by the English, French and Spanish. The excitement of new
discoveries, civilizations and even possible treasures were the big news of
the day, and fired many artists’ imaginations, including Shakespeare’s. (Did
you know that the state of Virginia, colonized by English explorers, was named for
Queen Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen?)
Since the sea is literally a place of mystery and adventure, it can also serve as a metaphor for the unknown or
the unconscious in the mind and heart of man.
In Pericles, the sea serves to show us the major themes of the play: the duality of good and evil, the test and
reward of the hero, the path of the hero’s journey, and the fate that befalls the hero. For instance, it supplies
pirates, who capture Marina, but who also save her from Leonine, the murderer. It buries Thaisa, but also
washes her up to be brought back to life by Cerimon. It shipwrecks Pericles, but also yields up his father’s
armor, which helps him win Thaisa’s hand in marriage.
Things to think about:
1) Pericles loses his wife, Thaisa, at sea in a terrible storm and endures other shipwrecks throughout
the story. The destructive force of the ocean has been strongly felt in recent events: the destruction of
New Orleans and other cities caused by the rising sea levels after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the
tsunami which wiped out many cities along the Indian coast in 2004. The power of the sea to separate
and destroy families doesn't seem so fantastical in the context of these real life events.
2) Every time Pericles travels on his ship, his life is greatly altered in the country he in which he
ends up. The immigrant experience of coming to America in the early 20th century was largely made
up of their experience on ships, and on what they found when they arrived in their new country.
Think about the good and bad fortune they found in their new home.
23
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
FINAL PORT OF CALL:
Pericles Resources
Pericles on Film:
There are over 20 screen versions of King Lear, and more of
Hamlet, but Pericles has only one.
Pericles, Prince of Tyre 1984 UK
Directors: David Hugh Jones.
Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, BBC TV
Pericles on audio CD:
Arkangel Complete Shakespeare with
Sir John Gielgud as Gower and Nigel Terry as Pericles
2-CD set. Unabridged text.
Publisher: Audio Partners, 2006.
Of general interest for Pericles:
Joseph Campbell. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Princeton
University Press, Princeton, new Jersey. First printing 1949.
Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi. The Dictionary of
Imaginary Places.
New York: Harcourt Brace. "Newly Updated and Expanded"
edition. Illus. Graham Greenfield, with Eric Beddows. Maps and
Charts by James Cook. xiv + 755 pp
24
Classroom Activities Guide
May/June 2008
Increasing Empathy Through Imaginative Connections
This guide was created as a supplement for teachers preparing students to see California Shakespeare Theater’s production
of Pericles. Worksheets are designed to be used individually or in conjunction with others throughout the guide depending on
time
and
While
recognize
that no Theater
aspect Professional
of this guide
fully outlines
a course
for meeting
standards,
If you
arefocus.
interested
in awe
California
Shakespeare
Development
workshop,
which
provides certain
easy-to-learn
tools fordiscussion
teachers to
questions
and
topics
are
devised
to
address
certain
aspects
of
California
state
content
standards.
The
activities
here can be
incorporate theater and arts education activities into California standards-based core curriculum to enhance students’ learning,
minimally reproduced
for educational,
non-profit
use only.
All lessons
must be x115.
appropriately credited.
please
contact our Director
of Artistic
Learning,
at 510-548-3422
If you are interested in a California Shakespeare Theater Professional Development Workshop, which provides easy-to-learn
tools for teachers to incorporate theater and arts education activities into California standards- based core curriculum to enhance
students’ learning, please contact the Artistic Learning Administrator, at 510.548.3422 x105.
Jonathan Moscone - Artistic Director • Debbie Chinn - Managing Director
Emily Morrison - Programs and Outreach Manager • Tara Misra - Collaborations and Marketing Manager • Samantha Fryer - Artistic Learning Administrator
Our Mission
We strive for everyone, regardless of age, circumstance, or background, to discover and express
the relevance of Shakespeare and the classics in their lives.
• We make boldly imagined and deeply entertaining interpretations of Shakespeare and the classics.
• We provide in-depth, far-reaching artistic learning programs for learners of all ages and circumstances.
• We bring disparate communities together around the creation of new American plays that reflect the cultural diversity of the Bay Area.
Our Funders and Sponsors
Artistic Learning programs are underwritten by generous support from The Dale Family
Fund, Education Fund of Orinda, Walter and Elise Haas Fund, Oakland Fund for the Arts, and
The San Francisco Foundation.
Artistic Learning Sponsor:
Student Discovery Matinee Sponsors:
Season Sponsors:
Presenting Sponsors: Additional season underwriting is provided by The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation,
and the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation.
California Shakespeare Theater
701 Heinz Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
510.548.3422
www.calshakes.org
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE: “SHAKESBOOK” PROFILE (p. 1 of 2)
Overview: Being able to empathize with fictional characters sheds light on our own personal situations.
Grade: 6-12
State Standards: English Literary Response and Analysis 3.0-3.4 Read and respond to historically or culturally
significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. Students conduct indepth analyses of recurrent patterns and themes. Determine characters’ traits by what the characters say about
themselves in narration, dialogue, dramatic monologue, and soliloquy
Goal: To bring the characters of Pericles into a real-world context.
Outcomes: Students will be able to use basic facts from the text to imaginatively enter into the thoughts,
feelings, and motivations of fictional characters by creating a mock Facebook page.
Activity: Familiarize students with the profile layout of a social network site page, such as Facebook. (See
following sheet).
1. Ask the students to fill in the profile with
A. vital statistics
B. likes and dislikes
C. friends
Note: Students should use information drawn from their knowledge of the play (Pericles goes on lots of sea
voyages), filled out by their imaginations (maybe one of his hobbies is sailing).
2. Profile photos may be drawn, or cut out from magazines, or an actual photo of the student could be used
and attached to the page. Remember, many actual Facebook profile pages do not have an actual photo of
the person who made them – students sometimes choose a picture of something they feel represents
them – a tree, a poster they like, etc.
3. Share the pages you have created in student pairs or in a group discussion.
Reflection questions:
• Name one thing you had to imagine about your character that you think is really interesting.
• Was it easy to imagine beyond the play – for instance, what Thaisa’s activities and interests
might be? Or do you feel the play did not provide enough information? How so?
• How easy was it to decide who your character’s friends are? Would your character ignore a
friend request from other characters in the play? Why or why not?
Extension exercise in writing dialogue:
Beyond the basic profile information, a further way to extend the activity is to have the students write on each
other’s profile “walls”. A wall is the area on a profile page where friends can write short messages to each other
that are posted directly on the page for others to view.
Note: Require the students to fill out the worksheet manually, rather than actually fill out a public profile
online. If you can post the mock profile page that follows onto your school or school blog website for students
to fill out online within the framework of this project, that would work as well, but false profiles in a public
space should be actively discouraged.
27
Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE: “SHAKESBOOK” PROFILE (p. 2 of 2)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre is at a feast with his family!
Updated 1,000 years ago
Networks:
Ancient Greek Empire
Relationship Status:
Married to Thaisa
Birthday:
Hometown:
495 BCE
Tyre
Political Views:
Being Prince is good.
Religious Views:
Diana rules!
Mini-Feed
Pericles, Prince of Tyre has no recent activity.
Friends
Simonides
Lysimachus
Helicanus
Cerimon
Information
Contact Info:
Email:
Current City:
Bigtimehero@ancient.empire
Tyre
Personal Info:
Activities: Napping, babysitting my grandkids, being thankful I’m retired
Interests: miniature ship building
Favorite music: hymns to Diana
Favorite TV shows: Survivor
Favorite Movies: Harry Potter, Hook, Pirates of the Caribbean
Favorite Books: Robinson Crusoe, the Lemony Snicket series
Favorite Quotes: “If I would tell my history, it would seem like
lies” – my daughter
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
“SHAKESBOOK” STUDENT WORKSHEET
is:
Updated 1,000 years ago
Networks:
Ancient Greek Empire
Relationship Status:
Hometown:
Political Views:
Religious Views:
Information
Contact Info:
Email:
Current City:
Personal Info:
Friends
Activities:
Interests:
Favorite Music:
Favorite Movies:
Favorite Books:
Favorite Quotes:
Favorite ________________:
Wall
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
SHIPWRECK IN THE CLASSROOM (p. 1 of 2)
Overview: The students’ job will be to create an active, visual
representation of a ship getting wrecked at sea. They must
represent and perform this shipwreck in any visual way they like:
a hip-hop dance, a mime, a puppet show, YouTube video clip, etc.
They may use any objects they find in the classroom or create
their own to represent the ship, the sea, a storm, a giant squid, the
sailors, etc.; or they may want to use mime.
Grade: 4-12
State Standards: English Comprehension and Analysis 2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary
sources through original analysis, evaluation, and elaboration
Goal: Students become engaged with Shakespeare’s language by working together to convey specific meaning
through kinesthetic action.
Outcome: Students will work together to create through visual and activity a central event in the play (a
shipwreck) that cannot be realized literally. They will choose the appropriate dialogue to that moment and stage
the physical and visual action that expresses it.
Preparation: Students should be familiar with the story.
Activity Part One – Creating the Shipwreck:
•
•
•
Divide the students into small groups of three or four.
They must create and perform this shipwreck in any visual way they like: a hip-hop dance, a silent film,
a puppet show, YouTube video clip, etc. They may use any objects they find in the classroom to
represent the ship, the sea, a storm, a giant squid, the sailors, etc.; or they may want to use mime.
The performance should last about two minutes and have a beginning, middle and end. For instance,
students should represent the ship
• Before the wreck (calm sea, sunny sky, sailors eating dinner and singing songs)
• During the wreck (what causes the wreck – rocks, storm, sea monsters; and what happens to the
ship, the passengers, and/or cargo)
• After the wreck (what is the weather like, does anyone survive, does anything remain of the
ship?).
Activity Part Two: - Adding Shakespeare’s Words:
Familiarize the students with one of the following two scenes (choose the text that might be most appropriate to
your students’ grade and ability level):
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
SHIPWRECK IN THE CLASSROOM (p. 2 of 2)
Gower, Prologue
Pericles, Act 3, Scene 1
And so to sea. Their vessel shakes
Thou god of this great vast, rebuke these surges,
On Neptune's billow; half the flood
Which wash both heaven and hell; and thou, that
hast
Hath their keel cut: but fortune's mood
Upon the winds command, bind them in brass,
Varies again; the grisly north
Having call'd them from the deep! O, still
Disgorges such a tempest forth,
Thy deafening, dreadful thunders; gently quench
That, as a duck for life that dives,
So up and down the poor ship drives:
The lady shrieks, and well-a-near
Thy nimble, sulphurous flashes! O, how,
Lychorida,
How does my queen? Thou stormest
venomously;
Does fall in travail with her fear.
Wilt thou spit all thyself? The seaman's whistle
In your imagination hold
Is as a whisper in the ears of death,
This stage the ship, upon whose deck
Unheard.
The sea-tost Pericles appears to speak.
•
The students in each group must pick 4 lines from either speech for them to say during their
performance of the shipwreck as they have practiced. The people who are actually performing may
speak in turn, or in unison, or they may prefer to have an external narrator. This should be a choice that
works well with the type of performance they have elected to create.
•
The final performances should incorporate both visual elements and the language.
Coaching: Encourage students to be imaginative their choices within the framework of the goal of representing
the shipwreck. Especially if your class has seen the Cal Shakes production, drive the students towards choosing
a different way to represent the shipwreck than was used in the play.
Reflection Questions:
What was the hardest detail to represent clearly?
Why did you make the choices you decided on?
How did the language work to help you illustrate the concepts?
What concepts seemed to work well in performance? Why?
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
SHAKESPEARE COMIC BOOK (p. 1 of 2)
Overview: Creating comic books is an ideal way to help ELL students visualize the language, increase literacy,
and get all students engaged with Shakespeare’s words.
Grade: 4-12
State Standards: English Comprehension and Analysis 2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary
sources through original analysis, evaluation, and elaboration
Goal: Students become engaged with Shakespeare’s language by working together to convey specific meaning
through kinesthetic action.
Outcome: Students will work together to choose a “most important moment”. They will choose the appropriate
dialogue for that moment, stage the physical action that expresses it, and contribute that moment to a finished
book product of the story.
Preparation: Students should be familiar with the story.
Activity Part One – Acting the Story:
1. Have students decide on the key events in the story and list them in order.
2. Divide the students into groups of 2 or 3 students.
3. Assign each group of students an “event” to turn into one page of the comic book.
4. Students should highlight the one or two line(s) from the original text that best illustrate that event.
5. Have students “pose” each event as a tableau.
6. Reflection: Student audience can evaluate the “pose” and make suggestions to improve it. The scene
should clearly indicate the emotions of the characters and convey the context and main idea of the text.
7. Take a digital photograph, or make a drawing of the pose. You may wish to have one member of each
group draw the pose, or have one artist for the class who records the images.
Activity Part Two – Making the Book:
1. Using the Photoshop filter, transform the scene to comic book style. If your students don’t have access
to a digital camera and Photoshop, have students draw the scene on standard-sized paper.
2. Show samples of different comic book styles (Disney/Marvel/manga/anime, etc.) and have students vote
on one “style” to use for all the drawings so that the finished book has continuity.
3. Add “speech” bubbles and fill bubbles with the relevant line(s) of Shakespeare’s text.
4. Assemble all the pages into one comic book.
5. Add a Title Page.
Coaching:
You don’t have to do the comic book all at once. The whole class can work together on one page a day.
Reflection Questions:
How did you choose the “important moment”? What made this event interesting to you?
How did the language in the play help you create your tableau?
Do these events translate well to your chosen style of animation? Does it work as a comic book? Why or why
not?
Extension Idea: Have the students paraphrase, or translate, the Shakespeare quotes they are working with into
their own words to modernize the context and provide a deeper connection
to the situations and experience of the characters.
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
SHAKESPEARE COMIC BOOK (p. 2 of 2)
The example is an excerpt from the King Lear comic book created by Claire Stoermer’s 5th
grade class at Fruitvale Elementary School, Oakland, California.
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
BLIND OBSTACLE COURSE
Overview: The hero’s journey involves difficult tests, but he or she always gets some kind of help.
Grade: 6-12 Use with a group that has the ability to work collaboratively, with a lot of noise.
State Standards: Literary response and Analysis 3.3 Analyze interactions between main and subordinate
characters in text (e.g., internal and external conflicts, motivations, relationships, influences) and explain the way those
interactions affect the plot.
Goal: to work collaboratively, to communicate clearly, to build positive group interactions, and to explore the
role of “helpers” in a hero’s journey.
Outcomes: Students will guide a blind partner safely through a maze of obstacles. Students will discuss the role
of “helpers” to Pericles and Marina in Pericles.
Materials: A large open room with many different sized objects (desks, chairs, backpacks, etc.) that will not be
dangerous to bump into or touch (to create the obstacle course).
Coaching: Emphasize this is not a race, but is about communicating clearly. A’s must be excellent leaders who
can develop their partner’s trust in their verbal directions to create a safe passage. B’s must indicate potential
movements with their body language and the A’s must be good observers of that language and adjust their
directions accordingly.
How to Play:
• First, safety is paramount. Establish a signal that will indicate an immediate “Freeze” to every
participant. For this game, a very loud sound works best – a crash on a cymbal or piano, or a dustpan.
• Pair students, and decide who is Partner A and who is B.
• The pairs will then stand opposite each other across the room – so all the A’s are on one side of the room
standing directly opposite from their Partner B on the other side. The B’s will close their eyes and the
A’s will use any available materials in the room – desks, chairs, backpacks, etc. to create a difficult
passage across the room. B’s keep their eyes closed. (Blindfolds can be useful; older students generally
can stick to the “eyes stay closed” rule in the spirit of the game.)
• On the leader’s command, the A’s will begin to call out instructions to their partners to get them to move
through the course. They may say anything they wish to help their partner. B’s may also talk but their
primary job is to listen and respond.
• Once the partner B reaches A, they may open their eyes and survey the course they just traveled.
• You may play again reversing the roles of A and B. They will have learned a lot from the first time
through.
Reflection:
Did you have misunderstandings? How much did you trust what your partner was saying? What is your reaction
to not being able to see what you were trying to do? Did you think of ways to communicate to overcome the
difficulties built into this game?
What kind of communication was most successful to help your partner get across? Were you able to minimize
your partner’s difficulty?
Do you think Pericles or Marina felt similar emotions? Why or why not?
What characters in Pericles are “helpers”? How did they help Marina and Pericles?
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
OLYMPIC OBSTACLE (p. 1 of 2)
Grade: 5 – 12
State Standards: English Writing Applications 2.1 Write narratives with plot, point of view, setting and conflict. Show
rather than tell. Use a range of narrative devices (dialogue, suspense).
Theatre Standards 2.2 Write dialogues and scenes, applying basic dramatic structure: exposition, complication, conflict,
crises, climax, and resolution.
Goal: Have students think about the obstacles Pericles overcomes in his hero’s journey and create their own
obstacles.
Outcomes: Students will work together collaboratively to create a scene and write dialogue as an Olympic
event that dramatizes an obstacle in their hero’s journey. Students will act out their scenes.
Brainstorm: List on the board in two columns (Pericles and Marina) some of the obstacles each overcomes in
his/her journey.
Activity:
• Divide class into groups of 3 students.
• Give each group a piece of paper
• Assign a recorder to write down responses
• Give them 5 minutes to brainstorm a list of obstacles that their imaginary hero might overcome. Tell
them the obstacle will be acted out as an Olympic event.
• Ask them to be as creative as possible and let them know it is ok to be “over the top” (e.g., trimming a
dragon's toenails as an Olympic event) as long as their choice is appropriate to a school setting (no
obscenities or questionable activities).
• Ask the recorder to read the list for each group and tell the class which obstacle they’ve chosen to act
out. There will be one athlete who mimes the task while 2 “Sports Commentators” explain his/her
actions.
• Write the following on the board, discuss, and tell them to be sure to include a line or two of dialogue
for each element:
Exposition (setting the scene with the dialogue – Who is this hero? Why is s/he
here? What is s/he trying to prove?)
Complication (No toenail clippers? Has to improvise with hedge trimmers?)
Conflict (Does the dragon return?)
Crises (Running out of time? Will s/he succeed or fail when the trimmer breaks?)
Climax (What change in his/her behavior allows him/her to win? Gets a big metal
file.)
Resolution (Success and glory? An advertising contract with Super Sharp Toenail
Trimmers?)
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
OLYMPIC OBSTACLE (p. 2 of 2)
•
•
Get back in groups and have students write the dialogue for the sports commentators.
If your class is particularly motivated they can also add an "instant replay" and a “post-game interview”.
Performance: Students perform their Olympic events for their classmates. Remember, there will be one athlete
who mimes the task while two “Sports Commentators” explain his/her actions. This may take several days, so
be sure to ask reflection questions after each event. Use performance rubric on the next page for assessment.
Reflection Questions:
What did you like about this performance?
What could be improved?
How was it to come up with an idea for an Olympic Obstacle?
How did you agree on which idea you would perform?
Writing Extension: Pick an obstacle faced by Pericles or Marina and write about how you would react in a
similar situation.
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
PEER OBSERVATION RUBRIC FOR STUDENT SCENES
Your Name: __________________________________________________
Names of students you observed:
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
While watching the performance put a “grade” in the blank beside each question.
+
= the students met the requirement in an excellent way
√+ = the students met the requirement in a way that was very good
√
= the students met the requirement
√= the students did not meet the requirement
_____ 1. The students worked well together as a team.
_____ 2. The students came up with a very creative idea for their obstacle.
_____ 3. The students wrote dialog that communicated the main ideas of their scene very
well.
_____ 4. The students presented the scene convincingly and were loud enough for the
audience to hear.
______5. Every student in the group participated. (Give a “+” for bravery if you
think this was very hard for these particular students)
What could they do to improve their performance?
What did you especially like about this performance?
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
HERO’S QUEST ACTIVITY (p. 1 of 2)
Overview: The Hero’s Quest is one of the major themes of Pericles. In this exercise we'd like to take a journey
through an ordinary day in a student's life, but use the imagination to take it fantastical proportions.
Grade: 3-8
State Standards: Speaking 2.3 Deliver oral responses to literature: Demonstrate a comprehensive
understanding of the significant ideas of literary works (make assertions about the text that are reasonable and
supportable).
Goal: Students will understand the archetypal journey of the hero’s quest from seeing it through their own
experience.
Outcomes: Students will complete the journey chart below, and expand into creative writing and tableau
performances.
Materials: Student worksheet of the Circle of the Hero’s Journey below.
Activity:
• Explain to the students that this exercise is an imaginative journey, but starting from your real life.
• The group leader should take the class through an example exercise before having each student create
their own. The leader can draw the circle on the board to fill in the group’s answers as in the sample.
• Students, led by the teacher, will fill in each of the boxes for the topics below, moving in a counter
clockwise circle, and ending at the center. To keep the conversation moving, use a verbal prompt to the
class such as “What comes next in the story?”
Origin – The teacher can use their own name as the hero for the sample quest.
Ex: Ms. Franklin.
Then name the reason for leaving home: what does Ms. Franklin want that makes her leave?
Ex: She wants to save penguins from the melting ice.
Encourage students to think of other important goals: (love, saving the environment, building a new city)
rather than simple material gain (wanting a new car or a million dollars).
First Test - Have the students name a big problem that Ms. Franklin will run into when she tries to save the
penguins.
Ex: She goes to the Antarctica and finds that it’s much colder than she thought and she doesn’t have
warm enough clothes.
Further tests – Have the students name an even more difficult obstacle.
Ex: The police arrest Ms. Franklin when she starts loading penguins into her sled to save them.
Help – Have the students name a magical item or a fantastical character that will help the hero.
Ex: In jail, Ms. Franklin finds a magic feather in a crack in the wall and waves it. The jail dissolves.
Giant ice machines appear in the snow and replace the melting ice so the penguins can survive.
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
HERO’S QUEST ACTIVITY (p. 2 of 2)
Reward – Have the students name what the hero receives for achieving their goal.
Ex: The penguins give Ms. Franklin a golden feather crown and lots of warm clothes.
Return Journey – Have the students name how the hero travels back home.
Ex: Ms. Franklin returns safe and dry in her warm clothes.
Resolution – How has the hero changed, or what did they learn?
Ex: Ms. Franklin learns that she should be prepared for different weather when traveling, and that she
could achieve what she set out to do.
•
Now, give the students the blank worksheet (see below) and have them use their own name as the name of
the hero.
•
Ask them to fill in the blanks on the worksheet to create their personal hero’s journey. Encourage them to
pick a goal that is meaningful to them, and to use the fantastical element.
Coaching: Students will naturally want to add places where the journey goes to; encourage this and other
imaginative details the students volunteer.
Reflection questions:
• What did you want to add that wasn’t in the outline?
• What was the most interesting part of the journey for you?
• Is it interesting to have a hero who doesn’t seem particularly brave, or who makes obvious mistakes?
Why or why not?
Extension Activity:
•
Once you have completed the worksheet of the journey and are familiar with the elements, students may
wish to create a board game that details, in game format, the struggles and triumphs possible on this
journey. If your students have the resources and mindset, they may wish to envision the journey as a
video game. (In fact, most of the storylines in video games are based on the hero’s quest model.)
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
HERO’S QUEST SAMPLE PAGE
Home:
Leaves to save
penguins.
First test:
Too cold!
Return
Journey:
Returns warm
in clothes
Resolution:
Respect the
weather; you can
achieve your
goal.
Reward:
Feather
crown, warm
Further tests:
Jail!
Help:
Magic
feather
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
HERO’S QUEST STUDENT WORKSHEET
1) Home:
2) First test:
6) Return Journey:
7) Resolution:
5) Reward:
3) Further tests:
4) Help:
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
HERO’S QUEST ACTIVITY
Part Two
TABLEAU – CONNECTING THE WORD AND THE BODY (p. 1 of 2)
Goal: To experience the hero’s quest personally and kinesthetically through non-verbal performance.
How to Play:
Part 1: How to Create a Tableau
• Divide class up into pairs.
• Explain that a tableau is a frozen picture, like a snapshot from a cell phone camera. Emphasize that
tableaux are really about seeing clear emotions in the face and specific action in the body.
• Have the pairs of students, all at the same time, practice tableaux. You can do this by simply calling
“1,2,3, Freeze!” Ask the students to simply stay in their seats, and show you the situations you are going
to describe. They should freeze in an appropriate pose for the situation when you call “Freeze!” Some
examples are listed below.
o
o
o
o
o
o
Examples of Classwide Frozen Pictures
You’re in class, and the bell has just rung on the final class day and it is now summer vacation
A UFO is hovering in the courtyard of the school and the principal is beamed up
You’re sitting in the stands of the stadium when a new sports record has just been broken (e.g.
Bonds’ homerun record)
You’re waiting to get into a very popular movie on opening night
You’re at a surprise party the moment the guest of honor walks in
You’re at the science fair, and someone’s project next to you has just exploded
Part 2: Putting Language into Action Tableaux
Now demonstrate a standing frozen picture for the students. For instance, bring a volunteer up and have a
student count “1,2,3, Freeze!”. You might show them a frozen picture of thing (a clock), or any of the situations
listed above.
Have student pair up and make tableau together of ABSTRACT ideas: a waterfall, a storm, splashing in a
puddle, etc.
Prepare Tableaux Using the Hero’s Quest sample.
• The leader will review the story chosen – either the sample story or one of the student’s stories.
• The leader will assign each pair of students the part of the story they’ll be working on.
• Students will have two minutes to prepare the picture that represents their part of the story.
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Teacher’s Guide
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HERO’S QUEST ACTIVITY
Part Two
TABLEAU – CONNECTING THE WORD AND THE BODY (p. 2 of 2)
Part 3: Performance
• All pairs line up in story order.
• Each pair steps forward in order and shows their tableau.
• Discuss – go around circle with pairs and each pair discuss what the idea was for their tableau.
Side coaching:
Pick the dramatic moments.
Show the feelings of the characters.
You can choose to be inanimate objects in the tableau as well, as long as it illustrates that part of the story.
Reflection:
¾ Why did you make the choices you did?
¾ What do you think you could (not should) do differently if you had the chance to do this over again?
¾ What do you think one of the actor’s jobs is when they must do a speech like this?
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:
For a Shakespeare play such as Pericles:
•
•
•
•
•
Pick characters who are not the main characters and make tableaux about how they are responding to the
main characters.
Have all students demonstrate the same lines. Compare the variations.
Put theme words (juicy words) on index cards and enact those words. Use the word in sentences all day.
Have students pick out the 5 key events in the plot of Pericles and create a tableau for each in order
(main points and sequencing).
Make a “slide” show of the key events tableaux.
For writing practice:
Create a short story of the hero’s journey from this worksheet.
• On a separate sheet of paper, the student can add details about each part of the journey.
• Details, depending on the grade and ability level of the students, can include:
o Locations
o Specific events
o Other characters
o Descriptions of the above
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
MAD LIBS (p. 1 of 2)
Mad Libs were invented in the 1950’s and are a favorite way for educators to familiarize students with parts of
speech and vocabulary in a humorous way.
Grade: 6-12
State Standards: Vocabulary and Concept Development 1.2 Identify and interpret figurative language and
words with multiple meanings
Goal: To break down Shakespeare’s language into familiar parts of speech, and increase understanding of the
text and character’s situations through humor.
Outcomes: Students will be able to identify familiar parts of speech in Shakespeare’s language, learn
Shakespearean vocabulary, and make connections with the original meaning when significant words are
replaced.
Activity:
1. For this activity you will use the sample below from Pericles, but this is also fun to do with some of the
more well known Shakespearian monologues such as “To be or not to be” from Hamlet, or “Romeo,
Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo” from Romeo and Juliet.
Alas, the seas hath cast me on the rocks,
Washed me from shore to shore, and left me breath
Nothing to think on but ensuing death.
Let it suffice the greatness of your powers
To have bereft a prince of all his fortunes,
And, having thrown him from your watery grave,
Here to have death in peace is all he’ll crave.
Pericles, 2.1
Directions:
1) If necessary, go over the parts of speech with your class. With some classes you may need to do the
exercise on the board instead of having students write in journals. Either way, ask students to supply
words that fit the following parts of speech in this order:
Exclamation
Verb past tense
Plural noun
Noun
Noun
Gerund*
Noun
Verb
Plural noun
Verb past tense
Plural noun
Verb past tense
Adjective
Noun
Noun
Noun
Verb
*Shakespeare’s noun “breath” is not a gerund, but for student’s
understanding and today’s usage, it is more helpful to use a gerund.
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
MAD LIBS (p. 2 of 2)
2) Write the following passage on the board and have students insert their words in the appropriate places:
(Exclamation), the seas hath (verb past tense) me on the (plural noun),
Washed me from (noun) to (noun), and left me (gerund)
Nothing to think on but ensuing (noun).
Let it (verb) the greatness of your (plural noun),
To have (verb past tense) a prince of all his (plural noun),
And, having (verb past tense) him from your (adjective) (noun).,
Here to have (noun) in (noun) is all he’ll (verb).
They may end up with something ridiculous like this:
SNAP!, the seas hath flipped me on the houses,
Washed me from chicken to dog, and left me sighing
Nothing to think on but ensuing bread.
Let it build the greatness of your crayons,
To have walked a prince of all his socks,
And, having run him from your beautiful computer,
Here to have cell phone in sandwich is all he’ll eat.
3) Enjoy the silliness!
4) Write Shakespeare’s original passage on the board where everyone can see it and discuss.
Reflection:
Go through the passage line by line.
What do these words mean: hath, left me breath, ensuing, suffice, bereft, crave?
Who is talking in this quote?
What has happened to him?
What is he thinking about?
Whose or what powers does he acknowledge?
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Teacher’s Guide
Pericles 2008
SAY WHAT I SAY: Shakespeare’s Language
Overview: Shakespeare invented over 2,000 words and expressive phrases. In this lesson, students use drawing
and pantomime to identify and analyze some of Shakespeare's phrases. They then write a story using the newlyidentified words, lines, and phrases.
Goal: Students will:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
identify words invented by William Shakespeare.
interpret the meaning of words through drawing.
identify words by interpreting drawings.
analyze the meaning of a line or phrase.
pantomime to communicate the meaning of a line or phrase.
interpret pantomime to identify a line or phrase.
write a short story using Shakespeare invented words, lines, and phrases.
Supplies:
•
Index cards with Shakespearean words such as:
mountaineer, fortune-teller, bandit, watch-dog, schoolboy, football, worm hole, hornbook, shooting star, moonbeam, dew-drop, glow, dawn, alligator, lady-bird, luggage,
eyeball, love-letter, puppy-dog, farmhouse, bedroom, birthplace, fairy land, worthless,
long-legged, pale-faced, hot-blooded, flea-bitten, green-eyed, upstairs, downstairs
•
•
•
•
•
Stopwatch for timekeeping
Large chart paper
Markers
Lined paper
Pencils
Instructional Plan:
Note: Prior to class, prepare a list of approximately 60 words invented by Shakespeare.
(one source: www.shakespeare.about.com/b/2003/08/13/words-shakespeare-coined-2.htm) See Resources, page 53
Warm Up
Explain to students that many of the words and phrases we use today were invented by William Shakespeare.
Words like “zany,” “lonely,” “critic,” and “fair play” are just a few of about 2,000 words introduced through his
poetry and plays.
Write Shakespeare's words on index cards to use during the game. Select words that could be easily conveyed
through drawing. Some examples might be:
mountaineer, fortune-teller, bandit, watch-dog, schoolboy, football, worm hole, horn-book, shooting
star, moonbeam, dew-drop, glow, dawn, alligator, lady-bird, luggage, eyeball, love-letter, puppy-dog,
farmhouse, bedroom, birthplace, fairy land, worthless, long-legged, pale-faced, hot-blooded, flea-bitten,
green-eyed, upstairs, downstairs
Tell students that they will now play a game in which they must "draw" Shakespeare's invented words. The
instructions are as follows:
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1. Select a time-keeper from the class. He/she will keep time and record the team points on the board.
2. Divide the class into two to four groups.
3. Select a person from each group who will be responsible for putting a hand up when the team has
figured out a word. This person will be able to look at the word being drawn in advance, but he/she
MAY NOT give hints to others on the team, nor tell the player who is drawing and how to draw the
picture.
4. Have teams count off numbers to see who will go first, second, third, etc.
5. Post large sheets of newsprint paper with markers in each team’s area.
6. Have one member from each team come up to be given the word to draw. Show the word on the card or
quietly say the word in the player’s ear. All teams should get the word at the same time. They will have
45 seconds in which to draw and guess the word.
7. The first team to guess correctly gets a point for the word.
8. Allow the next player from each team come up to get a word. Repeat until each person has had one to
two turns.
NOTE: If you wish to simplify the game for younger students, record the full list of words to be drawn on the
board or distribute a list to each team. Students will search for, rather than guess, the word that is being drawn.
Extension Ideas:
Shakespeare also put phrases into our language that we still use today. “Too much of a good thing,” “Good
riddance,” and “In my mind’s eye,” are all word combinations made famous by him.
Put several phrases on the board. They may include: “Every inch a king,” “Not budge an inch,” “Wild-goose
chase,” or “Sweets to the sweet.” Enlist a student volunteer to select a phrase and pantomime it for the class.
Have the class guess the phrase that is being depicted.
Each student should write a short story using a sampling of Shakespeare’s words, phrases, and lines
meaningfully. Have the student underline the Shakespearean words, phrases, or lines used within the story.
Reflection:
Can you see how Shakespeare might have created some of these words?
How many of these words do we use today?
Invent your own: make up a word that describes a rainy day (“cloudmug”? “dampshirt”? How about a sunny
day?
Adapted from an exercise on writingfix.com by Mary Beth Bauernschub, Teacher, Kingsford Elementary
School, Mitchellville, MD. Northern Nevada Writing Project (nnwp) sponsors the writingfix.com and they can
be found at nnwp.org.
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Teacher’s Guide
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YOU’RE THE CRITIC: CALSHAKES’ PLAY CRITIQUE
Grade: 6-12
State Standards: Theatre Arts Aesthetic Valuing 4.0-4.2 Critique and derive meaning from works of theater,
film/video, electronic media and theatrical artists on the basis of aesthetic qualities.
Goal: To give students the opportunity to explore their responses to a specific performance and to use their
imaginations to create their own imaginary productions.
Outcomes: Students will write about and discuss their specific responses to CalShakes’ performance of
Pericles.
Activity:
Give each student a “You’re the Critic” sheet (on next page).
Have them give this production a rating of 1 to 5 stars. (One star is the lowest rating and five stars is the
highest.)
On a separate sheet of paper, students write a paragraph review of the play. In other words, they describe why
they gave it that rating.
Ask them to give specific examples to support their reasons.
Reflection:
Discuss as a group, or in writing, have students reflect on the following questions:
1. How would you describe the character of Pericles?
2. How do you understand the casting of actors to play opposing roles? Did that make sense to you? Did it
make a particular point about the play? Was it interesting to watch?
3. Do you think Pericles is a changed man by the end of the play? Do you think you are meant to think so?
4. Think about and describe:
- the vocal and physical actions of the actors (characterization)
- the set
- the costumes
5. What do you think are some of the themes of the play?
6. Did the elements of characterizations, set, and/or costumes reinforce any of these themes?
7. Shakespeare writes about things that we all experience: Love, jealousy, death, anger, revenge, etc. Write
a paragraph about one emotion in the play that relates to your own life at the moment.
Now, imagine you are the director of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, and discuss or use a new sheet of paper to create
your new production.
- Cast the characters of Pericles, Antiochus, Thaisa, Marina, Dionyza and Lysimachus with
famous actors.
- Would you set the play in an “imaginary ancient world” as in this production? What other
setting could you place the play in that would make sense? Why?
- How about costumes? Imagine how the characters in your new production would be dressed
that would illustrate the kinds of characters they are and the setting you have created for the
play.
Extension Activity: Have students create a video or drawings of the sets and costumes for their own imaginary
production.
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Teacher’s Guide
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YOU’RE THE CRITIC: CAL SHAKES PLAY CRITIQUE
NAME: __________________________________
1. Circle the number of stars that best matches how you’d rate this performance. (One star is the lowest
rating and five stars is the best rating.) Then write a paragraph on the back of the paper that specifically
describes why you gave it that rating. Do not simply say “I didn’t like it”, but say why. For example, “I
didn’t like the fact that the director changed the setting to New York” or “I loved the way the actors
made me believe that they were really going to kill each other”.
2. Outline the main actions that happened in the plot (what were the big events in the story?)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
3. What is the central idea or theme of the play?
4. Describe what the actors did to help you understand the Shakespearean language.
5. What did you particularly like or dislike about the staging (set design, lights, costumes, music, etc.)?
6. Shakespeare writes about things that we all experience: Love, jealousy, death, anger, revenge, etc. Write
a paragraph (on the back) about one emotion in the play that relates to your own life at the moment.
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Teaching Shakespeare:
www.folger.edu
www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/
http://parallel.park.uga.edu/Courses/F97/433G/group5/page.html
Davis, James E., ed. Teaching Shakespeare Today: Practical Approaches and Productive Strategies. Urbana, Ill: National
Council of Teachers of English, 1993.
Crystal, David, and Crystal, Ben. The Shakespeare Miscellany. The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.
Woodstock and New York, 2005.
Crystal, David, and Crystal, Ben. Shakespeare’s Words: A Glossary and Language Companion. Penguin Books, The
Penguin Group. London, 2002.
Papp, Joseph and Elizabeth Kirkland. Shakespeare Alive! New York, New York: Bantam Books, 1988.
Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Shakespeare: A Thoroughly Painless Guide to the Best of the Bard. New York, New York:
Penguin Books, 1993
Asimov, Isaac. Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare. New York, New York: Random House, 1970.
Pollinger, Gina and Emma Chichester Clark. Something Rich and Strange A Treasury of Shakespeare’s Verse. Kingfisher,
1995.
Peterson, Lenka and Dan O’Connor. Kids Take the Stage, Back Stage Books, 1997.
Theatre Games for Young Performers. Meriwether Publishing. Ltd., 1985.
Doyle, John and Ray Lischner.Shakespeare for Dummies. IDG Books Worldwide, 1999.
Shakespeare for Elementary Students:
www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators//elementary
Bender, Michael. All the World’s a Stage: a Pop-Up Biography of William Shakespeare. San Francisco: Chronicle Books,
1999.
Foster, Cass and Lynn G. Johnson. Shakespeare: To Teach or Not To Teach. Grades 3 and Up. Scottsdale, AZ: Five Star
Publications, 1992.
Garfield, Leon. Shakespeare Stories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.
Morley, Jacqueline and John James. Shakespeare’s Theatre: the Inside Story. East Sussex, London: Simon and Schuster
Young Books, 1994.
Web Resources:
Tudor and Elizabethan Times: http://www.snaithprimary.eril.net/ttss.htm
Life in Elizabethan England: http://renaissance.dm.net/compendium/
Shakespeare Resource Center - Elizabethan England: http://www.bardweb.net/england.html
Word and Phrase search: www.opensourceshakespeare.org/concordance
Shakespeare Searched: Shakespeare.clusty.com
Words Coined: www.shakespeare.about.com/b/2003/08/13/words-shakespeare-coined-2.htm
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CALIFORNIA CONTENT STANDARDS
This guide was created as a supplement for teachers preparing students to see the Cal Shakes production of Pericles
Worksheets are designed to be used individually or in conjunction with others throughout the guide depending on time
and focus. While we recognize that no aspect of this guide fully outlines a course for meeting certain standards,
discussion questions and topics are devised to address certain aspects of California state content standards. Specific
English, History and Theater standards are listed below.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE STANDARDS
GRADES K-8
GRADE
STANDARD
6
5
1.2
1.5
4-8
2.0
5-8
2.3
4-8
3.0
7
3.3
5
8
3.4
3.4
7
3.6
4
1.7
4-8
2.2-2.5
4-8
2.0
8
2.2
READING
Vocabulary and Concept Development
Identify and interpret figurative language and words with multiple meanings
Understand and explain the figurative and metaphorical use of words in context
Comprehension and Analysis
Generate & respond to essential questions; make predictions; compare information in
age-appropriate text. Describe and connect essential ideas, arguments and perspectives.
Discern, connect and clarify main ideas and concepts in texts, and identify and assess
supporting evidence
Literary Response and Analysis
Read and respond to, increasingly complex literature. Distinguish between the structural
features of the text and the literary terms or elements (theme, plot, setting, characters).
Clarify ideas and connect them to other literary works.
Analyze characterization as delineated through character’s thoughts words, speech
patterns, and action; the narrator’s description; and the thoughts, words and actions of
other characters
Understand and recognize themes
Analyze the relevance of the setting (place, time, customs) to the mood, tone and
meaning of the text
Contrast points of view (1st & 3rd person, limited and omniscient, subjective and
objective) in narrative text and explain how they affect the overall theme of the work
WRITING
Strategies
Use various reference materials as writing aids
Writing Applications
Write responses to literature that demonstrate careful reading and understanding of the
work. Draw inferences and support judgments.
Speaking Applications
Using speaking strategies in section 1.0, above, students make narrative presentations,
informational presentations, oral summaries, poems, soliloquies or dramatic dialogues
that establish situation, plot, point of view and setting. Show rather than tell.
Deliver oral responses to literature that interpret and provide insight that connects the
students’ own responses to the writer’s techniques and specific textual references. Draw
supported inferences about the effects of a work on the audience.
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HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE STANDARDS
GRADES K-8
GRADE STANDARD HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE STANDARDS
6-8
Research, Evidence and Point of View:
1. Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research.
2. Students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories
5. Students detect the different historical points of view and determine the context in which
the statements were made
ENGLISH LANGUAGE STANDARDS
GRADES 9-12
GRADE
9-10
9-10
9-12
9-10
9-10
STANDARD READING
Vocabulary and Concept Development
1.1
Identify and use literal and figurative meanings of words and understand word
1.2
derivations
Distinguish between denotative and connotative meanings of words and interpret the
connotative power of words
Comprehension and Analysis
2.5
Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis,
evaluation, and elaboration.
Literary Response and Analysis
3.0
Read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect
and enhance their studies of history and social science. Students conduct in-depth
analyses of recurrent patterns and themes.
3.4
Determine characters’ traits by what the characters say about themselves in narration,
dialogue, dramatic monologue, and soliloquy
3.11
Analyze recognized works of world literature:
Identify and describe the function of dialogue, scene designs, soliloquies, asides, and
character foils in dramatic literature.
9-10
2.2
9-12
1.0
WRITING
Writing Applications
Write responses to literature:
a. Demonstrate comprehensive grasp of significant ideas of literary works.
b. Support important ideas and viewpoints through accurate and detailed references to
the text or to other works.
c. Demonstrate awareness of author’s use of stylistic devices and an appreciation of
the effects created.
d. Identify and assess the impact of perceived ambiguities, nuances, and complexities
within the text.
Listening and Speaking
Students formulate adroit judgments about oral communication. They deliver focused
and coherent presentations that convey clear and distinct perspectives and solid
reasoning. They use gestures, tone and vocabulary tailored to the audience and purpose
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Teacher’s Guide
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GRADE
STANDARD
9-10
1.14
11-12
2.3
11-12
2.5
Identify the aesthetic effects of a media presentation and evaluate the techniques used to
create them (e.g., compare Shakespeare’s Henry V with Branagh’s film version)
Speaking Applications
Deliver oral responses to literature:
a. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the significant ideas of literary
works (make assertions about the text that are reasonable and supportable).
b. Analyze the imagery, language, universal themes and unique aspects of the text
through the use of rhetorical strategies (narration, description, persuasion,
exposition, a combination).
c. Support important ideas and viewpoints through accurate and detailed references to
the text or to other works.
d. Demonstrate an awareness of the author’s use of stylistic devices and an
appreciation of the effects created.
e. Identify and assess the impact of perceived ambiguities, nuances, and complexities
within the text.
Recite poems, selections from speeches, or dramatic soliloquies with attention to
performance details to achieve clarity, force, and aesthetic effect and to demonstrate an
understanding of the meaning (Hamlet’s soliloquy “to be or not to be”).
HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE STANDARDS
GRADES 9-12
GRADE STANDARD HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE STANDARDS
9-12
Research, Evidence and Point of View:
Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research.
Students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories
Students detect the different historical points of view and determine the context in which the
statements were made
THEATER ARTS STANDARDS
GRADES K-12
GRADE STANDARD ARTISTIC PERCEPTION: Processing, Analyzing and Responding to Sensory Information
Through the Language and Skills Unique to Theater
4
1.0
Observe environment and respond, using the elements and vocabulary of theater
9-12
1.0
Use the vocabulary of theater, such as acting values, style, genre, design, and theme, to
describe theatrical experiences.
4
1.2
Identify a character’s objectives and motivations to explain the character’s behavior
8
1.2
Identify and analyze recurring themes and patterns (e.g., loyalty, bravery, revenge, redemption)
in a script to make production choices in design and direction
9-12
1.2
Document observations and perceptions of production elements, noting mood, pacing, and use
of space through class discussion and reflective writing.
GRADE STANDARD HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT: Understanding the Historical Contributions
and Cultural Dimensions of Theater
9-12
3.3
Identify key figures, works, and trends in world theatrical history from various cultures and
time periods
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Teacher’s Guide
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GRADE STANDARD AESTHETIC VALUING: Responding to, Analyzing, and Critiquing Theatrical Experiences
4
4.0
Critique and derive meaning from works of theater, film/video, electronic media and theatrical
artists on the basis of aesthetic qualities
5
4.0
Develop and apply appropriate criteria for critiquing the work of actors, directors, writers and
technical artists in theater, film, and video.
4
4.1
Develop and apply appropriate criteria or rubrics for critiquing performances as to
characterization, diction, pacing, gesture and movement
5-6
4.1
Develop and apply appropriate criteria for evaluating sets, lighting, costumes, makeup and
props.
7
4.1
Develop and apply appropriate criteria or rubrics for evaluating the effective use of masks,
puppetry, makeup, and costumes in a theatrical production
8
4.1
Develop criteria and write a formal review of a theatrical production
5
4.2
Identify examples of how theater, television and film can influence or be influenced by politics
and culture
7
4.2
Explain how cultural influences affect the content or meaning of works of theater
9-12
4.2
Report on how a specific actor used drama to convey meaning in his or her performances.
GRADE STANDARD CONNECTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, APPLICATIONS: Connecting and Applying What is
Learned in Theater, Film/Video, and Electronic Media to Other Art Forms and Subject Areas
and to Careers
4-12
5.0
Apply what they learn in theater, film/video, and electronic media across subject areas
54