“Play” with Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is credited with writing plays and sonnets; his words endure.

This three-part workshop invites participants to "play" with Shakespeare. Do you agree or disagree with the challenges to his authorship? Session 1 will explore “playing" with the plays via characters, scenes and attire. In Session 2 we will discuss “Shakespeare in Love,” and The NY Times bestseller “The Man who Pays the Rent” (by Judi Dench and including her conversations with director Brendan O'Hea). Participants may select 15-20 lines of dialogue of one of Shakespeare’s characters that emphasize the character’s essence and may be often quoted. Session 3 examines Shakespeare then and now: how does he exemplify "a writer for the ages"? Sonnets are a resource for participants. Attention will also be given to Rehabilitation Through the Arts and the current movie “Sing Sing.”

Len DeAngelis, who retired as the head of the English department at Middletown High School, was the 1990 Rhode Island Teacher of the Year. He has received Disney’s American Teacher Award and the 2018 Education for Service Award at UMass Boston. He has led seminars on “The Divine Comedy,” among other literature and writing for many years. He is also the Rhode Island ambassador for the Portrait Society of America. Len is the author of “Our Time.”