Many teachers and students find Shakespeare intimidating to read and discuss because much of the content seems foreign and unrelated to teens, college students and teachers.
But in discovering Shakespeare, teachers and students learn that human nature hasn’t changed much since the 1500s. Shakespeare’s work remains relevant to our society. Recently, the relevance and accessibility of Shakespeare was highlighted at a conference for UVU education students and local high school teachers.
The “ShakesFear” conference was a recent workshop hosted by UVU English Professor Kate McPherson and inspired by Ralph Alan Cohen’s book “ShakesFear and How to Cure It: A Handbook for Teaching Shakespeare.” Cohen, the keynote speaker, holds many degrees and is an authority on Shakespeare at Mary Baldwin College (MBC). Dr. Cohen recently created and established a masters program in writing, teaching, acting, and directing Shakespeare at MBC. Cohen has instituted an awakening of Shakespearian performance with the re-creation of the Black Friars Indoor Theater, a replica of the Bard’s home theater.
According to Cohen, Shakespeare is accessible if you start with the basics. His speech was titled “Misunderstood Things About Shakespeare.”
In this keynote address, Cohen spoke about his book and the seven deadly preconceptions about Shakespeare that hinder teachers and students in their understanding of his work and he urged them to replace these ideas with productive and well thought-out alternatives.
The fear that everyone could agree on was the misconception that Shakespeare’s language is foreign. In reality, over 98 percent of Shakespeare’s language is current English usage, which means that only 1 in 75 words isn’t.
“It is through language that I get my best work with my actors when working with Shakespeare,” Cohen said. “Shakespeare is enjoyable when students find the ‘eureka’ in a word or a phrase. That ‘eureka’ moment comes with inescapable force when an actor or student can put themselves into that moment of perceiving how the character feels. The storylines are essential, but it is the moments in the story where you understand the character that makes Shakespeare relevant.”
