It is impossible to speak about theatre and not to say some words about William Shakespeare. He was a father of English Theatre. Now listen to my story and be careful. A) William Shakespeare, the greatest English poet and dramatist on or about April 23 1564 at Stratford –upon-Avon in England. It was a little town. William was the eldest son in the family of eight children. When he was seven he was placed of the Grammar school of his nature town. He visited the theatre at the first time when he was still a schoolboy. Stratford was often visited by travelling companies of players. William was about twenty-one when he arrived in London. He had many difficulties during the first years: without friends, without money. He was an actor and then he began to write plays for the company of actors to which he belonged. He wrote over thirty plays such as Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, two poems and154 sonnets. William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 and was buried in a fine old Parish Church at Stratford. B) Teacher: I hope that you have been carefully and now let’s have a small test. You must read these sentences and put the right words. (на доске): William Shakespeare was born on April 23 (1567, 1564, 1600) He was born at (Liverpool, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon) Shakespeare visited the theatre when he was (grown-up, schoolboy). He arrived in London when he was (25, 21, 30 ) years old. He wrote (novels, stories, sonnets, plays). Shakespeare wrote about (fifty, thirty) plays. He died in (London, Coventry, Stratford -upon-Avon). Работа с аутентичным текстом Well, now let’s read the text “Shakespeare's theatre”. After reading you must answer some questions. Theatres in the 16th century were not like they are today. They were round buildings open to the sky in the middle. There were no lights or lamps and they showed their plays in the afternoon. The actors (men and boys only) performed on the stage where here was no scenery. Most of the audience stood to watch a play for a penny. More expensive tickets could get you a seat in the gallery or in a box. In those days theatre was an entertainment for both the rich and the poor. In 1598 Shakespeare’s company of actors had a serious problem with renting the building. So one snowy winter’s night they took their belongings to the south bank of the Thames. Then they built the theatre in just 28 days and called it The Globe. By that time William Shakespeare already had a reputation of a poet and a dramatist, or a playwright. Sadly, in 1613 during a performance The Globe caught a fire, which destroyed it. They rebuilt it but soon the Puritans closed the theatre and destroyed it again. Anyway, it happened after William Shakespeare had left London for Stratford where he lived out the last years of his life and died in 1616 on April 23, his birthday. During his life he wrote 37 plays, several longer poems and 154 son-nets. His sonnets are 14-line love poems, wise and beautiful. Even nowadays people learn them by heart and remember lines from them. The great writer’s plays are no less popular. One of their secrets lies in the fact that he was so great at using words: he could (and still can) make audiences sad, happy, thrilled. He used 18,000 different words (a lot more than most writers). We know for a fact that Shakespeare made up about 2,000 new words himself, some of his phrases have become so common that people use them every day. His works teach us to understand life and people and will always be internationally important. What is the name of the theatre connected with Shakespeare? What happened in 1613? What was special about theaters in the 16th century |