Spread the Love: Will and Whimsy: Sixteen Dramatically Illustrated Sonnets of Shakespeare
This week on Spread the Love, Lindsay and Craig talk about Will and Whimsy: Sixteen Dramatically Illustrated Sonnets of Shakespeare, a play based on Shakespeare’s sonnets by Alan Haehnel.
Note: We oooopsied when recording this video and didn’t name the author of this wonderful play. The play is by Alan Haehnel. Alan Haehnel Alan Haehnel Alan Haehnel Alan Haehnel Alan Haehnel Alan Haehnel.
Transcript
Welcome to Spread the Love. This week we are talking about Will and Whimsy: Sixteen Dramatically Illustrated Sonnets of Shakespeare. And really, the title kind of says it all. You have sixteen sonnets, in the original language by the bard and woven in-between you have modern scenes which dramatically illustrate the original text. Fabulous! Craig, what do you love about Will and Whimsy?
Well, how appropriate that we’re doing a Spread the Love for Will and Whimsy, because Will and Whimsy is based on the sonnets, which are are all about love! It’s a perfect piece to do for, say, a dessert theatre event around Valentine’s Day.
What I love about this script is that, although the sonnets are about romantic love, Alan explores all sorts of love in this play: From a boy’s love for his blankie, to a girl’s love for the mall to three best freinds’s love for chocolate.
Lindsay, what do you love about Will and Whimsy?
Well, what I love about Will and Whimsy is that it embodies the number one Theatrefolk catchword: flexibility.
Right.
You’ve got flexibility of casting. The cast can go from 8 all the way up to 35. Flexibility in gender, flexibility in positioning, Alan has been very generous – if you want to take a few out for time you can do that. If you want to change the position of the sonnets you can do that too. Also, if you want to do some Shakespeare, need to do some Shakespeare, this allows you to do something… get away from the same ole’ – how many times can you do Romeo and Juliet? Will and Whimsy allows you to do Shakespeare a little differently.
That’s it for Spread the Love.
Related Articles
Practical Approaches to Shakespeare in the Drama Classroom
by Julie Hartley
Shakespeare is one of the greatest resources a drama teacher can have. But teaching it can be a challenge. Practical Approaches to Shakespeare in the Drama Classroom helps drama teachers break down the Bard to make his themes, language and characters accessible to all.
Script Bundle - Shakespeare plays
A selection of 10 Shakespeare perusal scripts. Whether it's a cutting that uses the original text, a monologue or scene book, or a parody that spoofs the story, these plays offer a great window into Shakespeare's world.
