From School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up-These series entries are designed "...to instill a love of Shakespeare and to encourage the next generation of young people to attend our theatres...." To this end, the authors will surely succeed. Each well-organized volume begins with suggestions for effective use of the book, followed by discussions of ideas and characters. Using a four-column format, the authors provide a description of each scene, both a vernacular and an abridged original transcript of Shakespeare's text, and suggested blocking for performance. The scene descriptions are clear and concise, and the blocking is simple and straightforward, although not always in the purest Shakespearean tradition. Although there are occasional lapses into modern-day slang, the vernacular translations generally attempt to follow the original quite closely. The abridged texts do a good job of conveying the essence of the action-often at the expense of the poetry's cadence, however. Nevertheless, the authors clearly state that these versions are intended to lead students back to the originals. Essays on Shakespeare's language and the rehearsal process follow the script, as do acting exercises and production suggestions for props, costumes, and set design. More extensive and for an older audience than Leon Garfield's illustrated abridged versions (Knopf), these accessible workbooks will also be a help to teachers staging productions of the bard's most famous plays.-Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI
Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
For those interested in introducing Shakespeare to younger students, these workbooks should provide valuable assistance. --
KLIATT, December 1996
