Thou speakst aright
It'th thnowing!!!
Thanksgiving was lovely--stayed with my youngest brother Stuart who's living on Capitol Hill right now with his wife and two adorbs kids. I took the bus Wednesday evening to Philly and stayed with my middle brother, Erik and he, his family and I left for DC early Thursday morning. At some point while the bird was cooking I went for a walk around Stuart's neighborhood with my nephew William--I used to know that section a bit, as my voice teacher's studio was near there. I LOVE DC's street layout--for all of DC's faults (and they are legion), it is truly a beautiful city in which to stroll. Wide avenues, lots of right angles, low-slung buildings, plenty of sun. William and I were walking along East Capital toward the Capitol and we passed a white, official-looking building on the left--I asked him what it is. He thought it was the Library of Congress but then my eyes gleamed as I saw it was actually the Folger. My temple, o my soul! How many shows have I seen there??? I literally grew up seeing plays there, love that place!! William and I walked around the grounds of the Capitol for a bit--he liked tracking our progress on the Google maps app on my phone--and then we took another way home, that took us in front of the Folger. All along 2nd Street they had these placards attached to the lamposts, with quotations from various plays, so I started asking William to read them for me and then I would explain them. We worked through "Parting is such sweet sorrow" (I talked about the term bittersweet) and "Nothing will come of nothing" (I decided to skip the introduction to nihilism until he gets a little older ;) Then we came across a statue:
He read the text at the base (on the front) and I asked him if he knew what a mortal was--he didn't, so I defined it for him, and then tried to explain the character of Puck, quoting some of Puck's initial monologue for him.
Thou speak'st aright
I am that merrie wanderer of the night
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile..
I slowed it down so he could get the feel of the language, even if he couldn't grasp every word. I consider Midsummer the best kind of introduction to Shakespeare for kids (it was mine, after all! And I saw Midsummer when I wasn't too much older than William who is 7). All in all, I was most proud of my little nephew's prowess--I will hook him on my vocation yet! ;)
Thanksgiving was lovely--stayed with my youngest brother Stuart who's living on Capitol Hill right now with his wife and two adorbs kids. I took the bus Wednesday evening to Philly and stayed with my middle brother, Erik and he, his family and I left for DC early Thursday morning. At some point while the bird was cooking I went for a walk around Stuart's neighborhood with my nephew William--I used to know that section a bit, as my voice teacher's studio was near there. I LOVE DC's street layout--for all of DC's faults (and they are legion), it is truly a beautiful city in which to stroll. Wide avenues, lots of right angles, low-slung buildings, plenty of sun. William and I were walking along East Capital toward the Capitol and we passed a white, official-looking building on the left--I asked him what it is. He thought it was the Library of Congress but then my eyes gleamed as I saw it was actually the Folger. My temple, o my soul! How many shows have I seen there??? I literally grew up seeing plays there, love that place!! William and I walked around the grounds of the Capitol for a bit--he liked tracking our progress on the Google maps app on my phone--and then we took another way home, that took us in front of the Folger. All along 2nd Street they had these placards attached to the lamposts, with quotations from various plays, so I started asking William to read them for me and then I would explain them. We worked through "Parting is such sweet sorrow" (I talked about the term bittersweet) and "Nothing will come of nothing" (I decided to skip the introduction to nihilism until he gets a little older ;) Then we came across a statue:
He read the text at the base (on the front) and I asked him if he knew what a mortal was--he didn't, so I defined it for him, and then tried to explain the character of Puck, quoting some of Puck's initial monologue for him.
Thou speak'st aright
I am that merrie wanderer of the night
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile..
I slowed it down so he could get the feel of the language, even if he couldn't grasp every word. I consider Midsummer the best kind of introduction to Shakespeare for kids (it was mine, after all! And I saw Midsummer when I wasn't too much older than William who is 7). All in all, I was most proud of my little nephew's prowess--I will hook him on my vocation yet! ;)