‘Tis the Halloween season again, which brings us to the spookier side of Shakespeare! In the past, we have talked about Macbeth and the Three Witches, Hamlet and his father’s ghost ― but what about the bringing together Shakespeare and the great art of trick-or-treating?
This year, try taking the show on the road. Instead of saying “Trick or Treat!” when a neighbour answers the door, suggest that your young actors quote a particularly scary line from Macbeth. Almost anything from the Three Witches would be appropriate. (“Fair is foul, and foul is fair / Hover through the fog and filthy air.”)
Or what about dressing up as Hamlet for Halloween? Any costume would make a dramatic statement, and the skull that Hamlet ponders later in the play (“Alas, poor Yorick . . .”) would be a perfect accessory! Just follow Richard Burton’s lead in this clip.
For those young people not interested in exploring the darker side of Shakespeare, remind them that they can dress up as one of the fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream – or even Bottom, with his donkey’s head!
As we declared in our last post, “we can make any world a stage!” . . . and there’s no time better than on Halloween.
©2019