I found myself talking about this with a co-worker recently, by using the text in Romeo and Juliet- Ironically, we have each listed it as our favourite Shakespeare play. We are both saps.
When you hear Romeo and Juliet speak, the poetry that they use makes them sound as if they have been lovers for ages. To give a brief example, in Act 1 Scene 5:
“…My Lips, two blushing pilgrims ready stand
to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”
To describe someone’s lips as “two blushing pilgrims”, builds up the image of kissing at the end of the thought to sound- beyond amazing, beyond right, but holy. It certainly gives a sensation of the weight and importance implied by what Romeo is saying.
When we read this text in our heads, this won’t necessarily be heard. It’s simply processed as data on the page. But when this text is given such elements as breath, cadence, tone- such things that we do not necessarily recognize, realize, or remember until we hear them- we feel the timelessness in the text. We are given the idea of soul-mates, or age-old lovers- even though they are only teenagers (Well, ok, one’s a teenager, one’s more or less a pre-teen. Depending on what you define as a teenager, really). That is what brings on the idea or theme of love at first sight. This is one of many different examples that can be shared, and not always read- nowhere does Shakespeare interrupt this scene to say THIS IS WHAT LOVE-AT-FIRST-SIGHT IS.
Long story short, this is the kind of experience we wish to bring to our audiences. So, if you are looking for a reason to vote for us today, do it because Shakespeare is a very human experience, and we want to share that. Help us bring a very human experience to those who are not physically able to attend a theatre.
http://www.refresheverything.ca/shakespeareinhospitals
That, and, as human beings, we put the best typo ever in our own grant goals.
Five edits, including two from myself, and three from separate, well-educated sources, somehow skimmed over how to spell “professional”. REALLY?!
Well if that isn’t human, I don’t know what is.