I owe a huge thank you to Carousel Theatre for Young People for providing my children such a wonderful introduction to the complex works of William Shakespeare. I’m positively giddy that, thanks to Shakespearean Rhapsody, my kids know three of the Bard’s plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Romeo and Juliet; and The Tempest.
When we arrived at the Waterfront Theatre at Granville Island I didn’t know which plays were going to be part of Shakespearean Rhapsody. My husband looked at me with a marginally stricken look when he saw Romeo and Juliet was part of the production. He loves Shakespeare; he just wasn’t sure if Romeo & Juliet was the most appropriate Shakespearean play for our 4 & 6 year olds. He need not have feared! The Carousel Theatre company exists to expose kids aged 3+ years to live theatre. They know who their audience is and they respect the fact that kids can be easily scared.
Photo credit: Tim Matheson
The production was amazingly accomplished by only 4 actors, an unbelievable number of costume changes, and an astounding amount of rhyming text. The four actors deserved a standing ovation; they were positively fantastic! Part of me secretly hopes they collapsed in an exhausted heap at the end of the performance…no adult can possible have that amount of sustainable energy! I was awed!
Shakespearean Rhapsody is based on the clever book series “Shakespeare Can Be Fun” by Lois Burdett. Mike Stack, playwright, developed a fast-paced, witty, and accurate telling of the three Shakespearean plays. Kudos to Mr Stack for including such a large number of verbatim quotes from the three plays. “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name”. My kids heard that at 4 & 6. Yippee! (Yes, I’ll admit to being a former English Lit major, but still it is super cool when young kids get exposed to the masters in any subject).
Photo credit: Tim Matheson
The Carousel Theatre production of Shakespearean Rhapsody runs at Granville Island’s Waterfront Theatre until March 30th. There are a variety of matinee and evening performances. The show is one hour in length. You can purchase your tickets online. “Get thee to the…theatre!”
