☰ Contents · English

Cinema or theatre; Shakespeare and scripts

Lessons 66–67 · 2 lessons · S. Khan, L. Kamalova, L. Jurayev. Teens’ English 8 (English, Grade 8). “O‘qituvchi” Publishing House, Tashkent, 2020
67

Great playwrights

Textbook: p. 81
GoalGreat playwrights: Shakespeare and the Globe theatre; tragedy, comedy, history play; writing a simple script.
New words
play · pyesascript · ssenariyrole · rolhistory play · tarixiy pyesa
Explanation

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English playwright and poet. He began at the Globe theatre in London as an actor and later wrote plays for the company. The Globe was built in 1599, burned down in 1613, was rebuilt in 1614, and a replica opened in London in 1997. At that time women’s roles were played by young men and boys. Three genres: tragedy (“King Lear”, “Romeo and Juliet”), comedy (“The Comedy of Errors”, about two pairs of twins), and the history play. In Uzbek theatre history Mahmudkhoja Behbudiy’s play “Padarkush” (1911) is considered one of the first Uzbek dramas. Script format: character name, colon, speech; stage directions in brackets: ALI [surprised]: Where is my lamp?

Worked examples
Mini script. ZAFAR [looking everywhere]: Where is my bag? MADINA [calmly]: It is on the chair. ZAFAR [surprised]: But I looked there! MADINA [laughing]: You are sitting on it!
Genres: Romeo and Juliet – a tragedy (a sad ending). The Comedy of Errors – a comedy (confusion caused by twins and a happy ending).
Class activity

Script: in pairs write a six-line script with stage directions and read it aloud.

Practice
1
Which theatre did Shakespeare work in?
2
Who played women’s roles then?
3
Where do we write stage directions in a script?
4
Why is “Romeo and Juliet” a tragedy?