WordPlay™ Shakespeare

Now, Half the Page is a Stage...

Bard Behind Bars

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After the last few days of humorous posts, a more somber one to end the week. At many prisons across the United States, Shakespeare is used as a tool for educating inmates, and re-integrating them into communities. One of the older of these programs is Curt L. Tofteland's Shakespeare Behind Bars program in Kentucky, started in 1991. Their latest production: A Midsummer Night's Dream, a production which uniquely, requires theatergoers to undergo a background check and security clearance.

A Heartbeat Away: Shakespeare and Autism

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Shakespeare takes center stage in a novel intervention for children with autism. A new study from the Nisonger Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center shows children with autism had improved communication and language skills after ten weeks of Shakespeare classes.

A remarkable article on how Shakespeare's The Tempest is being used to help students with autism spectrum disorder. More.