The Ruff Guide to Shakespeare

The Ruff Guide to Shakespeare

by Toby Hulse

The life, the times and every single play of William Shakespeare – all in just one hour! The Ruff Guide to Shakespeare is a glorious celebration of the work of the world’s greatest playwright. Expect silly sketches, daft dance routines and extracts from all the famous and some less well-known Play. This show is the perfect introduction to Shakespeare and to the Tudor England that gave birth to his writing.

$12.00

Quick Details

  • Type: Play
  • Length: 60 minutes | Can be cut for competition
  • Availability: Available for productions in North America
  • Cast Size: Flexible | Originally performed with 7 actors

Full Details

Ensemble of at 7+ actor play:

  • Sir Nathaniel from Love's Labours Lost
  • Three Witches from Macbeth
  • An Unbelievably Cool Teenager
  • An Elizabethan Child
  • Two Pretentious Grown-Ups
  • John Shakespeare
  • Mary Arden
  • Player from the Queen's Men
  • William Shakespeare
  • A School Teacher
  • Anne Hathaway
  • Gambler
  • Innocent Newly Arrived From the Country
  • James Burbage
  • Robert Greene
  • Ben Jonson
  • Host of the Mastermind
  • Katherina from The Taming of the Shrew
  • The Soothsayer from Julius Caesar
  • Timon from Timon of Athens
  • Cleopatra from Anthony & Cleopatra
  • Antigonus from Winter's Tale
  • Savage Bohemian Bear
  • Sir John Falstaff
  • Queen Elizabeth I
  • Romeo from Romeo and Juliet
  • Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
  • Giles Allen
  • Sir Henry Wotton
  • Prospero from The Tempest

Ensemble includes School children, Hawkers, Rowdy Crowd, and Dead

The following resources are included in each performance license:
  • Permission to photocopy the PDF script for your production so there is no additional cost for these assets.

The following resources may be added to you license for an additional fee:
  • Logo/Media package

Toby Hulse

Toby Hulse is a playwright and director who specializes in making theatre for family audiences and in educational contexts. He has created work for theatres and companies across the UK, touring nationally and internationally. In addition to his work in theatres, Toby is a highly skilled creative practitioner, whose work ranges from one-off workshops to longer term partnerships, projects and residencies, with children and adults at all stages of their creative development. He is a regular Guest Tutor at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, teaching Improvisation, Clowning and Children's Theatre.

Between September 1999 and March 2004, Toby was Associate Director of Education at Bristol Old Vic. He devised and directed professional theatre projects for schools; produced resources and led events supporting Bristol Old Vic productions; and created and ran workshops on theatre practice and history for children, young people and adults.

Originally produced by Bristol Old Vic Theatre, UK, in 2016

Reviews

“

Fun for parents and children alike, The Ruff Guide to Shakespeare is a brilliant introduction to Shakespeare: the man and his Play. Cleverly structured around the ‘seven ages of man’ from As You Like It, it entertainingly informs the audience about Shakespeare’s own life, in a dynamic and varied way that is reminiscent of BBC’s Horrible Histories.

- Broadway Baby
“

Forget about dreary English classes, this Toby Hulse penned script should be on the curriculum of every school in the country. Taking the ‘All The Worlds A Stage’ speech from As You Like It we run through the seven eras of Shakespeare from the baby boy likely born on St George’s Day, to his betrothal to Anne Hathaway and his journey to London, the theatre and legend status.

- Life As Theatre

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