It’s Your Cue! Using Shakespeare's Cue Scripts to Unpack Shakespeare’s Folio Clues
Kevin Long, Professor of Theater, Harper College, Palatine; and Mary T. Christel, Communication Arts Instructor (retired)/Author, D125, LincolnshireM-202
Shakespeare’s work provides a wealth of themes and complex characters to engage our 21st century students, though Early Modern English provides challenges in reading and understanding his plays for many students. We can, and should, supplement any modern edition and its resources with excerpts from the First Folio as well as cue scripts similar to those Shakespeare’s actors used to apply the surprising clues the Bard embedded in his plays often missing or obscured in the edited versions students read.
Session Materials:
- CUE-SCRIPTS-HAMLET-Act-I-Scene-1-Marcellus-Barnardo-Horatio-Francisco-Ghost.pdf
- HAMLET-Act-I-Scene-1-KEEPER-OF-THE-BOOK-IATE.pdf
- IATE-2025-CUE-SCRIPT-HAMLET-Presentation.pdf
Website:
https://www.kevinlongdirector.com
Notes:
Hear ye, hear ye, good friends and fellow lovers of the Bard!
Join us for “It’s Your Cue! Using Shakespeare's Cue Scripts to Unpack Shakespeare’s Folio Clues” — a spirited exploration of how Shakespeare’s original stage practices can unlock new discoveries for our 21st-century students!
Together, we’ll dive into cue scripts, glimpse the actor’s world of the Globe, and uncover the secret “Folio Clues” Shakespeare left behind to guide his players toward truth, clarity, and emotion.
“The play’s the thing…” — and this session will show you why!