麻豆影院

The Sonnet Man听performs the sonnet he wrote especially for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in 2021.

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) is offering a virtual workshop series this summer aimed at connecting听kids 12鈥�18 years old with the work of William Shakespeare.听

The Shakespeare Lab features seven unique masterclasses taught by CSF actors and theater experts from across the country.听听

This year's virtual platform allowed CSF to host new and unexpected professionals from outside Colorado, including a brilliant rap artist who will teach attendees how to blend Shakespeare鈥檚 classical sonnets with contemporary hip-hop beats.

Devon Glover, AKA听, travels to classrooms around the world , to both entertain and educate young audiences in a genre they can relate to.

For this year鈥檚 virtual Shakespeare Lab,听 Glover will teach attendees how to relate personally with Shakespeare鈥檚 work, and how to write, perform and rap a Shakespearean sonnet.

And, as a long-time fan of CSF, he created and recorded a 听specifically for this year鈥檚 festival.听

The birth of The Sonnet Man

Like many young people, Glover was never a fan of Shakespeare growing up.听

鈥淭he first time I was introduced to Shakespeare was in my high school English class when they gave us King Lear to read,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll of us students looked at each other like: I ain鈥檛 reading this.鈥�

He even switched his major from English literature to math education during his first year at Ithaca College because he didn鈥檛 want to study Shakespeare.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of surreal that I'm working with Shakespeare today when I used to avoid that man,鈥� Glover said.听

Glover dropped out of college with 1 credit remaining due to financial reasons, which led him to a new opportunity working for Flocabulary, a Brooklyn-based company that creates educational hip-hop songs, videos and additional materials for students in grades K-12.听

He visited classrooms teaching math, writing and English to students whose teachers felt they needed a creative push to get them interested in their lesson plans. In the ultimate irony, he found that Shakespeare in particular really resonated with hip-hop rhythm.听

鈥淎s a hip-hop artist, I was able to notice the couplets and the rhythm of his sonnets, and that there was a meter or cadence to his work that really connected with the genre.鈥�

He was eventually introduced to his then-manager, Arje Shaw, a Broadway producer, music producer, playwright and author. Shaw, who has since passed away, had the idea of bringing sonnets to music for 20 years before he met Glover.听听

鈥淎rje knew that whoever was gonna be the artist representing this project was gonna be called The Sonnet Man, which I was not a fan of at first,鈥� Glover said. 鈥淚t sounds like a superhero, but I ran with it and I鈥檓 so happy I did.鈥�

Glover has since taught and conducted workshops and performances in England, Canada, Netherlands, Bermuda, Prague and more. He was also featured on NBC鈥檚 The Today Show and received tremendous national response鈥撯�搒o much so that an anonymous donor paid for Glover to finish his college degree.听

Bridging the gap

Glover is continuously looking for connections between Shakespeare and hip-hop culture. He pointed out that in his day, Shakespeare bent the rules of language to make it understandable to his audience and shocked them with his blatant insults and raunchy humor.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 similar to when hip-hop first started, and society tried to censor the artists,鈥� he said.听 鈥淩appers had to make their own lane, just like Shakespeare.鈥澨�

But, Glover is adamant that anyone, even those who aren't hip-hop fanatics, can resonate with Shakespeare鈥檚 work.听

鈥淭here's a myth that Shakespeare isn't for everybody, or that you can鈥檛 write like him,鈥� Glover said. 鈥淚f you can write a line with 10 syllables, and you can rhyme two words, you鈥檙e already halfway there.鈥�

In his workshops, Glover encourages his students to relate Shakespeare鈥檚 work to their personal lives by asking them three questions: Have you ever had a disagreement with a parent or friend? Have you ever been insulted by somebody? Have you ever done something behind someone鈥檚 back, or had it done to you?

鈥淪hakespeare wrote three different genres: the histories, the comedies and the tragedies. No matter which one of these you pick, you're gonna see all of these themes,鈥� Glover said.听

鈥淚t's like reality TV, and kids, especially high school students, can relate to that.鈥�

Giving back

Glover was born and raised along with two brothers by a single mom in Brooklyn, New York鈥撯�搕he home of some of the world鈥檚 greatest rappers including The Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z and Nas. Yet, arts programs are limited.听

鈥淚 never learned any fine arts growing up in Brooklyn. I went to a good school but we never had a fine arts program, just sports,鈥� he said.听听

Glover firmly believes that fine arts should be incorporated in the curriculum of all students.

鈥淭here are so many fine arts educational programs and extracurricular activities that have been shut down in low income areas,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 watched my own neighborhood disintegrate the moment that our afterschool school programs were cancelled.鈥澨�

Glover hopes to continue to teach and perform at schools across the world, and one day develop his own theater program in the Brooklyn community he grew up in to offer kids a place to get creative.听

鈥淚 want to give back to my community and be another representative for writers, artists, introverts and students of color.鈥澨�

麻豆影院 Colorado Shakespeare Festival

CSF has been running education programs focused on bringing Shakespeare to young audiences for over 20 years, according to CSF鈥檚 Director of Outreach Amanda Giguere.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 important for kids to connect with a time beyond our own, and studying and performing Shakespeare allows you to step into a different century and connect with art that was created over 400 years ago,鈥� she said.听

Giguere also thinks it's important for kids to grapple with the complex storylines of Shakespeare鈥檚 work.听

鈥淚t teaches kids how to think about the world from someone else's perspective,鈥� she said.听

This is CSF鈥檚 first year offering a virtual workshop series.听

During a typical summer, Giguere would hire CSF actors to teach master classes in-person at CU 麻豆影院's Mary Rippon Theatre, but the coronavirus pandemic forced them to remain socially distanced through summer.听

鈥淚t's a new creation,鈥� she said. 鈥淕iven that we have to keep our actors in a bubble this year, to keep them safe per equity guidelines, this virtual offering seemed like a great alternative.鈥�

Registration for the full Shakespeare Lab package has closed, but drop-in students can register for the remaining classes .听

To learn more about Devon Glover鈥檚 work, you can visit his or follow him on Twitter at @ThesonnetmanNYC.听