Imprimis: Links and Tidbits, 8 April 2011

Greetings, all -- I hope your April has started well. This week we have a smattering of links, several focusing on Shakespeare's influence outside of the scholastic world:

• We'd like to give a shout-out to the Empty Chair Theatre Company, a production company based in Arlington, Virginia, founded in 2007 by Julia Sears and Elizabeth Nearing, both veterans of our ASC Theatre Camp (Young Company Theatre Camp, or YCTC, as was). Many of their staffers are also alums of our program. This summer, they'll be producing Twelfth Night and Titus Andronicus, and word is they've even snagged a night performing at the Folger Theatre. The company also has a blog, if you'd like to keep up with their projects. We are so proud of our camp alums, and we wish them so much success and joy in their endeavors. Doreen says: I can attest to the professionalism and high standards that these women value in their work, and I respectfully consider them colleagues and collaborators, both philosophically and creatively, in the endeavor of making of dynamic Shakespearean theatre.
• The NY Times claims that Shakespeare invented teenagers -- What do you think?
• Utah Shakespeare has delved into using performance to teach Shakespeare. One teacher comments that students who normally "would be sitting in the back twiddling their thumbs or punching someone next to them" are engaged by and interested in more active learning processes. Imagine that!
• This article details some of the ways scholars attempt to date Shakespeare's plays. It has an Oxfordian bent, though, trying to re-date plays to correct for de Vere's 1604 death. Cass says: And blatantly ignoring topical references and plain common sense, while they're at it.
• BigThink.com is hosting a month of "How to Think Like Shakespeare." The project is designed to imagine how "studying Shakespeare enriches the various disciplines—from neuroscience to business to psychology and beyond." Author James Shapiro is among the panel of experts commenting on Shakespeare's applicability to many different realms of life.
  

And no, I'm not even acknowledging that Anonymous travesty.