1. 21 February 2017 Choice Reading – 10 min (collect rubrics)
Classic Joke Tuesday
Background Info on William Shakespeare, Theatre and Black Plague

2. What did one person with the Black Plague say to the other?
Classic joke Tuesday
What did one person with the Black Plague say to the other?
What do you call a cow that just had a baby?- decaffeinated

3. Classic Joke Tuesday
Oh, rats!

4. William Shakespeare & the Elizabethan era (1558–1603)

5. In QW [02/21/17]: Create a “KWL” chart
Have kids fill out “What I Know” section right now before we begin!

6. William Shakespeare:
Born April 23, 1564 / Died April 23, 1616 ( 52 years old)
Lived in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England
Father was a glove-maker / Mother was from a wealthy, prominent family

8. Marriage to Anne Hathaway
Married Anne Hathaway (not that one…) at age 18 – she was 26 years old and pregnant. Gasp!
Had 3 children together – Susanna, Judith and Hamnet (last two were twins)

9. Moving on to London
They never divorced, but Shakespeare spent the majority of his adult life in London
He was acting and writing
First plays, Henry VI and The Comedy of Errors were written soon after he moved.
Romeo and Juliet was written in 1595 (31 years old)

10. The Globe Theatre

11. Theatre Plays were performed at 2:00 in the afternoon.
Flag colors let townspeople know what type of play was being performed
Red – History
White – Comedy
Black – Tragedy

12. Theatre continued Open to the sky
Groundlings or penny-stinkards could stand and watch for a penny
Wealthier patrons could rent a cushion to sit on the benches for 2 cents
Would only shower about twice a year – flowers (to make them not stink so much) married in June because they would have just showered!

14. All the world’s a stage.. Only MEN were allowed to act – NO WOMEN!
Young boys often played women’s roles
Actors had very little time to memorize lines
Clowns and jesters were town celebrities!
Shakespeare acted in his plays – often said he enjoyed playing the ghost in Hamlet / 11 performances of 10 different plays in just two weeks!

15. The black Plague…

16. The Black Plague
Came to London in early 1590’s – killed millions of people throughout Europe.
All theatres were closed.
Disease-ridden rats (from Asia) carried the disease.

17. Conditions in England Cities were filthy. People, often, were filthy.
Poor people did not have an opportunity to bathe very often
They threw garbage and feces in the streets.
NO PLUMBING!!!
Did not understand that fresh air and cleanliness = good health.
All of these conditions helped to spread the plague.

18. Did you know??
Most people married in June after their yearly bath in May.
Brides carried bouquets to hide their B.O.
Families would use ONE bath – Dad got to go first, because, patriarchy. The last one – ew.

19. Interesting tidbits!
They eventually ran out of places to bury people in England, so they would dig up bodies and reuse the graves.
Sometimes they found scratch marks on the inside of the coffins…

20. And now you know!
When they realized they were burying people alive, they began putting bells around the dead person’s wrist.
Someone would sit outside the grave and listen for the bell!