“Renaissance Clothing is Not for Every Day”
by Countess Olivia
Why You Wouldn’t Want to Live in the Renaissance, Girls! What if you had to spend an hour getting dressed every morning? Or if you had to wear a corset so tight, you could barely breathe. Well, that’s what it was like in the Renaissance. During the Elizabethan era, it was considered fashionable to wear corsets that were so tight that sometimes they displaced a woman’s ribs! Women would often faint; they were so tight. Ashlie Jensen from the Being Bess blog says, “after more than seven hours of wear, any bodies or corset will start to gnaw on your stomach and lower back.” As a modern girl, I have to say, “Yuk!”
Luckily, with ImprovEd Shakespeare performances, we don’t have to be quite so historically accurate. Even so, Shakespearean clothes are stiff and take a very long time to put on. They are itchy, tight, and hard to move in. I can’t imagine wearing velvety, feathery, lacy clothes every single day.
Image courtesy of 1860garmentsbyglenda.com.
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Modern vs. Renaissance
I much prefer modern fashion because we get to wear whatever makes us feel, and look the best. In Shakespeare’s time, women had to wear long dresses. Today, we wear pants and super short shorts. They also had to wear tops that went down to their hips; we wear tops that are half as short. They wore boots, we wear flip flops, they had long sleeves, we have tank tops. Plus, modern fashion is a lot more practical to move in. You can’t really run around in a big fluffy dress or be cool on a hot summer day wearing long boots. It’s hard if you play a sport, to do it in tight clothes.
Although the clothes they wore are sometimes a lot prettier than some of our modern clothes, ours are a lot more comfortable and versatile. Thus, you wouldn’t want to live in the Renaissance, girls!
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SHAKESPEARE FOR ALL
Working with Shakespeare in education frightens many. Because Shakespeare experts, including professionals, surround us. Escaping them is difficult. This can be intimidating. Thus, feelings of dread usually accompany the act of presenting, but moreover be introduced to, the Bard.
For this reason, ImprovEd Shakespeare is here to help. Founder and Director, Andee Kinzy, offers the layman’s approach to Shakespeare.
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SHAKESPEARE FOR TEACHERS AND DIRECTORS
If you’re an English teacher, a theatre director, or a well-trained Shakespeare advocate, here you will find inspiration, as well as techniques, for making our favorite bard fun for Kids. Accordingly, we present old, new and improved ideas for introducing Shakespeare to youth for the non-Shakespeare-academic. Among them, we include theatre games, improvisation, tips, tricks, plus activities for using Shakespeare in education.
SHAKESPEARE FOR KIDS
Since 2011, ImprovEd Shakespeare has been exploring the Bard with youth through theatrical performance. Our signature scripts are a mix of modern narration plus original Shakespeare verse. With a focus on the story, including an abbreviated script length, our productions entertain all ages. Moreover, our catalog goes beyond the oft-used Midsummer Night’s Dream, or Romeo and Juliet. We’ve discovered that young people find much to their delight among many of Shakespeare’s works. Consider subscribing to our YouTube channel for family-friendly Shakespeare videos.
PERFORMANCES
Each fall and spring, ImprovEd Shakespeare develops a new production for live performance. In honor of the traditional Renaissance traveling troupe, during a period of a few weeks, we present Kid-friendly plays at various venues around town. Our Players, between 3rd-11th grade, gear themselves with playful, as well as engaging interpretations of works by the Bard of Avon. Suitable for all ages, each performance runs for about an hour.
Furthermore, these shows are always FREE. However, we gladly accept Donations! Additionally, visit ImprovEd Shakespeare, Shakespeare for Kids by Kids on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter. And don’t forget to click on our BLOG for the stories behind these videos.
