Teaching Will

After the waning of her successful acting career, Mel Ryane found herself creatively adrift and proposed creating an after-school Shakespeare program at a local inner-city public school. Loaded with an armory of theatre craft but devoid of professional teaching skills, she launched The Shakespeare Club on high hopes, goodwill, and the romantic ideal of inspiring young lives. A comedy of errors but inspiring throughout Teaching Will is a story for teachers, volunteers, actors, and parents—as well as anyone who's ever had to let go of a dream.

ISBN10:	1939629233
ISBN13:	9781939629234
Number Of Pages:	234
Publication Date:	20140826
Publisher:	Workman
Binding:	Paperback

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SKU: 9781939629234

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What happens when an idealist volunteers to introduce Shakespeare to a group of unruly kids? Bedlam. Tears. And hard lessons learned. Convinced that children can relate to Shakespeare's themes—power, revenge, love—Mel Ryane launches The Shakespeare Club at a public school. Teaching Will is a riotous cautionary tale of high hopes and goodwill crashing into the realities of classroom chaos.

Every week Mel encounters unexpected comedy and drama as she and the children struggle toward staging a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Woven through this fish-out-of-water tale is Mel's own story of her childhood aspirations, her acting identity, and the heartbreaking end of her onstage career.

In the schoolyard, Mel finds herself embroiled in jealousy and betrayal worthy of Shakespeare's plots. Fits of laughter alternate with wiping noses as she and the kids discover a surprising truth: they need each other if they want to face an audience and triumph. Teaching Will is an uplifting story of empowerment for dreamers and realists alike.