Ahhh, Puck! My absolute favorite of all Shakespeare’s characters. I associate the most with him and his mischievous ways, and that is why I probably like him so. But, he is also the perfect character to kick off a post about Shakespeare Pranks.
Okay, this isn’t an actual Shakespeare prank, not yet, anyway. I am big into the creative process of a prank or a practical joke. I have history of doing practical jokes on people. I’ve always considered a practical joke simply a canvas for creativity. This past week I completed a practical joke on a fellow coworker who resisted putting any art on his wall, he took a week of vacation off, and I “arranged” for art to be applied while he was away. See the video below for the great fun it was…Slimetopia:
But after it was done, it really got me thinking about doing a Shakespeare Prank. Now, I cannot exactly do a Shakespeare prank on somebody here at work, not the right forum. However, there is a chance that you can! That’s right, you! Now, the school setting or theater setting, would be a great place to stage a Shakespeare prank. How great would it be to rally a class of kids together to pull a Shakespeare prank on another class or teacher within the school? Maybe it’s a MacBeth witch theme prank and they pull everything out of a teacher’s, or principal’s, office and replace it to look like the witches cave? or a Hamlet themed prank, where they fill every desk in a rival classroom with skulls? or some such craziness. Maybe they do an “impromptu” Mechanicals flash mob a do a scene from A Midsummer Nights Dream in the middle of another’s class!!! Oh, I can just see the chaos now!
I can start brainstorming a big list, but really, it’s about starting the idea then stoking the fire and letting the kids be creative with their ideas. I’ve always found, I start with a good foundation, add a little craziness and excitement, and everybody else will keep adding in ideas. And with Shakespeare, they can rally all the ideas around a specific play, helping to better understand all the symbolics of that particular storyline. What a great lesson idea this could be.
Do me a big favor, if you do this, please let me know and send me the video you create. Time progression pictures are always the best, as well as the reaction!
For more inspiration, here are a few other pranks that I have done in the past… They are YouTube videos, so click on them!
The Troll Door – we actually replaced and framed in his office door with a tiny troll door!
The Hen House – This was in retaliation to turning my office into an aquarium with 800 balloons!!!
Credit for the feature image to Great Scott – that’s a phenomenal drawing of Puck, the most mischievous prankster of them all!
The Shakespeare Prank was originally published on Shakespeare for Kids Books
Have some kids in class that are musically inclined? Give them a great challenge, have them create a Shakespeare song. Perhaps this is to one of their favorite characters (ohh, what would a Puck song sound like… I’m thinking Nirvana…) or their favorite play (I can hear a nice Halloween melody running for Titus…) or anything associated with The Bard at all.
Remember, the point is to get kids engaged with Shakespeare, any way possible. What a great Shakespeare challenge. When you have a musical performance ready, please send it my way so I can enjoy and share with others!!!
Some people turn 50 as a milestone, this guy’s turning 450, wow! Ok, so he doesn’t look as good as someone who is turning 50, but hey, we are still talking about him!
Brendan's thoughts 