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Treasure Island: Rum or Gum?

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I recently had the privilege to watch a video of a school group in New Jersey perform my Treasure Island for Kids, and of course, it was AWESOME! That being said, one thing I kept noticing…. they were saying “Rum” incorrectly… but wait! No, they weren’t, they were saying “Gum”!

When re-writing classics tales like I do, I do my best to stick to the original plotline as much as possible.  However, there are several times where that’s not possible. Sometimes with the length of the story or around specific content covered in the stories.  And Treasure Island is no different, because, when it comes to pirates, they drink rum! And there are no mixing words when Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island, those pirates drank their rum!

I specifically remember wavering around this point when writing, if I should talk about rum or not. In the end, I stayed to the storyline and hoped that schools and directors would make modifications as they felt necessary.  Well, good for this school… as those pirates were constantly searching for their GUM!

So, if you are performing Treasure Island, and don’t feel comfortable using the word rum, you are MORE THAN WELCOME to substitute GUM in there!

Until next time, have fun on the stage!

Treasure Island: Rum or Gum? was originally published on Shakespeare for Kids Books

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13 Words first penned by Shakespeare

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As we all know, Shakespeare wrote a lot of words.  Many of which he made up on the fly, or simply was the first one to actually write them done.  Regardless, he alone added somewhere upwards of 5,000+ words and phrases to the English language.  Some of these, we use every day.  Here’s a list of 13 words first penned by Shakespeare:
13 words penned by Shakespeare

Gloomy

Quote: “Forced in the ruthless, vast, and gloomy woods?” – Titus Andronicus

Laughable

Quote: “Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable.” – The Merchant of Venice

Majestic

Quote: “This is a most majestic vision” – The Tempest

Lonely

Quote: “Believe’t not lightly – though I go alone / Like to a lonely dragon that his fen -Coriolanus

Radiance

Quote: “For by the sacred radiance of the sun” – King Lear

Hurry

Quote: “Lives, honors, lands, and all hurry to loss.” – Henry VI Part 1

Generous

Quote: “Free me so far in your most generous thoughts / That I have shot mine arrow o’er the house / And hurt my brother.” – Hamlet

Frugal

Quote: “Chid I for that at frugal Nature’s frame?” – Much Ado About Nothing

Critical

Quote: “For I am nothing if not critical” – Othello

Courtship

Quote: “To courtship and such fair ostents of love” – The Merchant of Venice

Zany

Quote: “Some carry-tale, some please-man, some slight zany” – Love’s Labour’s Lost

Undress

Quote: “Madam, undress you and come now to bed.” – The Taming of the Shrew

Rant

Quote:”I’ll rant as well as thou.” – Hamlet

 

13 Words first penned by Shakespeare was originally published on Shakespeare for Kids Books