To go or not to go: Shakespeare classes forming

IF YOU GOWhat: "Shakespeare for the Elizabethan Impaired" classesWhen: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, March 12-April 16Where: The English Rose Tea Room, 1401 Market St.Admission: $175 for series (includes tea and desserts), $35 individual classesPhone: 423-622-2862Email: jhashe@epbfi.comNote: Registration is required. Maximum of 15 students

photo William Shakespeare

He may be widely regarded as the best writer in the English language, but Shakespeare has inspired a love/hate relationship for many readers of classic literature. Teacher Janis Hashe will seek to rectify that in a six-week series of classes titled "Shakespeare for the Elizabethan Impaired."

Hashe says she created the class 14 years ago and has successfully taught it in colleges and at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre. She is the producing director of Shakespeare Chattanooga, which has presented several productions by (or inspired by) the Bard.

"I designed the class for people who didn't like his work when they were introduced to it but now would like to find out what all the fuss is about," she says. But, she adds, "I usually have quite a few people who do love Shakespeare and just enjoy the opportunity of reading and discussing his work."

Plays covered in the class are "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Hamlet" and "Richard III," with two class sessions spent on each play. As with the just completed session on Oscar Wilde, students can sign up for the whole series or for individual classes.

This time, in particular, she says, people may have fun talking about the recent discovery of Richard III's skeleton unearthed in a parking lot in Leicester, England.

SCHEDULE

March 12: Shakespeare the Man: "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Part 1

March 19: Rough Magic: "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Part 2

March 26: How Many Hamlets?: "Hamlet," Part 1

April 2: Good Night, Sweet Prince: "Hamlet," Part 2

April 9: Black As He's Painted -- Not: "Richard III," Part 1

April 16: My Kingdom for a Horse: "Richard III," Part 2

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