Pokémon Shakespeare
Faculty Mentor
Valerie Pye
Area of Research
Theatre Arts
Major
BFA Theatre Arts (Musical Theatre)
Description
INTRODUCTION: An internationally sensational game franchise debuting in 1996 on one side, and the arguably archaic plays of a certain 16th-century English playwright on the other… somehow, they tectonically converge.
METHOD: Through diagrams, images, and examples, this project visually delineates exactly how the structure of Pokémon battles and the language in Shakespeare’s scenes (both comedic and dramatic) uses parallel devices and architectural schematics. Highlighted scenes will include Henry IV, Part One, 2.3 and The Comedy of Errors, 3.2.
RESULTS: The project shares offerings based on one's personal experience on how this can inform and galvanize an actor’s practice.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: On a larger scale, why is this particular connection relevant? In the current industry—where there’s no shortage of well-established schools of acting shaping powerful performances of Shakespeare and other material—can we justify innovation? Or is innovation, especially for theatre artists, a necessity for the vitality of creative engagement?
Pokémon Shakespeare
INTRODUCTION: An internationally sensational game franchise debuting in 1996 on one side, and the arguably archaic plays of a certain 16th-century English playwright on the other… somehow, they tectonically converge.
METHOD: Through diagrams, images, and examples, this project visually delineates exactly how the structure of Pokémon battles and the language in Shakespeare’s scenes (both comedic and dramatic) uses parallel devices and architectural schematics. Highlighted scenes will include Henry IV, Part One, 2.3 and The Comedy of Errors, 3.2.
RESULTS: The project shares offerings based on one's personal experience on how this can inform and galvanize an actor’s practice.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: On a larger scale, why is this particular connection relevant? In the current industry—where there’s no shortage of well-established schools of acting shaping powerful performances of Shakespeare and other material—can we justify innovation? Or is innovation, especially for theatre artists, a necessity for the vitality of creative engagement?