科罗拉多少年演绎莎翁戏剧

Colorado Teens Tackle Shakespeare

科罗拉多少年演绎莎翁戏剧

 

Americans love Shakespeare. His plays have been adapted into popular musicals and movies … there are 80 Shakespeare festivals across the country … and in Colorado, young teens are producing a light-hearted version of one of the Bard's romantic comedies.

 

As a cool evening breeze settles over Boulder¹, Colorado, dozens of youngsters, teens and adults head down a suburban² driveway, toting lawn chairs and picnic dinners. Directing them toward the backyard are middle school students wearing lavish³ Elizabethan gowns.

 

One girl (whispers): Thouest must go that way, to go to the wonderful dilly dally⁴.

 

Another girl: Thus comes together to talk Shakespeare.

 

Tonight, most of that talk will be happening on a makeshift stage as these pre-teen and early teenage actors perform a real Shakespeare play.

 

One of the ticket takers says that he's been practicing.

 

"Antonio, I arrest thee a suit at Count Orsino."

 

“I memorized my lines, everyone had a lot of lines."

 

The grownups in the audience are proud of what these kids have done, especially the man hosting this backyard production. He is well acquainted with the show's director.

 

Dan Miller⁵: My daughter, she put it on.

 

Dan Miller explains that his daughter, Bay, got involved with Shakespeare in elementary school.

 

Dan Miller: Her teacher does a production every year and she just caught onto it and enjoyed it, and she puts on her own production every summer.

 

Tonight, Bay is wearing a beautiful burgundy-colored Elizabethan gown, because in addition to directing this play, she's one of the actors. In fact, this 13-year old Shakespeare dynamo says that she even made a few decisions about just how much of the play to present.

 

Bay: The whole things were condensed version to one hour.

 

Reporter: How long is usually?

 

Bay: 13 hours.

 

As Bay hurries backstage, her dad and a hundred other audience members settle into lawn chairs, eager for the play to begin. A handful of teens and children dressed as clowns crowd together, mischievously⁶ watching as Bay steps onto the homemade stage.

 

Bay (announce the program): The North Boulder Shakespeare Festival would like to present William Shakespeare's comedy…

 

The clowns break in.

 

The clowns: To be or not to be! That is the question!

 

Bay: No! We'd like to present…

 

(She's interrupted again, prompting laughter from the audience. This time, the clowns choose a line from MacBeth)

 

The clowns: Double-double, toil⁷ and trouble!

 

Bay: No.

 

Finally, the clowns let the play begin. It's Twelfth Night, and the actors remember most of their lines. During intermission, Boulder city official Alice Swett takes credit for helping⁸ to fund this backyard neighborhood show.

 

Alice Swett: The program that I ran gives grants to youth for cultural activities such as this one, and, Bay Miller, who is the 8th-grade producer of this production, applied⁹ to the youth opportunities program for a grant. And the youth board, which is 16 high school students, reviewed the proposal and gave a grant to support this production.

 

Bay used the grant money for a better stage, some props¹¹ and more authentic¹² costumes. In addition to leading this annual neighborhood event, Bay is helping with costumes at a professional theatre production… the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, one of the top Shakespeare festivals in the nation.

 

But tonight, her focus is on the Shakespearean production in her own backyard. (The applause and cheers of her delighted audience.)

 

I’m Shelley Schlender in Boulder, Colorado.

 

注释：

light-hearted adj. 轻松愉快的

suburban [sE5bE:bEn] adj. 郊外的，偏远的

gown [^aun] n. 长袍

dilly dally 磨磨蹭蹭

makeshift [5meikFift] adj. 将就的

thee [Ti:] pron. <古>(thou的宾格)你

be acquainted with 熟悉

dynamo [5dainEmEu] n. 发电机（本文意指“发烧友”）

condense [kEn5dens] v. （使）浓缩

clown [klaun] n. 小丑

mischievously [5mistFivEsli] adv. 淘气地

homemade [5hEum5meid] adj. 自制的

intermission [7intE(:)5miFEn] n. 间断

prop¹⁰ [prCp] n. 道具

authentic [C:5Wentik] adj. 真的；真正的

costume [5kCstju:m] n. 装束，服装

1 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

2 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

3 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

4 dally   

v.荒废(时日)，调情

参考例句：

• You should not dally away your time.你不应该浪费时间。
• One shouldn't dally with a girl's affection.一个人不该玩弄女孩子的感情。

5 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

6 mischievously   

adv.有害地；淘气地

参考例句：

• He mischievously looked for a chance to embarrass his sister. 他淘气地寻找机会让他的姐姐难堪。 来自互联网
• Also has many a dream kindheartedness, is loves mischievously small lovable. 又有着多啦a梦的好心肠，是爱调皮的小可爱。 来自互联网

7 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

10 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

11 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

12 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。