Staging the Brontë Sisters

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 12 June 2019 > What's On

Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë were wonderful storytellers, but their lives have fascinated generations of audiences almost as much as their books. The play Brontë by Polly Teale combines their biographies and their fiction. We talked to Barry Purves, who directed a recent production. Brontë by Polly Teale (2005), intertwines the biography of the Brontë … Continue reading “Staging the Brontë Sisters”

Tolkien the Storyteller

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 04 June 2019 > What's On

JRR Tolkien’s stories of Middle Earth, hobbits, wizards and dragons have captured the imagination of generations. A new film looks at his experiences of friendship, love and war as a young man, and how they may have influenced the man and work. Tolkien the film opens with a young officer, Tolkien, ill with a fever, … Continue reading “Tolkien the Storyteller”

Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 21 December 2018 > Ready to Use

The new biopic about Oscar Wilde’s final years after leaving prison takes its ironic title from one of the children’s stories he wrote for his sons. The film, written, directed and starring Rupert Everett has a wonderful supporting cast (Colin Firth, Colin Morgan, Emily Watson.) This B2 downloadable resource includes work on an article about … Continue reading “Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince”

They Shall Not Grow Old Film: Bringing WWI to Life

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 31 October 2018 > Ready to Use

To mark the centenary of the end of the First World War, Peter Jackson has restored old black-and-white archive footage of British servicemen’s life in the trenches. He has colourised it, and has asked lip-readers to help dub in what the soldiers were actually saying. The film’s title refers to a poem by Robert  Binyon … Continue reading “They Shall Not Grow Old Film: Bringing WWI to Life”

American Theater in Angers, Nancy and Paris

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 12 March 2018 > What's On

San-Francisco-based theater company Word for Word has announced its annual tour in France. Once again the company will bring prose (five short stories) to life on stage using their original technique. For each show, the company chooses prose pieces and produces them as theater without adaptation. Intonation, actions, scenery and props bring the pages to … Continue reading “American Theater in Angers, Nancy and Paris”

Creative Activities for National Poetry Day

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 26 September 2017 > Webpicks

The organisers of National Poetry Day in the UK, 28 September, have a treasure trove of poems and teaching activities on their website, including  a free ebook of poems to download. This year’s theme is freedom. We’ve made a selection of those that work best for language teaching, with teaching suggestions. The Freedom Films page … Continue reading “Creative Activities for National Poetry Day”