West Side Story 2021

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 24 November 2021 > Ready to Use

Sixty years after Robert Wise’s award-winning movie, Steven Spielberg’s much awaited remake of West Side Story aims at a much more authentic portrayal of the Puerto Rican protagonists in this Romeo and Juliet-inspired tale of star-crossed lovers in NYC.  We here offer one worksheet but two articles of different levels (B1, B2) so you can … Continue reading “West Side Story 2021”

“West Side Story” is Back!

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 18 November 2021 > What's On

West Side Story – the stage musical and the film – is already a classic. Steven Spielberg wants to make it a more authentic classic for the 21st century. After many delays due to COVID, it’s finally arriving in cinemas. The Bernstein-Sondheim musical was an immediate hit on Broadway in 1957. When Robert Wise adapted … Continue reading ““West Side Story” is Back!”

In Conversation with Kenneth Branagh

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 13 October 2021 > Webpicks

If you are studying Much Ado About Nothing with your LLCER students, or anything about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, you’ll want to download this long-form interview with actor-director Kenneth Branagh from BBC Radio 4. In the first of a new series called This Cultural Life, presenter John Wilson had a 45-minute conversation with Branagh … Continue reading “In Conversation with Kenneth Branagh”

New Reading Guides

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 04 May 2021 > Pedagogy Shine Bright Lycée

Two more Reading Guides for LLCER Terminale are available: Paul Auster’s novel Moon Palace and Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman. Our Reading Guide collection helps you and your students get the most out of their set books with background information, extensive extracts and guided activities to help them understand and analyse the works. … Continue reading “New Reading Guides”

Online Talk about “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 26 April 2021 > What's On

The winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction, Maggie O’Farrell, is doing a talk at the Irish Cultural Centre, or rather online, for the ICC, on 29 April. She’ll be discussing her winning novel, Hamnet, an imagined biography of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, who died at the age of 11. O’Farrell had been convinced that … Continue reading “Online Talk about “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell”

St George’s Day

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 21 April 2021 > Celebrate

23 April is a day for celebration in England. It’s the national day, in honour of England’s patron saint, St George. It’s both Shakespeare’s birthday and death day.  Each of the British home nations has a national day associated with its patron saint: George for England, David for Wales (1 March), Patrick for Northern Ireland … Continue reading “St George’s Day”

West Side Story Free for Classes

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 24 February 2021 > Pedagogy

The educational TV channel Lumni is offering the Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise film of West Side Story free to stream for collège and lycée classes.  The film of the musical comedy by Bernstein, Sondheim and Robbins is a reworking of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with the Capulets and Montagues being replaced by rival gangs  … Continue reading “West Side Story Free for Classes”

Shakespeare’s Son and Anne Hathaway

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 05 November 2020 > What's On

The UK’s 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been awarded to a novel that imagines the life and death of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet and rounds out the character of his wife Anne Hathaway: Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet.   O’Farrell had been fascinated by young Hamnet since her school English teacher mentioned his name when she was … Continue reading “Shakespeare’s Son and Anne Hathaway”