He’s the greatest writer of all time, and he’s got the ego to prove it! Will Shakespeare returns from the grave to clear up a misunderstanding concerning his final play, The Tempest. Scott Sharplin, a part-time lecturer at CBU, has taken on the role of William Shakespeare this month, visiting three local high schools to speak about The Tempest, and the upcoming performances of the play at Cape Breton University’s Boardmore Playhouse.
Scott Sharplin is delivering “I Am Not Prospero” to three local high schools. He started at Memorial High School on November 16, and will visit Breton Education Centre on November 21 and Riverview Rural High School on November 23. Each school will attend a showing of The Tempest when it hits the stage at the Boardmore Playhouse at CBU on November 24, running until December 3.
For nearly 200 years, literary scholars have suggested that Prospero, the magician and hero of The Tempest, is a Shakespearean self-portrait. Sharplin’s portrayal of the Bard will deepen the understanding of the play, while inviting the audience to laugh at the idiosyncrasies of scholars and artists alike. The presentation features PowerPoint slides, nauseating puns and a Q&A session with Shakespeare himself. Artistic Director of the Boardmore Theatre, Todd Hiscock, says, “Visiting schools with presentations like the one Scott is doing, and producing full scale productions of William Shakespeare’s plays, has been a tradition at the Boardmore Theatre for many years, and continues to put emphasis on the importance of theatre in education.”
