I happened across a review of “Shakespeare The Bard Game” over at the Crazier Letters blog (where apparently someone named Erin had gotten it as a birthday present). Looks neat. “Quite possibly one of the most fun games around, ok well that’s a bit much but it is still a great time,” says the author. I have no idea who those people are and whether they are theatre/Shakespeare folk, so I thought I’d post over here and see if anybody knows this game? Apparently the goal involves collecting money so that you can perform the plays, but first you have to get your props, actors, patron and so on. I could dig it. My wife and I currently have a larger supply of board games than we do friends who play board games with us, so it’s not like I’m in the market for more. Back in college I gave a friend a game called “Playing Shakespeare”. Basically it was charades, only you were acting out Shakespeare quotes. I’ll always remember the time I got the clue, “Even now that old black ram is…” and watching my partner try desperately to act out the rest before finally putting her out of her misery and saying, “…topping your white ewe.” How exactly do you act out “topping”? (I actually remember it as “tupping” with a u, but my searchable text tells me it’s topping, so who knows. Still hard to act out :)).
Shakespeare : The Bard Game
Technorati tags: Shakespeare, games, board games
I was given this game for Christmas and it’s fun, although somewhat complicated. You don’t require much Shakespearean knowledge to play it but it does make you think about the material conditions of the theatre: you have to be able to rent a playhouse and afford enough actors and props before you can put on a play. Not the most amazing boardgame ever, or all that Shakespearean, but we’ve had fun playing it.
Hi Duane, The Norton Shakespeare has ‘tupping’; I’ll check the Hinman facsimile of the First Folio next time I’m in the library. Perhaps you mean to ask how does one decorously indicate ‘topping’ in a game of charades? I’m not altogether sure it can be done “decorously” (smile)…
Cool blog by the way!
Thanks Fifi. I’ve often thought about what would make a good Shakespeare board game. Certainly it lends itself well to the trivial pursuit sort of question and answer game, but that’s boring. I know that some folks have gone down the role playing path, but I find it hard enough to find people to play with, let alone having to find people who like to do the roleplaying thing.
Possibly one of the worst, most unfathomable games I’ve ever come across; not so much boring as impenetrable!
I bought it with my out of school granddaughter in mind. As a special educational needs teacher of 30 years standing I should’ve known better. Anything that claims to make learning FUN and easy should always be treated with suspicion!
However, as I bought it from a charity shop for only a couple of pounds (it LOOKED unused) we used it to make a display/poster etc. to show our knowledge of Shakespeare. We used a lot of the tiles etc. for maths projects. Really useful.
So, it didn’t go to waste after all.