Richard III: The 30-Minute Shakespeare
* Far more extensive coverage than any other series of Shakespeare abridgements, adding titles #19 and 20 in Fall 2019
* Each play maintains Shakespeare's original language while abridging the text so that the entire arc of the plot may be covered in a 30-minute performance
* Each play is a complete teaching package for high school English and Drama classes, or for amateur reading groups, with practical stage directions and performance notes
* The series is published in association with the Folger Shakespeare Library's very active Folger Education program, recognized and used extensively by thousands of high school and college educators
Performance rights are included with the purchase of play scripts. Unlike most other scripts on the market today, The 30-Minute Shakespeare has no separate charge for public performances, making each volume an exceptional value.
What makes these books extraordinary is author Nick Newlin’s breadth of expertise and experience as a performer, teaching artist and scholar. Newlin holds a BA from Harvard University and an MA in Theatre from the University of Maryland. He has performed a stage act for young people as Nicolo Whimsey since 1986 from the high Himalayas to the White House, and since 2006 he has conducted a teaching artist residency with DC Public High School Students with Folger Shakespeare Library.
Here is what Library Journal says about The 30-Minute Shakespeare series:“…A truly fun, emotional, and sometimes magical first experience, usually guided by a sagacious, knowledgeable, and intuitive educator.”
Mr. Newlin has exhibited The 30-Minute Shakespeare for ten years at the annual National Council of Teachers of English conference. English teachers and all who work with young people love these books because they provide a fun and action-packed way to bring Shakespeare’s plays to life.
The stage directions in the plays, born out of students’ annual performances at Folger Student Shakespeare Festival, are funny, fast, relevant and fun!
Here is a teacher’s praise for The 30-Minute Shakespeare series:
From a teacher's perspective, this book was a great way to introduce students to a Shakespeare play they otherwise might never have encountered in high school… much more fun working with the adaptation than it might have been if I had tackled the full script. I strongly recommend this book (and the rest of the series) to educators who want to introduce a variety of Shakespeare plays to their students in a limited amount of time.
--James Brendlinger, Chairman, Department of Arts and Communications
Lake Lowell High School, Winter Park, FL
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series’ popularity keeps growing with every new publication.
Henry V: The 30-Minute Shakespeare and Richard III: The 30-Minute Shakespeare are books nineteen and twenty in the series, which also includes an anthology of dynamic scenes and monologues. With 5,500 Facebook followers, and an annual email reach to over 25,000 educators, The 30-Minute Shakespeare series plays are performed by thousands of students annually in the US and abroad. Mr. Newlin has traveled to the leading Shakespeare Festivals of Bristol, England, Stratford, Ontario, Utah, Oregon, Virginia and more, meeting with educators and sharing his irrepressible love for bringing young people to their feet performing Shakespeare.
Mr. Newlin displays the 30-Minute Shakespeare nationally at Educational Theatre Association, American Library Association, and the International Thespian Festival.
Regionally, he can be seen at Gaithersburg Book Festival, Kensington Day of the Book, and others.
As a performer, Mr. Newlin has an extensive following from his thirty years entertaining young people. The Nicolo Whimsey Show has thrilled tens of thousands of students, and Newlin dovetails his performing career with his work as an educator/author/publisher . Newlin plans to continue his passion for performance-based learning, extending his work to include elementary age students. He is also networking with other performer to extend his publications to other academic fields such as history and science, believing that young people are most engaged when they are on their feet and having fun!
Additionally, Mr. Newlin has co-written a play called Shakespeare’s Worst with Emmy-award winning The Simpsons writer Mike Reiss, which had its World Premier in 2017 at Bristol Shakespeare Festival in England and in 2019 at Utah Shakespeare Festival. In 2019 Capital Fringe Festival in DC is producing Shakespeare’s Worst, which opens up many more public arenas for Mr. Newlin to publicize The 30-Minute Shakespeare series.
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is also great for baby boomers and senior citizens to enact for fun at gatherings. They are easily performed with no rehearsal and make for a great stocking stuffer at $9.95. Parents and teachers of elementary school-aged children will also find these adaptations a great introduction to Shakespeare.
In past decades, many students (and students who are now teachers) have struggled to find a way to relate to William Shakespeare, largely due to teaching that did not take into account that plays are meant to be seen and performed, not read. The 30-Minute Shakespeare series’ plays have all been road-tested by non-actors from a DC Public High School, who performed it onstage at a festival, and emerged happy and triumphant, owning a piece of Shakespeare! No other script has the thrilling, action-packed stage directions, concise and educated editing, and sheer unbridled love of William Shakespeare in performance.
It is that combination of education, expertise, enthusiasm and experience that put’s Nick Newlin’s The 30-Minute Shakespeare head and shoulders above all other books of its kind, and that is why students will be performing them for generations to come. Play on!
