Cindy Cates, Kosciusko Literacy Services executive director, welcomed all of the guests at the 2019 Author Dinner. She discussed the various ways in which KLS helps members of the community. She then introduced Dr. Elliot Engel, the evening’s speaker.

NORTH WEBSTER — Professor Elliot Engel brought Shakespeare’s plays to life during his “How William Became Shakespeare” presentation at The Owl’s Nest in North Webster during the 2019 Author Dinner held by Kosciusko Literacy Services.

The night began with attendees finding their table, each named after one of Shakespeare’s greatest works: “King Lear,” “Hamlet,” “Julius Caesar,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Macbeth,” “Othello,” “Twelfth Night” and “The Tempest.” Twenty-two silent auction items were up for bid. Among the items were sports tickets and memorabilia, a popular down blanket, pillows and sheet set, gift baskets, a Steve Creighton painting, an hour and food on the SS Lillypad and Polywood furniture. The silent auction raised approximately $900.

Cindy Cates greeted the guests at the dinner and silent auction, thanking all the sponsors and those who donated items to the silent auction. She discussed the various ways KLS helps the community, such as tutoring for adults, children’s book club, baby’s first book and the community book read. She mentioned that last year KLS was able to raise $10,000 with a matching grant of $40,000 for their endowment. “This is important for long-term sustainability to be able to serve our clients,” Cates emphasized.

After attendees enjoyed a buffet-style dinner of roast beef, chicken apple brie, rice pilaf, baby carrots, salad and rolls, the evening’s speaker, Engel, began his presentation.

He started his program the way, he claimed, the first Shakespeare play had begun, saying, “Please turn off cellphones and other wireless devices.”

As a playwright, Shakespeare “wanted his words to wash over you as you watch on stage,” Engel described. Engel then proceeded to create a visual representation of what attending one of Shakespeare’s plays in 1600 would be like.

Using vivid imagery to represent what it would be like to visit one of Shakespeare’s plays in 1600, Dr. Elliot Engel described how Shakespeare actually tailored his plays to the illiterate majority who made up his viewers even with royalty also in the audience. Here he reads a list of popular phrases used today originally coined by Shakespeare.

As an attendee at one of Shakespeare’s plays, one was expected to “pay four pennies for three and a half hours of live entertainment,” Engel commented. Money was put into a money box by the usher and attendants were taken to their seat. They were then able to purchase refreshments inside the playhouse. Options were a meat pie for a meal, an orange for a snack or a tomato for throwing.

According to Engel, at this time tomatoes were thought to be poisonous due to their acidic content so play attendees would choose the worst actor on stage to throw their tomato at. If too many tomatoes were thrown during a performance, the play was stopped and the attendee’s money returned. “As far as we know, not one tomato was tossed up during one of Shakespeare’s performances,” Engel boasted.

Despite the fact Shakespeare’s plays were revered by the Queen of England, all 37 were written for the common man who made up the majority of his audience. These “groundlings” as they were called, since they did not have enough money to pay for a seat, were typically illiterate. Therefore Shakespeare began his plays with the promise of the supernatural, violence or teenage love. For example, “Macbeth” begins with three ugly witches hunched over a cauldron. “Julius Caesar” begins with a conspirator discussing violently stabbing Caesar. “Romeo and Juliet” begins with two attractive teens, one male and one portrayed as female, walking on stage.

Shakespeare also incorporated many folk tale and fairy tale aspects in his plays that would be easily recognizable to all classes. This allowed for his more difficult plays, such as “King Lear,” to still be relatable.

So, “why is Shakespeare so hard today for students?’ Engel asked. The language is difficult and Shakespeare’s tragedies were some of his most difficult to understand. What are students typically taught? Shakespeare’s tragedies.

One reason Shakespeare is labeled one of the best writers is due to his use of dialogue in memorable phrases. Engel challenged, “You can’t go three days without coming out of your mouth a phrase you have stolen from William Shakespeare.” Engel illustrated this by listing some popular ones including, ”dead as a door nail,” “footloose and fancy free,” “it is Greek to me,” and “what the dickens.”

After the presentation Engel had two CDs for sale, “How William Became Shakespeare” and “Wine, Women and Song.”

The money raised from the evening’s program, silent auction and Engel’s sales goes to Kosciusko Literary Services and The Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London.

Attendees of the 2019 Author Dinner mingle with one another at The Owl’s Nest prior to Dr. Engel’s program, “How William Became Shakespeare.”