Ladies and gentlemen,
the play is about to begin.
Can raise the curtain? I want to act.
Hello everybody,
welcome to the wonderful world of theatre.
Did you know that in places
like Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid,
a long time ago, people used to watch comedies
in "corrales de comedias"?
In English cities too.
Actors and actresses put on plays in open spaces
like courtyard or "patios", in Spanish.
-Oh, oh, oh!
I love comedies!
-Oh!
Who are you?
-Don't you know who I am?
I am a writer.
-Oh, I know!
You are Miguel de Cervantes,
author of "Don Quijote".
-¡No! I am an English writer, not a Spanish writer!
I'm going to give you another clue.
"To be or not to be? That is the question".
-Oh, okay!
You are Hamlet!
-No!
I am William Shakespeare.
I am the most famous playwright in the world
and also the very best!
-Woow!
-Of course, I've written "Romeo and Juliet",
"Macbeth", "Othello", "Hamlet"...
I've written 38 plays,
half of them were comedies
and half of them were tragedies or dramas.
-Oh, that's right!
I've seen some of your plays
and they're pretty good.
-Pretty good?
They're all excellent!
-Okay.
If he was so good,
maybe you can help us learn about the theatre.
For example:
Can you tell me what is the stage?
-That's very easy.
The stage is right here!
-Okay, the stage.
-And lots of actors and actresses feel nervous
and they are scared to go out on stage.
They don't want to forget their lines.
For example:
The eyes are the window to the soul".
-Oh, that is beautiful.
-I know, I wrote it.
-Hey, William!
Did you know that some actors and actresses
are very superstitious?
They think that wearing certains colours
can bring bad luck.
For example, like wearing grey.
-Oh, no!
Wearing grey is bad luck, did you say?
I'm leaving right now,
I don't want any bad luck!
-No, William, please, don't go.
I was just joking.
I'm a very big fan of your work
and it is an honour that you have come to our show.
-Was this all a joke?
You know that I'm the very very very best playwright in the world.
-Yes, you are.
I just wanted to make the children laugh
because we were talking about the "corrales de comedia"
and the comedies.
-Oh, I understand.
You were doing a performance for the audience.
-Yes, that's right.
And now, let's say "goodbye" like actors and actresses do
at the end of the play.
Like this.
(Aplausos)
Listen!
The audience is clapping.
-Oh, thank you, thank you.
I love theatre, I love it!
-Today was a big day:
Learning about theatre,
acting on the stage as an actor and an actress
for the audience.
And it was a success:
people are clapping!
-That's because I am the very best playwright in the world!
(Aplausos)
-Yes, of course it is, William.
Goodbye everybody, see you soon!