60-Second Relay, Ben Crystal Q&A Set for The Drama Book Shop in Honor of Shakespeare's Birthday, 4/24

Shakespeare fans sign up to perform their fastest, spiciest and silliest Shakespeare in a 60 second relay at the Seelen Theatre downstairs at The Drama Book Shop on Thursday, April 24, 2014. Then, the shop will host a Q&A with acclaimed Shakespeare expert Ben Crystal. It's all in celebration of Shakespeare's Birthday!

Ben Crystal (Shakespeare's Words Glossary, Shakespeare On Toast, Springboard Shakespeare), whose work on Original Pronunciation has gone viral with over a million views, will participate in a Q&A moderated by Melinda Hall, produced by Willful Pictures and The Drama Book Shop.

SCHEDULE:
4:30pm Relay sign up
5-6pm Shakespeare Relay in the Seelen Theatre
6-7pm Q&A with author and actor, Ben Crystal
FREE

About the Author: Ben Crystal is an actor, producer, and writer. He studied English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University before training at Drama Studio London. He has worked in TV, film and theatre, at the reconstructed Shakespeare's Globe, London, and has been a narrator for RNIB Talking Books, Channel 4 and the BBC. He co-wrote Shakespeare's Words (Penguin 2002) and The Shakespeare Miscellany (Penguin 2005) with his father David Crystal, and his first solo book, Shakespeare on Toast - Getting a Taste for the Bard (Icon 2008) was shortlisted for the 2010 Educational Writer of the Year Award. His productions of Simon Stephens' One Minute in 2008 and Robin French's Gilbert is Dead in 2009 were critically acclaimed. In 2011, he played Hamlet in the first Original Pronunciation production of the play for 400 years with the Nevada Repertory Company. In 2012 he was the curator for the first CD of extracts of Shakespeare recorded by professional actors in Original Pronunciation for the British Library, their best-selling CD to date, and his new series for Arden Shakespeare / Bloomsbury - Springboard Shakespeare, was published in June 2013. He has workshops on performing Shakespeare around the world, and some of this work can be viewed at passioninpractice.com. He lives in London and online at bencrystal.com and Tweets from @bencrystal .

About the Books: The Springboard Shakespeare Series (Before, During, After) The Springboard books are perfect companion guides for actors, students, theatre-goers and anyone interested in understanding Shakespeare.