Course Description

Instructor: Ross Friedman

Explore the magic, humor, romance, and timeless themes of Shakespeare through The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and selections from other beloved plays. This engaging 7-week course will combine lively discussion and in-class participatory readings to examine Shakespeare’s unforgettable characters, language, and ideas about love, power, illusion, and human nature.

As with the many other Shakespeare classes I have taught at OLLI over the last decade, I will ask for volunteers to help me read much of these plays aloud. I have always had willing readers, I play many parts, and no one will be forced to leave their comfort zone. I look forward to performing with old friends, but if you have never taken a Shakespeare class with me, I hope you will let the two of us show you an entertaining, soul-nourishing experience.

Bio: I taught high school English for 30 years, and from 1991-2006, when I retired, was the AP Literature teacher at Milton High School in Alpharetta. I took OLLI courses in 2007-2009 and, in the last decade have taught 17 literature classes at OLLI. I do this well. Our band has played many hundreds of gigs at retirement homes, church groups, and farmers’ markets over the last 20 years, and my wife Teresa and I can often be found playing our instruments at Chastain Park and City Springs to entertain the children and passersby. It’s all about having fun.