"Shakespeare should be done as drama, not as hagiography." Amen to that! My daughter is benefiting from just such a high school course right now. They block the scenes, discuss motivation, research the history, get inside the characters- exactly as if they were going to produce the plays. And in fact, they are required to perform one scene or snippet of choice at the annual "One Acts" performance in January. My kid is going to be Viola: "Make me a willow cabin at your door..."

Shakespeare may not be the only playwrite, but he was a master of the language and of an understanding of human nature.