Shipwrecked twins bewitched by fools? Cross-dressing shrews beset by fairies? Star-crossed lovers who vie for the throne but exit pursued by bears? Only the dice can tell you, and only YOU can tell the story!


Game includes: Five generously sized wooden dice (one for each Shakespearean act), suggested storytelling instructions, and a drawstring pouch to hold your devices when you’re not plotting.

Number of players: 2-10+ Die faces are 1.18’’ X 1.18’’—ink and lacquer on Beech wood.

Best suited for ages: 13+ (Dice are oversized but may present a choking hazard for very young children)

All sales pay the bills of the creator, who holds a beloved (but—alas—non-lucrative) MA in Shakespeare Education. Ideal for storytellers, role players, teaching artists, theatre practitioners, and rabid Bardophiles!


Plot Devices Include:

The Bard
Feast
Forest
Shipwreck
Ink and Paper
Twins

Betrayal
War
Life and Death
Pirates
Cross-Dressing
Exit Pursued by Bear

Shrew
Birth
Wedding
Maiden
Love-struck
Masks

Court
Monarchy
The Old Gods
The Church
Judgment
Coins

Spells
Fairies
Ghost
Madness
Fool
Fate


Gameplay is left to your creative discretion. Might we humbly suggest that you “Let instructions enter…”

• Shakespeare Stories: Roll all of the dice at once. Storytellers (either one storyteller or a group of storytellers taking turns) choose one of the rolled elements at a time to add to their tale. Repeat until all of the rolled elements have been used. The dice can be re-rolled until the story is complete.

• Fate Variation: Storytellers draw and roll one die only on each turn. There is no way to choose or plan in advance which direction the story will take…

• Five Acts: Storytellers roll one die for each act and discuss the plot until they have together created a five-act story. Elements from each act must come to fruition before the play ends. There are not necessarily “turns” in this shared tale. Advanced version: Roll for each act and also for 3-7 scenes within each act.

• Cry Havok: Add a time limit to your story. Using one of the above methods, players must complete their shared tale before the “curtain” falls.

• Original Practice: Actors roll all five dice and then have 5-10 minutes to prepare a brief live performance that includes all of the rolled elements.

• Repertory Variation: Commence Original Practice after a story has already been planned through one of the above methods.

The only rule: If you roll The Bard then you must include a line from Shakespeare! Can’t choose one? Then you’re stuck with “…the rest is silence.”

Sales pay the bills of a Shakespeare mother and her three attendant fairies.

Need to, “prate and talk”? Write to me at UpstartCrowCreations [!at] gmail.com.