Shakespeare for all Ages & Stages - Preparing pupils for a theatre visit

Taking young people to see a Shakespeare play requires a particular kind of preparation if they are to get the most out of the experience of seeing live theatre. We want young people to understand that the director, the actors and designers have come together to make a series of interpretative choices about the text and then created a unique production of that play within a specific theatrical environment.

Taking an active approach to this preparation using drama-based methods encourages young people to make their own interpretative choices about the text.
These approaches:

  • Offer hooks into different moments of the play.
  • Allow pupils to explore key lines of text.
  • Introduce pupils to some of the characters that they will meet and the dilemmas that these characters face.
  • Help them engage with some of the interpretative choices that have to be made when staging a production of this play.
  • Help young people develop a language of critical viewing.

Choosing a production that is accessible to young people is important and you may wish to consider the following:

  • Does the interpretation of the play speak to young people today?
  • Are there elements of the production that young people may respond to such as use of certain music?
  • Is there a strong visual and design element that can help signify what is going on?
  • Is the staging exciting?

In preparing young people for the visit also ask them to consider the differences between live theatre and cinema – what is the effect of a live audience on the actors? Can different audience reactions alter the experience of being in and of watching a play? Can any two productions of a play be exactly the same? A theatre production is essentially a sociable experience so does this affect how we relate to other members of an audience in the theatre? Why do we have intervals at the theatre and not at the cinema?
Engaging pupils in some of these suggested activities before and after seeing a play can help to ensure that they get the most out of the experience of live theatre and begin to develop skills that will stand them in good stead for a lifetime of theatre-going pleasure.

Before the trip

If pupils are unfamiliar with the play:

Ensure they know the narrative.
Sample exercise:

  • Headlines: Teacher chooses up to ten key moments within the play and creates a newspaper headline for each one. In groups, pupils make a still image (photograph) of that headline, and then find a choral way to speak the headline. Share and interrogate.

Introduce Shakespeare’s language. Encourage pupils to speak the language and feel the rhythm of the words.
Sample exercise:

  • Text Scraps: Introduce text scraps (short lines of text from the play) for each headline in exercise 1. Starting with the original tableaux bring these short scenes to life incorporating the text scraps. Share and interrogate.

Introduce key characters.
Sample exercise:

  • Character facts: Create lists of 4-5 facts about the main characters. Pupils in groups create still images of the relationships between the characters at the beginning and at the end of the play. Share and interrogate.

If pupils have studied the play in depth:

Encourage exploration of interpretative choices.
Sample exercises:

  • Play ‘As Ifs’: Choose a scene and edit it into no more than 2 sides of A4. Ask pupils to play the scene in a variety of different ways that illuminate different interpretative possibilities within the text. For examples and tips on editing text, please see RSC website: http://www.rsc.org.uk.

Finally, ask pupils to choose their own ‘As Ifs’ to perform.

  • Choose a pivotal moment in the play: Create a tableau or short scene of that moment (using key props etc). Each group may decide on a different moment. Pupils then choose text to add to their image (encourage exploration of dramatic irony by juxtaposing text with image). Share and interrogate.

After the trip

Encourage critical reflection by starting from moments in the production that stand out in pupils’ memories. Then analyse why these were effective.
Sample exercises:

  • In groups, pupils discuss what they felt was the most important moment in the production and then recreate a still image of this moment. These are shared and discussed. Why were these moments memorable?
  • Pupils feed back on the moments when key elements such as lighting/sound stood out. In discussion, they are encouraged to analyse some of the interpretative choices that were made in the production.

 

 
What they say about us:

S4K HAMLET: "I predict 'a hit, a very palpable hit.'"