Working with young children on Shakespeare

We had a wonderful week last week working on Shakespeare with young people.  Katy one of our directors writes  about her experience.

Children Say the most Shakespearean things! 

On Monday night I set off in anticipation to Wells, Somerset. Armed with my copy of Macbeth and copious drama exercise notes I was conscious that at 10 am on Tuesday morning I was to be greeted by 11 6-10 year olds (10 boys and 1 girl). Welcomed in the Johnson household I opted for an early night and a read over my notes.

On Tuesday morning I awoke and was eager to get started. In pleasant contrast to London the venue was a stones throw from the house and we arrived bright and early to greet our eager participants. As an array of young boys entered, noisy, excitable and talkative I felt a pang of nerves. This was short-lived when I met my excellent assistant Becci, smily, energetic, and looking like nothing would dampen her spirits I was excited about the next four days.

The next three days was to include drama exercises that helped explore the story of Macbeth. What interest do a bunch of kids have in Macbeth I hear you say. Well, a lot it turns out. Having not taught Shakespeare to children that young before I was apprehensive that I would be able to keep them engaged for 6 hours a day but they shocked me from the start with many of them coming in with books, knowing the whole story, being regular theatrgoers, and wanting to sit down and read the script.

Over the three days we explored amongst other things language and understanding what was being said, physical theatre, rhythm, understanding the story, and delivery. They all embraced the work that was set for them and with regular playground breaks penciled in came up with their unique interpretation of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

The course finished with a performance on the Friday afternoon of both the older and younger group. We came up with a 30 minute version of Macbeth. Each day the group came back having learnt their lines, and there is something definitely remarkable about hearing an 8 year old recite the dagger soliloquy. I am always a strong believer that you can learn something from everybody and I think this is definitely true as an 8 year old goes on instinct as opposed to an in-depth analysis of the text.

This course has shown me that Shakespeare is accessible to all. At the beginning of the week one boy said 'I hate Shakespeare' and I told him I reckoned I could change his mind. He came up to me at the end of the week and said 'You know what Katy, you have changed my mind'. Job done. If that does show us the importance of young people learning creatively then I don't know what will. Congratulations 'Theatresauras' and I will hope to see you in the summer.

Katy Weir

If you would like details of any of our course please contact me.