Advice to Teachers from the Royal Shakespeare Company

Advice to Teachers from the Royal Shakespeare Company

Make sure your students know the whole story of the play, even if they are just working on one scene:

Your students will enjoy and understand the process of creating their performance so much more when they can place it in the context of the whole story.

Allow your students to discover the text for themselves and to own it:

It’s very tempting to dictate where characters stand and how they should say their lines but your students will get so much more from the process by discovering their character and performance for themselves.

Clear storytelling is key:

Be mindful that some of your audience members may be new to Shakespeare and won’t know the story. It is therefore very important to create a coherent narrative. Think about how costume, props or sound can help to signify characters and invite someone who doesn’t know the play well into rehearsals.

Use live music:

At the RSC we always use live music that has been created specifically for each production. We encourage schools to do the same, to wonderful effect. You don’t need to have lots of instruments available in school – simple percussion and song can be very effective.

Create a buzz:

Use your team to create a buzz around school about your festival or community performance--through an assembly, pop up performances, poster competitions, using digital screens in reception and social media.

A note about casting your performance:

The teachers we work with cast their performances in a number of ways. Sometimes they work with a whole class, so that 30 students might be in a scene involving just two characters and they use a variety of techniques that make the whole cast feel involved and able to contribute…Sometimes teachers create a ‘Shakespeare Club’ and involve students from across year groups. This can broaden friendships, build a sense of belonging and confidence in school, give older students responsibilities to support younger ones and really foster a spirit of collaboration. Something that teachers said time and again is how they have been surprised by particular students that have shone. Maybe it’s the shy student, who comes alive through drama, or the less academically able student who is heard quoting lines of Shakespeare, or the challenging student who takes on new levels of responsibility. We encourage teachers to be inclusive when choosing their cast and to allow themselves to be surprised. Shakespeare can be a great leveller and it’s not always your best readers who will be your best performers.