Modules

Our modules provide a comic twist on teaching Shakespeare that gets the kids on their feet with the text, going through the motions of a real Elizabethan actor! Using a combination of performance, analysis, and activity, we’re able to meet learning outcomes while genuinely engaging the students with Shakespeare.

Whether it's Macbeth or Midsummer, our trainers can cater to your curriculum, drawing from all the plays in the syllabus. Have a look at what we have in store.

Example Module Breakdown

PERFORMANCE (10-15 minutes)

We, the trainers, will perform a satirical sketch which outlines the play the students are studying; examining characters, plot points and themes. 

Playing a bull-headed Bill Shakespeare and his long-suffering Scribe, the trainers will employ universal techniques that date back to the Early Modern era, with which we’ll acquaint the students in the following segments of the module. The use of jokes and contemporary language will help bridge the gap of understanding that so many students of Shakespeare struggle with, and put the kids at ease before we move on to the original text.

We think of this component of the module as our “offering” – entertaining the kids by “playing the fool”, before we ask them to do the same for us!

Outcomes:

• Students will think imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically about information, ideas and arguments to respond to texts

• Students will identify, consider and appreciate cultural expression in texts

• Students will use their individual and collaborative skills for learning

 WARM-UP (10 minutes)

We, the trainers, will briefly outline what we have in store for the students over the course of the module, and emphasise our guiding principle that Shakespearean text is best understood when it’s performed.

 After splitting the cohort in half, we’ll assign one trainer to either group and warm them up with a simple game of Thee, Thou, Thine? This dramatic exercise sees the students form a circle with the trainers and trade some good old fashioned Shakespearean insults with each other, along the lines of “Thou art a (insert farm animal)”. Thee, Thou, Thine? not only familiarises the students with language typical of Shakespeare, but also practices eye-contact, vocal projection and stage-presence - all while having a laugh.

Outcomes:

• Students will use language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts

• Students will make effective language choices to creatively shape meaning with accuracy, clarity and coherence

• Students will identify, consider and appreciate cultural expression in texts

 ACTIVITY (35-55 minutes)

The activity component of the module is the real focus of the day. We, the trainers, will distribute abridged scripts of a particular scene from the play we're looking at, and ask the kids to form an audience mimicking the dimensions of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

 From there, we’ll make a few casting decisions and get our Hamlets, Lady Macbeths or Romeos on their feet getting a feel for the stage, working through the text line by line. We’ll use clues in the text to determine how the play should be staged and by staging it, see how meaning is made. With some gentle guidance from the trainers and the stage-directions themselves, the students will be responsible for bringing the scene to life with their ideas for entrances and exits, blocking, and performance directions. In this respect, we only go so far as to say that we “co-direct” the scene; disguising advice behind questions and equipping them with the basics of stagecraft along the way.

 The point should be made that “a director” as such is a relatively modern idea and the actors of the Shakespearean stage were left to their own intuition when it came to devising a scene. It is our intention that thanks to this module the students will gain that confidence themselves, and approach text and stagecraft in a more sophisticated way moving forward.

Outcomes:

• Students will demonstrate understanding of how texts can express aspects of their broadening world and their relationships within it

• Students will identify and explore the elements of drama to develop belief and clarity in character, role, situation and action

• Students will improvise and playbuild through group-devised processes

• Students will devise and enact drama using scripted material

• Students will explore a range of ways to structure dramatic work in collaboration with others

• Students will use performance skills to communicate dramatic meaning

• Students will explore and use aspects of dramatic forms, performance styles, theatrical conventions and technologies to create dramatic meaning

• Students will identify and describe elements of drama, dramatic forms, performance styles, techniques and conventions in drama

 ANALYSIS (15-25 minutes)

After the scene has been blocked and rehearsed, the students will – scripts in hand –perform for the other half of their cohort. Seeing the two versions of the same scene back-to-back, there arises the perfect opportunity to compare and contrast, and examine the differences in the techniques employed, as well as in the corresponding effects they had on the audience.

 This sort of analysis will not only help the students understand and appreciate their Shakespearean text, but also encourage them to better engage with techniques and effects as they work through the English curriculum.

 Time permitting, we, the trainers, will answer any questions the students might have had over the course of the module; about theatrical techniques, Shakespeare’s world or the text itself.

Outcomes:

• Students will respond to texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure

• Students will effectively use a widening range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to texts in different media and technologies

• Students will think imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically about information, ideas and arguments to respond to texts

• Students will identify and explain connections between and among texts

• Students will identify, consider and appreciate cultural expression in texts

• Students will use their individual and collaborative skills for learning

• Students will appreciate the role of the audience in various dramatic and theatrical styles and movements

• Students will appreciate and value drama and theatre as significant cultural expressions of issues and concerns in Australian and other societies

The following modules are available for school incursions and classes during school hours. Each module lasts for two periods. Please inquire about our available dates.

• Macbeth

• Much Ado About Nothing

• Romeo and Juliet

• The Merchant of Venice

• King Richard III

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream

• The Tempest

• King Henry IV, Part I

• other plays and custom topics available upon request

Primary learning outcomes:

• To develop student understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of Shakespeare and his plays

• To develop student ability to analyse and interpret Shakespearean language

• To develop student understanding of Elizabethan England’s historical, cultural, and social context

• To develop student ability to compare and contrast early modern, contemporary, and classical texts

Performances

Each module includes a comedic performance that allows students to experience the live nature of theatre and witness its ability to entertain as well as move. The performances incorporate text from early modern plays but provide meaningful context, explanation, and analysis.

Activities

Students will have the chance to be the writer, director, and actor of early modern theatre with the guidance of the trainers who use their skills in improv, sketch comedy, and classical theatre. Students will act in scenes, write their own speeches in iambic pentameter, and direct the trainers as they perform for the students.