It can be a challenge for teachers to instil an appreciation of Shakespeare among the young.
If nothing else, the archaic language can seem impenetrable, and the Bard’s plays are peppered with metaphors that would have been readily understood by Elizabethan audiences but need to be explained to 21st century children.
And then there’s the fact that for many youngsters, certainly in the past, the plays were usually read in class before being seen performed.
However, the teaching of Shakespeare has moved on in leaps and bound. Projects such as the annual Shakespeare Schools Festival, which was founded in 2000, help to make the playwright accessible to school age children and give them the opportunity to perform and interpret his works.
It’s a festival that has grown considerably over the years and now involves more than 1,100 schools across the country. In Huddersfield next week, the Lawrence Batley Theatre will be hosting performances by four schools - North Huddersfield Trust, Moorlands Primary, Royds Hall High and Colne Valley High. Children aged from 10 to 17 will be tackling specially adapted shortened versions of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew.
One of the Huddersfield teachers involved with the festival, Sky Burton-Smith, says giving youngsters an opportunity to perform brings the plays to life. She added: “The festival is very popular with the students. The school has been taking part for six or seven years now. We have a hard core of students who have done one play every year of their school life but each year there are new ones who saw the performances the year before and wanted to get involved.
“Performing really helps the students understand the plays - they are meant to be performed, not read.”
Sky, who teaches drama at Royds Hall High School, says their annual choice of play is often linked to the work being studied at school. Their choice, the Merchant of Venice, for example, was on the curriculum for Year 9 pupils last year, which means that several of the students in the festival have a good understanding of both the plot and the characters.
For the other young actors - drawn from all year groups in the school - every effort is made to help them appreciate the chosen play. As Sky explained: “One of the things we really focus on is the language and this year we are working with two English teachers who are making sure that the students understand every word.”
Preparations for the festival began at Royds Hall in the summer term with auditions held in September as the students returned from their holiday. “It’s a quick turn around,” said Sky, “but it’s absolutely worth the time we put into it. You feel as if you have really accomplished something.”
English and drama teacher Caroline Clay, who is helping North Huddersfield Trust students perfect their Macbeth for the festival, says the school has also brought staff members on board to help the young actors. “We have enlisted ‘line mentors’, including the head teacher, to work one to one with the key characters, helping them learn lines and understand the play,” she said.
The production features students from years 7 to 11 and, while true to the Shakespearean dialogue, has been given a modern, minimalist setting.
Caroline says the response from pupils has been “amazing”. She added: “We had about 50 students turn up for the auditions. They are very enthusiastic. The way we teach Shakespeare these days is pretty interactive and interesting, but actually being in a performance has given students a massive insight. You can see they experience this light bulb moment when they realise that Shakespeare was actually pretty clever. There is a lot of learning going on.”
The youngest children performing at the LBT will be Year 6 pupils from Moorlands Primary School with their Romeo and Juliet. Chosen because of its relatively straightforward and well-known storyline, the play has proved to be enormously popular with the children. As Bethany Casper, one of the school’s literacy co-ordinators, said: “We’re quite a big school, three form entry, and three quarters of the year group expressed an interest in being in the play. As well as those acting we’re having a props team, a costume team and a marketing team.” It will be the school’s first appearance in the festival.
Bethany admits that at first, when shown the script (which retains its original Shakespearean language), the youngsters said they couldn’t understand it. “But we have been looking at it in English lessons and done activities based around it and they have been really, really interested,” she explained. “It’s given them a lot of enjoyment and helped their confidence levels. I’ve seen a lot of children come out of their shells, children who were shy and lacked confidence. And because Romeo and Juliet is quite a grown-up love story they have tackled it in a mature way. They’ve really coped well with it.”
Each school will have a 30 minute slot to perform their play on Monday, November 9, at 7pm. Tickets for the event are £7 and £8.50 from the LBT box office 01484 430528 or www.thelbt.org.uk
