Breathing new life into teaching Romeo and Juliet

Monday 16/11/2009

Views from the balcony: ways of teaching Romeo and Juliet is an exciting new resource for secondary teachers from the National Strategies based around rehearsal video footage from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) 2008 production.

The online footage explores how the director, Neil Bartlett, helps actors develop their characterisation of the star-crossed lovers in Act 2 Scene 2 of the play. The result is a vibrant, engaging and fascinating insight into how a director and actors work together to evolve a performance.

Pupils will benefit from listening and watching the actors approach their roles and how they explore the impact on their characters in this pivotal scene. To support the DVD, there are ten units of teacher resources. These include a range of lesson plans and worksheets which help provide a variety of approaches to the play. This is achieved through drama activities, close reading tasks, written responses, and speaking and listening contexts. The resource can be used at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.

Clive Bush, National Director, Secondary for the National Strategies said: “This new resource provides a range of creative approaches to teaching Shakespeare and is based on the rehearsal techniques that the actors use to explore characterisation, the themes and ideas of the plays, and Shakespeare’s language. Objectives from the renewed Framework for English support each lesson and clear links are made to the Assessment Focuses for reading.”

Jacqui O’Hanlon, Director of Education for the RSC said: “We are delighted that students and teachers across the country have this additional window into our rehearsal process. The resources that have been created around the Romeo and Juliet rehearsal footage enable students to deepen their understanding of the play and the characters in an enjoyable and engaging way. We hope this means more students go on to form a lifelong relationship with our house playwright and theatre going.”

Views from the balcony: ways of teaching Romeo and Juliet can be accessed from: www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/nationalstrategies/pr3/shakespeare

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Note to editors:
The National Strategies’ aim is to raise standards of achievement and rates of progression for children and young people in all phases and settings in England through personalised learning with a particular focus on the core subjects and early years.

Video footage of Romeo and Juliet in rehearsal is presented in collaboration with the RSC. © The Royal Shakespeare Company. The film footage was created during the rehearsal period for the RSC's 2008 production of Romeo and Juliet directed by Neil Bartlett, featuring David Dawson and Laura Rees.
For further information on the RSC and its Education programme please call 0844 800 1113 or visit www.rsc.org.uk. 
            

Media Contact
Jane Parrack, Deputy Marketing and Communications Manager, The National Strategies 0118 918 2617 or jane.parrack@nationalstrategies.co.uk