The Royal Shakespeare Company creates theatre at its best, made in Stratford upon Avon and shared around the world. We place a special emphasis on sharing Shakespeare’s work with children and young people. We believe that young people get the most out of Shakespeare’s plays when they see them performed live and actively explore the text ‘on their feet’. This means speaking the words out-loud and bringing tried and tested RSC rehearsal room approaches into the classroom through our resources.
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates theatre at its best, made in Stratford upon Avon and shared around the world. We place a special emphasis on sharing Shakespeare’s work with children and young people. We believe that young people get the most out of Shakespeare’s plays when they see them performed live and actively explore the text ‘on their feet’. This means speaking the words out-loud and bringing tried and tested RSC rehearsal room approaches into the classroom through our resources.
This pack supports the RSC’s 2012 productions of Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors and The Tempest directed by RSC Associate Director David Farr. These productions were part of the World Shakespeare Festival and the three plays were cross-cast within one acting company and one shared environment; creating a world of shipwrecks, grief, laughter, love and reunion.
The activities in this pack are inspired by the themes in the three plays and can be used either as stand-alone practical approaches to the plays or as supporting activities for students seeing the productions. They have been designed with KS3 students in mind, but can be adapted for other age groups. Some are best suited to an open space such as a hall, but many can be used in a classroom.
The pack is divided up into 10 distinct sections designed to help you to plan your lessons: Introduction and About our Education work; About the plays; From the director David Farr; Internationalism and migration;
About the director Amir Nizar Zuabi; Egeon’s speech; Themes and ideas in the plays; Activities; Storytelling and improvisation and More resources. There are activities within each section which follow the RSC's active approach to learning about Shakespeare and are driven and guided by our rehearsal room practice.
Find more of our resources on our website: www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources
This pack contains questions and resources to stimulate discussion about the play I, Cinna (The Poet) and issues it raises. There are more resources for teachers on the I, Cinna (The Poet) on the TES and RSC websites including classroom drama activities on both I, Cinna (The Poet) and Julius Caesar.
Suitable for Key Stage 3 onwards.
Find more of our resources on our website: www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources
The activities in this pack are inspired by Tim Crouch’s 2012 production of I, Cinna (The
Poet). They can be used either as stand-alone practical approaches to this play or as
supporting activities for students seeing the production or web broadcast. They have been
designed with KS3 students in mind, but can be adapted for other age groups. Some are best
suited to an open space such as a hall, but many can be used in a classroom.
This downloadable Shakespeare resource pack contains questions to stimulate discussion about the play Julius Caesar.
There are more resources for teachers, including classroom drama activities on both Julius Caesar and I, Cinna (The Poet), on the I, Cinna (The Poet) website.
This practical activity pack is inspired by Gregory Doran’s 2012 production of Julius Caesar.
They can be used either as stand-alone practical approaches to this play or as supporting
activities for students seeing the production. They have been designed with KS3 students in
mind, but can be adapted for other age groups. Some are best suited to an open space such
as a hall, but many can be used in a classroom.
This printable information pack contains Shakespearean context and a glossary for teachers and students who are studying or watching a performance of Julius Caesar or I, Cinna (The Poet).
Download our other packs for drama and discussion activities.
Shakespeare Unlocked brings Shakespeare’s most popular plays to life for young people by showing how actors and directors work to interpret and take ownership of Shakespeare’s text. The Teachers’ Pack is aimed at Key Stage 3 and 4 English but it can also be used for Key Stage 5 and Theatre Studies.
It includes: An introduction to each of the three scenes; Suggestions for ideas to consider with your students before and after watching each scene and workshop film and activities to further students’ understanding
of the play.There are 12 short films for each play: 3 scenes filmed in colour, in the theatre and 8 workshops, filmed in black and white, with actors and directors exploring those scenes. There is also a short film about this theatre production. The pack follows the RSC's active approach to learning about Shakespeare and is driven and guided by our rehearsal room practice. The films can be found on the BBC site here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dtvpl
Find more of our resources on our website: www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources
What kind of 'hero' is Hamlet? How does he compare to Shakespeare's other heroes? Director Michael Boyd discusses Hamlet's situation.
This video is the the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2004 production of Hamlet.
Director Dominic Cooke of the RSC's 2004 production of Macbeth discusses how he 'sets the scene' in this extract, allowing the audience to see what Lady Macbeth's life is like when Macbeth isn't there and emphasizing her isolation, loneliness and removal from a family life.
Suitable for Key Stage 3 onwards.
Find more of our resources on our website: www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources
Actor Greg Hicks plays Macbeth in the 2004 production and believes the whole play is leading up to the moment we see in Act 5 Scene 5. He also discusses the play's theme of free will and fate and suggests that Macbeth had no control over his destiny.
A resource that can be used to lead discussions as to the power of magic and the supernatural in Shakespeare's plays, the position that magic held in Tudor society and then within the court of James I and how magic and the supernatural are key elements within other Shakespeare plays and why.
Suitable for upper Key Stage 2 onwards.
Find more of our resources on our website: www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources
The exercises included in this printable worksheet resource pack are practical group activities based on the 2006 production of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, directed by Sean Holmes. They can be used by you with your group in any large, clear space.
This free teaching pack will help teachers to investigate the challenges faced by an RSC director staging Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, with your students.
To stage Julius Caesar, Lucy Bailey, the director, used a number of different techniques to explore the challenges that the play presents. These include, creating a crowd with only twenty two actors and portraying classical Rome to a modern audience.
The printable activities and information in this resrouces pack are inspired by Roxana Silbert’s 2011 production of Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare. They can be used either as supporting activities for students seeing the production or as stand-alone practical approaches to the play. They have been designed with KS5 students in mind, but can be adapted for other age groups.
This pack supports the RSC’s 2006 production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Marianne Elliott.
The activities provided are specifically designed to support KS2-4 students studying or seeing
the play, offering a deeper insight into the choices that can be explored through staging. The pack is divided up into 2 distinct sections designed to help you to plan your lessons:Ensemble approaches for exploring character
and Creating a gossip circle. There are activities within each section which follow the RSC's active approach to learning about Shakespeare and are driven and guided by our rehearsal room practice.The pack also contains text based resources and key speeches from the play.
Find more of our resources on our website: www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources
The ideas in this free printable pack of teaching resources on Richard III are drawn directly from the rehearsal room, and are rooted in the idea of using the text as spoken word, with the group working as actors.Michael Boyd's production of Richard III was performed by the RSC’s first long ensemble Geoffrey Streatfeild, who played Lord Rivers in the production.
A Teacher Pack designed to support Greg Doran's 2009/10 production of Twelfth Night. Suitable for Key Stages 2-3.
The pack is divided up into 3 distinct sections designed to help you to plan your lessons: Exploring the social and historical Context; Exploring character relationships; Exploring character journeys. There are activities within each section which follow the RSC's active approach to learning about Shakespeare and are driven and guided by our rehearsal room practice. The pack also contains text based resources and key speeches from the play.
Find more of our resources on our website: www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources
The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare. See the RSC's set, actor, and directorial choices in this printable resource, full of teaching ideas. The Winter's Tale contains two contrasting worlds, Sicilia, a courtly world and Bohemia, a forest world. For his 2009 production David Farr wanted Bohemia to be a fairytale world and Sicilia to be much more austere.
This pack is designed to enable students to explore the RSC 2009 production of Arabian Nights directed by Dominic Cook. The pack can be used to deliver stand alone activities or run as a sequence to enable students to develop a performance outcome.
The contents reflect the rehearsal process for this production and even allow students to create a prop!
This pack supports the RSC and Little Angel Theatre 2010 production of The Tempest, directed by Peter Glanville.
The activities provided are specifically designed to support Key Stage Two and Lower Key Stage Three but can be adapted for older or younger pupils studying or seeing the play. The pack is divided up into 5 distinct sections designed to help you to plan your lessons: Background and the story; Back-story; The island; Caliban and Ariel. There are activities within each section which follow the RSC's active approach to learning about Shakespeare and are driven and guided by our rehearsal room practice. The production used puppetry and there are activities based around making your own puppets.
Find more of our resources on our website: www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources
This teaching resource is designed as a reference guide for teachers. We have listed the major themes and motifs within The Tempest and provided examples of scenes where you can study them. Suitable for Key Stage 2 onwards.
Find more of our resources on our website: www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources
