Do children really enjoy Shakespeare?
“Do children really enjoy Shakespeare?” is a question I am often asked. This month Finding the Will will be working with just over 500 children aged between 4 and 11. Judging by the gasps, laughter and forests of hands shooting up to volunteer to play characters from the 300 children we have worked with so far in June, I’d say the answer is a resounding “Yes”! Joseph Cash Primary, Coventry I began the month visiting this lovely school in Coventry. The motto here is ‘Together We Laugh, Together We Learn’. I love this! Actually, it’s pretty much the ethos of Finding the Will and our approach to Shakespeare. You might think there is little opportunity for laughter in MACBETH but you’d be wrong. When King Duncan’s favourite dish is a Big Mac provided by Macbeth himself, it’s very funny (fair enough, you might have to be there to fully appreciate this). Alongside the laughter, the children came up with some really thoughtful answers. What DOES the witches’ riddle ‘Lesser than Macbeth and greater’ actually mean? How about ‘Lesser in rank but greater in person’? Now that’s clever and one of the best answers I’ve ever heard to this conundrum, And talking of witches, what about ‘Baby’s teeth’ as an extra ingredient in the witches’ brew? Do children really enjoy Shakespeare? You bet! With thanks to Ms Nettey for inviting us in for the first time to work with Y6. Westende Junior, Wokingham Day One The next day, Nick and I set off for Wokingham and our sixth annual visit to Westende Junior. At this busy two form entry school, we work with all four year groups in KS2 (that’s 240 children) and each year does a different play. This time we began with Y6 and MACBETH. Perhaps it was something in the June air but, once again, the witches’ brew threw up some creepy, if not exactly delicious, extra ingredients: ‘3 fingers from a newborn’ and ‘koala’s liver’. No, I wouldn’t want to meet this lot on a blasted heath either…..As it was the last workshop with this particular year group (over the years they’ve done THE TEMPEST, ROMEO & JULIET and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM with us), we spoke about them moving on to secondary school as Shakespeare Ambassadors. What will they say when they meet people who say ‘Shakespeare’s so boring!’? Answer from a Y6 boy near to me “Shakespeare’s cool, not boring”. Next we worked with Y3 on A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. This was, of course, their first experience with us and, possibly, the works of Shakespeare. So how did these children enjoy it? Well if I said to you that the wedding outfits for Theseus and Hippolyta are going to be an orange cloak for Theseus and a long red dress for Hippolyta (with orange flowers in her hair), you’ll understand that they soon got really into it. Faced with Hermia’s dilemma of whether to obey or disobey her father and the law of Athens (potentially risking her life), here is one imaginative solution: “I’d become a nun, then run away from the nunnery, kidnap Lysander and poison my father” I mean it’s a whole different play – a rather wonderful spin-off! Day Two Day 2 at Westende was spent in Italy. Starting with Y4 in Verona, we entered the world of ROMEO & JULIET. More life-changing dilemmas for the children to face. Firstly the violence on the streets of Verona – how do you react? A mixture of terror and enjoyment encapsulated by one citizen, “It’s exciting but I want it to stop”. And if you were Friar Laurence, would you risk marrying Romeo to Juliet or is it simply asking for trouble? This is a tricky one. A considered answer was “No I wouldn’t do it, but then he’s my friend, so let me have some time to think about this”. We really should ask children what to do more often. Finally, we made it to Milan with Y5 and THE TEMPEST. These children did ROMEO & JULIET with us last year, so it was interesting to watch them when we asked them to stand for a Caliban versus Prospero argument. The first thing some of them did was to bite their thumbs. I mean if you take nothing else away as a long term memory, you might as well remember a good old Italian insult! Perhaps as a result of last year too, when it came to Ferdinand and Miranda falling for each other, there was far less fuss than usual. At the end, the whole company (including the Royal Table Clearer, the Royal Laundress and the Royal Body Guard) got back on board the Good Ship Bernadette of Wales to sail back to Italy. As Caliban waved goodbye on the cliff, everyone joined in with “This Island’s Mine!” to finish off two lovely days. A huge thank you to Miss Ogilvie for liaising with me to organise such a special couple of days. Conclusion So, do children really enjoy Shakespeare? Oh yeah! Why else would children come up to you after a workshop and ask “Which play are we doing next year?” In the next couple of weeks Nick and I are running solo A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Interactive Workshops in Cheshire and Brighton respectively. Then Richard and I are heading for Lincolnshire to a fabulous school to run a Project Week on THE TEMPEST. This gorgeous little primary school has around 90 pupils and they are all going to be involved. When I say ‘all’ I mean ALL!! Reception and KS1 as well as KS2 children will each have solo lines to say. So I’ll report back on how the Reception children stole the show in a couple of weeks. For now then, lastly, but certainly not least, please welcome our newest Patron, the one and only renowned Children’s Illustrator (Winnie the Witch, Winnie and Wilbur)……kOrky Paul! We are delighted to have him on board!