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Kings and queens were not simply characters in Shakespeare’s plays – they were also key figures in his life. In a previous post, we explored the importance of Queen Elizabeth I. As his royal supporter, Elizabeth watched Shakespeare’s plays and (rumour has it) even commissioned him to write The Merry Wives of Windsor. By the same token, Elizabeth’s successor in 1603 – James I – became Shakespeare’s patron; in honour of this, the playwright’s theatre company was called The King’s Men. More mysterious, however, is the influence of James I’s mother on Shakespeare’s creative vision. 

Mary Queen of Scots (born in 1542 ) endures in history as a dramatic and polarizing figure. Her reign in Scotland was marked by power struggles with the noble families of the land and, indeed, her half-brother. These tensions gave rise to the murders of Mary’s beloved secretary, David Rizzio, and her (less-beloved) husband, Lord Darnley. Unfairly or not, her political rivals accused Mary herself of collusion in the latter crime. (Learn more about Mary’s reign here). Following her downfall in Scotland, Mary sought sanctuary in England under the protection of her cousin Elizabeth I. Perceiving the former as a dangerous rival for the English crown, Elizabeth imprisoned Mary for 19 years, until her execution at Fotheringay Castle in 1587. 

Such a “brave, romantic, doomed queen,” in the words of historian Antonia Fraser, could not help but inspire Shakespeare… whether directly or implicitly. For example, biographer Stefan Zweig argues that Shakespeare “was dramatizing and sublimating the tragedy of Mary” and her troubled reign in the violence of “that Scottish play” Macbeth. So, too, does centuries-old lore tell us that Shakespeare envisioned Mary as a seductive and dangerous siren in these lines from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “A mermaid on a dolphin’s back / uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath that / Certain stars shot madly from their spheres / To hear the sea-maid’s music” (Act 2, Scene 1). 

Such allusions to Mary speak to her constant hold on the popular imagination, a fascination with her story that has never faded. And however subtly, Shakespeare – that finest chronicler of human nature – contributed to the mythology of this mysterious queen

Image: ‘Mary Queen of Scots, 1542-1587’, unknown artist.
(c) National Galleries of Scotland.

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With Valentine’s Day just on the horizon, there are many ways that you and your young actors can mark this season of love: performing romantic works such as the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet or the charming exchange between Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado about Nothing; thinking about Shakespeare’s sonnets; or exploring the historical love story of Queen Elizabeth I, one of the Bard’s greatest supporters. (You can listen to one of Shakespeare’s most beautiful sonnets above.)

But remember, learning about Shakespeare’s world provides the foundation for an understanding of – and love for – the theatrical experience more broadly. So this Valentine’s Day, invite your students to celebrate that!

Just as it is worth using this time to reflect on the camaraderie between the troupe itself, Valentine’s Day is also an opportunity to think about the specific moments and elements that keep the children (and their teachers!) so committed to the process of putting on a show. Is it the thrill of being on stage and the satisfaction of behind-the-scenes work? The excitement of rehearsals or the pride in getting “off-book”? What about favourite roles, costumes, or specific performances? And of course, you can also encourage your students to talk about what they would love to do in the future.

These kinds of conversations inspire everyone to keep working at and learning more about their craft. Why do we do it? For the love of theatre!

Even as we look ahead to the good things that the New Year holds, we at Shakespeare For Our Children want to look back at one of our favorite Shakespeare materials of the past: Anne Terry White’s book Will Shakespeare and the Globe Theater. Published in 1955, this treasure provides a highly engaging – and historically rich – account of Shakespeare’s life and times. 

We are always keen to introduce our young actors to the genre of children’s literature devoted to Shakespeare. Highlights include Bruce Coville’s beautiful retellings of Shakespeare’s plays, and Stanley and Vennema’s Bard of Avon – a very fine biographical overview for younger readers. White’s Will Shakespeare and the Globe Theater is a particularly compelling contribution to this literary tradition. With buoyant prose that integrates apt quotations from Shakespeare’s plays, the book offers insights into the personal experiences that inspired his greatest works. At the same time, White positions Shakespeare in the complex tapestry of London’s theatrical circles, courtly politics, and physical landscape. 

White herself describes her book as “a reconstruction based on the facts” of Shakespeare’s life. Importantly, she points out, “None of the characters has been invented; all lived and must have been a part of the poet’s life.” In this way, Shakespeare emerges as a dynamic figure in an equally vibrant community of actors, writers, and royal patrons – rather than a remote icon of a long-ago era. 

This is a lovely book to read aloud to a class on non-rehearsal days, as well as a work to recommend for intermediate readers. Indeed, it is a great gateway to more in-depth classics like Marchette Chute’s Shakespeare of London. With the knowledge that all the world’s a stage (listen above!), White reveals the fullness of Shakespeare’s world.

It’s that time of year again! Halloween brings with it all the drama and possibilities for performance that we love. Over the years, we have talked about trick-or-treating  and haunted stages, and even the ways to create a Shakesperean haunted house  and tackle stage fright. And of course, we have highlighted especially eerie scenes that young actors can explore: Hamlet meeting his father’s ghost, Macbeth encountering the Three Witches. But this month, we want to encourage you to check in with your young actors and reflect on these and other chilling moments in Shakespeare’s work. What exactly makes these scenes so scary? Why are they frightening?

These questions are more complex than they may initially appear, so push past the surface responses. Naturally, it is uncanny to encounter a ghost or a witch! But what is it specifically that makes them so disturbing? Take the scenes noted above as examples: in Hamlet’s case, his father reveals a terrible secret and places the equally formidable burden of vengeance on his son. For Macbeth, the prophecy of the Three Witches awakens his ambition, which in turn takes on monstrous consequences. By the same token, invite your students to think about the importance of individual words – what impact do key turns-of-phrase have in producing fear in the audience? 

You can also talk about how to best create that atmosphere of fear in the plays. Is it through lighting and blocking? Costuming? Set design? Music? In our post on playing with ghosts, we talked through some strategies for representing the supernatural on stage. But it is always exciting to see what aspects of stagecraft your students would emphasise in their vision of a spooky production.

Talking about complex emotions can be difficult, so keep an eye on the mood of the room. But when guided with patience and care, thinking about these ghostly encounters will allow your troupe to consider the human experience more broadly – and that can only strengthen their performances.

Summer is, in many ways, the ideal time for children to engage with Shakespeare’s world: school-free hours for putting on a play, warm weather in which to enjoy nature, and plenty of opportunity to think about all of the seasonal associations that come up in plays and sonnets. As we enter the final stretch of summer, though, energy can flag…So it’s important to have activities up your sleeve that can keep the momentum going, while also letting the young performers (and their teachers!) rest a bit. 

For those off-days, we suggest holding a mini-film festival devoted to Shakespeare! Think about cinematic adaptations of Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and (naturally) A Midsummer Night’s Dream. There are multiple film versions of so many plays; just think about the age-range of your audience as you make your choice, as some works may not be the best fit for younger crowds.

You can set up the environment in whatever way suits the children best: maybe they want to have a relaxed evening viewing with pillows and ice cream, or perhaps a more structured screening with tickets, popcorn, and chairs set up like a “real” movie theatre. Whichever format you choose, we recommend splitting the movies into two screenings – this extends the fun and also accommodates shorter attention spans. 

What’s especially helpful about the film festival is that it generates lots of great discussion. The next time you meet after the screenings, you can talk about the movie together and think about costumes, performances, and setting. And of course, get ideas for the troupe’s next production!

It is no secret that we love to mark the seasons here at Shakespeare For Our Children – and it is not just because the school year also moves with the spring, summer, fall, and winter! On a broader level, we have always found that the seasons provide an opportunity for reflection and re-establishing goals both on the stage (what plays to perform, what themes to explore) and off (how to inspire young actors to develop their skills and personal aims).

So here we are now, thinking about the Summer Solstice! Just on the horizon is the 20^th of June, which heralds the official beginning of summer and – of course – the longest day of the year. This is a chance to ask your students, and yourself: what could be accomplished in those extra hours of daylight? Perhaps the time could be spent reading a new sonnet or the story of one of Shakespeare’s less familiar plays; maybe the focus is on a nature walk, looking at Shakespeare’s flowers, or imagining the enchanted forest of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Or this could even be an opportunity to stage a special late-night (or relatively late!) performance of favorite scenes and monologues.

Whatever avenue you and your troupe pursue, the overarching intention is to celebrate this chance to spend a little more time in Shakespeare’s world – and to remember that every day brings its own set of possibilities.

Earlier this year, we explored the importance of remembering the essentials: taking stock of fundamental techniques in blocking and voice projection, revisiting the skills developed through theatre games. And just as significant is reflecting on our approach to Shakespeare’s words themselves – how can we continue to bring vitality and energy to material that, by this point in the school year, may feel very familiar to students? 

One way is to reconsider the material not as lines to memorize but as spoken music with a rhythm all its own. In this resource, we outline strategies for close readings: interpretation of imagery, attention to punctuation and alliteration, and analysing which phrases require more emphasis or a specific emotional tone. This resource takes Shakespeare’s legendary “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” sonnet as a key text to examine, but you can apply this method to any monologue or scene!

The most important point to share is that every word – like every student! – has its value in bringing Shakespeare’s rich and complex world to life.

In Shakespeare’s lifetime, one of his most esteemed supporters was Queen Elizabeth. She watched several of his plays, invited him to her Court, and there is even a centuries-old rumour that she asked him to write The Merry Wives of Windsor! Her reign lasted for 45 years (1558 – 1603), and certainly Shakespeare is one of the defining figures of the Elizabethan era. (You can read more about Queen Elizabeth here, via the Folger Shakespeare Library.)

This Valentine’s Day, Shakespeare For Our Children wanted to pay tribute to Elizabeth’s own love story – one that played out not on stage, but across virtually her entire life. Elizabeth had known Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, since childhood, and they remained close friends and allies until his death in 1588. Indeed, though Elizabeth never married, the received wisdom of the age tells us that she wanted to marry Dudley… but various circumstances, including the scandal around the death of his first wife, made this impossible. (Read more here.) Yet in 1575 – as depicted in the illustration above – Dudley invited Elizabeth to his glorious Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire to try to win her hand one last time. Even though Dudley was unsuccessful, Elizabeth’s visit to Kenilworth remains one of the most compelling, and poignant, chapters of their relationship. 

Clearly, there is enough drama here to fill several plays – and in fact, if your students are drawn in, they may wish to write out their own scene between Elizabeth and Dudley! But as a place to begin, we at SFOC especially love this episode of the English Heritage podcast in which historian Dr Jeremy Ashbee explores Elizabeth and Dudley’s story. Happy Valentine’s Day!

It is no secret that January can be a tough month: holiday festivities are over, children (and teachers!) are back to school, and the spring still seems a long time coming. As leaders in the classroom, it is our responsibility to look for ways to generate an optimistic outlook – underpinned by a realistic perspective. What are the priorities to emphasise with young actors? What are the skills to cultivate in a low-energy season?

Here at Shakespeare For Our Children, we have found that it is very helpful to spend a few weeks after the turning of the year engaging with fundamentals. Have a look at our Resources page for more details – here are just a few suggestions.

Rather than rush into the next production, use this time to reflect on core techniques such as blocking and voice projection. These are primary elements of performance that can easily slip as students become distracted or, even worse, complacent. Try taking a familiar scene and re-blocking it, inviting the children to consider and explore the resulting differences in mood and tone.

Similarly, you can spend more time on theatre games. The mirror game, improvisational exercises – these build up great energy in the classroom while also re-establishing the importance of collaboration. To that end, we encourage you to mix up any existing friend groups (or cliques) within the troupe; this is all about engaging with established activities in new ways.

Remind your students that these techniques and activities are not basic but rather essential for all actors. And the stronger your foundation, the stronger the next performance will be.

The holiday season is a joyous time of year! And it is also very, very busy. As attention turns to the whirlwind of school vacations, presents, and family visits, we at Shakespeare For Our Children asked ourselves: What can Shakespeare illuminate about the end-of-year hustle and bustle? 

Quite a lot, as it happens! There’s the importance of each individual lighting their own little candle of good will; the knowledge that everyone has a part to play in any endeavour, on-stage or off; and of course, the always essential reminder – “To thine own self be true”. 

Ultimately, as Shakespeare observed so beautifully, “all the world’s a stage”. This season offers many opportunities for acting out various roles and responsibilities; Shakespeare reminds us that we can do so with a touch of grace.