Encouraging students to update Shakespeare for their new, urban contexts has been encouraged in theatre and in film. Baz Luhrman's
Romeo+ Juliet, Gus van Sant's
My Own Private Idaho immediately come to mind. It is doubly exciting to see students encouraged to update Shakespeare, make the ideas and concepts their own, and to do so in a hybrid approach that blends immersive and interactive performance with online interactive activities. London's Intermission Theatre in Education is doing just that. Welcome to an interview with
Paul Forster, Director of Education for Intermission Theatre in Education.
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| Intermission Theatre in Education, London |
Paul Forster:
We deliver Shakespeare plays with a modern twist, using
urban language and modern themes to engage with a young, modern audience.
We
realised that there were other ways to engage with a modern audience, via
technology. Being a bit of a geek myself I started to research what Shakespeare
E-learning resources were available for secondary school age and up. There was
simply nothing available of any substance or quality. So we decided to develop
our own resource.
We
acknowledge that everyone likes to learn in their own way. There are three
main types of learning styles; auditory, kinesthetic and visual. At ITiE we
recognise that young people like to learn in different ways, our resources
reflect this and we have games, exercises and tasks that will suit a variety of
students needs. Most people learn best through a combination of the three types
of learning styles, but everybody is different.
Auditory
Learners: Hear
Reciting
information out loud and having music in the background may be a common study
method. Other noises may become a distraction resulting in a need for a
relatively quiet place. Auditory learners would rather listen to things
being explained than read about them.
Kinesthetic
Learners: Touch
Kinesthetic
learners process information best through a “hands-on” experience. Actually
doing an activity can be the easiest way for them to learn. Sitting still while
studying may be difficult, but writing things down makes it easier to
understand.
Visual
Learners: See
Visual
learners learn best by looking at graphics, watching a demonstration, or
reading. For them, it’s easy to look at charts and graphs, but they may
have difficulty focusing while listening to an explanation.
These
three styles of learning are what we have built our E-learning around.
We
have a range of activities on our site but the first page you are greeted with
is The Gateway Page
This page represents our first touring
production Romeo and Juliet.
The
gateway is the portal and home to all of our games. Each room is interactive
and contains searchable objects which once clicked on opens up and explanation
page which tells you about the game, information or activity that you are about
to play.
Each activity is different below, we see Juliet's diary, each
character had their own diary giving an account of the play from their own
perspective. This helps young people understand the story, themes and what the
characters go through on a personal level, such as why they make certain
decisions and how other people's decisions affect them. We want young people to
step into someone else's shoes to see what affects their own decisions have on
other people.
This
is not just about Shakespeare, this is about life skills, we have cantered our
games around the curriculum subjects of PSHE (Personal, social and health
education), English lit and language, Drama, Music and Religious Education.
PSHE covers those life skills young people need to learn as well as substance
abuse, violence, gang culture etc. Our modern adaptations of Shakespeare's
plays deal with these issues so our E-learning reflects that.
We
have many video exercises such as the police interview. This game centres
around the death of Mercutio. The main protagonists are interviewed by the
police to find out who killed Mercutio. In the game you play the game from the
point of view of the interviewee. You are always presented with a question in
which there are two answers, one is the truth and one is a lie, each one leads
you down a different route, there are various outcomes depending on your
answer. The final page will always direct the young person to government
websites or information regarding the laws surrounding knife crime (which
is how Mercutio is killed). The games learning objectives are to encourage
informed decision making whilst cementing the story of the play in the young
person’s mind.
'Police
Action II'
How
about a bit of fun? If you have ever had a workshop on Shakespeare
then you may have done the exercise where you insult each other using
Shakespeare? I have always loved this exercise, it allows you to play with
Shakespeare's language and have fun with it, we often find that opening with
this game breaks down the barrier that 'Shakespeare is really hard' and
promotes playfulness. I wanted young people to enjoy the same experience online
so we created a randomiser that puts together Shakespearean insults, we
also made a 'Shakespearean Complimentor', which gives you encouraging and
humorous compliments.
Hip
hop or Shakespeare? This is a fantastic knowledge game. You are presented with
a quote and you must decide if it is a popular Hip hop lyric or a quote from
Shakespeare. We do this because again it brings the world of Shakespeare into
our modern world. If young people can closely relate to a subject such as the
language of Shakespeare then it becomes easier to understand and easier to
relate to. It also makes the connection between Iambic pentameter and the use
of this in rap lyrics. If we can show young people that their rap idols use a
form of language that stems from Shakespeare then it becomes easier for them to
understand it.
We
are currently touring Verona Road, which is inspired by Romeo and Juliet.
Instead of the Montagues and Capulets we have South and East side, two feuding
London gangs. Postcode rivalry is the main theme but also covers knife crime,
love and loyalty and forgiveness. The themes are in the original play but we
have brought them into the modern world.
We
have Wasted (Julius Caesar) which is the ultimate knife crime
play,
Ring of Envy (Othello) Othello is an up and coming
boxer.
The play is about social media and text messaging being used to
manipulate and bully. The playground (A Midsummers night
dream) in which we tackle substance abuse, Puck has the lovers smoke weed which
confuses them and messes up their relationships.
We
cannot say that young people relate to one play more than another. Each stands
on its own as an educational and inspirational piece of theatre. What makes the
experience more inspiring and different from other theatre in education
companies is that we only offer peer to peer learning.
Our
company of actors is made up young people at risk from some of London's
toughest and most affected boroughs. Some of our young people have lived
through the very themes we tackle through our work. Yet our young people have
managed to leave their past lives behind and make themselves a better future.
Our audience members leave feeling truly inspired by our young actors, we leave
them with hope.
This
resource will be free to use and will be available in a few months time. We
will be having a grand launch event in London and if you are able to attend
that would be amazing.
**
E-Learning Queen: Thank you, Paul, for an inspiring interview. The E-Learning Queen definitely wishes to attend the launch. After all, it is understood that Corgis are quite welcome in England (especially in certain palaces). We will try not to nip a Beefeater.
