To mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, the British Council and the Royal Shakespeare Company have developed classroom resources exploring the big questions and themes that run through the works of the famous playwright.
These resources can also be used a as part of a theatre-based approach allowing students to express their creativity using famous extracts of the various works as a starting point.
'By exploring some of the key themes and ideas that occur throughout Shakespeare’s work we hope this resource will show your students the relevance of Shakespeare’s work to their lives today, helping us develop a deeper understanding of ourselves, each other and the world we live in.’ Gregory Doran, Artistic Director, Royal Shakespeare Company.
Structure of the 'Shakespeare Lives' pack
The pack is split into five key themes which run through Shakespeare's works:
- leadership and power
- family and relationships
- identity and equality
- fate and destiny
- justice and rules.
Each part is based on suggested activities to be used as starting points, key issues related to the theme and activities based on extracts from the plays.
These activities can be adapted to the age of the children you are teaching and used as starting points in individual lessons or as elements of a cross-curricular project.