Why teach Shakespeare to primary students?
Each year, the students at John Colet School dramatise Shakespeare’s work, in preparation for our Annual Shakespeare Festival.
Each class is assigned an abridged play to perform, with every child given a significant speaking part. Rehearsals are choreographed and directed by our Head of Drama, culminating in fully staged performances on the school stage (for Infants) and at Glen Street Theatre (for Primary).
By undergoing a rigorous theatrical training in the formative years of childhood, students emerge with greater self-understanding and stronger self-worth, benefitting not only from their solo endeavours on the stage, but also from the effects of working within a unified cast, contributing both on and off stage to achieve the highest standard of performance.
Shakespearean theatre training focuses on breath, voice, posture, gaze and gesticulation to cultivate full control of the instrument that is the human body. Equally, the drama curriculum encourages pupils to reflect on the human condition through close examination of both tragic and comic characters. As a playwright, philosopher and moral guide, Shakespeare elucidates how to live well, by unfolding in narrative which paths to choose and which to avoid, thus aiding the growth of wisdom in young minds.
