Hartlepool youngsters get to grips with Shakespeare
As part of national Shakespeare Week, youngsters at Barnard Grove Primary School took part in a workshop with Konflux Theatre in Education.
The day-long session saw the key stage two children learn about Shakespeare’s play ‘A Midsummers Night’s Dream’ and then perform their own version of it that same day.
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Hide AdThe visit from the Play in a Day team aimed to provide the children with an opportunity to engage with Shakespeare in a unique way.
The play was specially adapted by Duncan Campbell into a Konflux Theatre in Education ‘Play in a Day’ in order to provide an engaging accompaniment to the study of the text in the classroom.
During the day pupils studied the play, which depicts the adventures of four young lovers, a group of amateur actors in a moonlit forest and their interactions with the fairies who inhabit it.
They then worked with professional facilitator from Konflux Theatre in Education to create a 15 minute performance which they acted out in front of peers and parents.
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Hide AdAt the end of the session it is hoped that all the children have an increased subject knowledge of A Midsummers Night’s Dream, an understanding of teamwork, and an experience of public speaking to help with their self-expression and confidence.
Deputy headteacher and English co-ordinator, Janine Thompson, said she was proud of the way pupils embraced the experience.
She said: “We have been taking part in the Play in a Day Workshops across the school over the last ten years.
“They are a great way of helping the children to cement the story that they are learning in class. “This time we had a class of 28 Year 4 pupils taking part in the workshop, which saw them adapt the text into a play they then performed.
“They did a really good job and everyone had a speaking part, which really helped to improve their confidence.”