Shakespeare Lesson Plan – Days 2-6ish

This is a continuation from the article “Shakespeare in a Can: Six Days With the Bard From Start to Stage.”

REMEMBER, this mini-Shakespeare play you are doing is NOT a perfect play. Heck, if you want to make it perfect, please don’t do it; that’s a complete waste of perfect creativity, and the kids are chock full of it! We at PlayingWithPlays.com specifically reference these plays as “Melodramatic Masterpieces,” so please don’t forget the melodrama. It’s what gets the parents rolling in the audience and the kids coming back for more!

Day 2: BLOCKING. By now you have cast the play. So step 1 here is to hand out the parts. Step 2 is to do a read through just wherever you are (sitting at a desk, sitting on stage, on the grass outside next to a lake with ducks floating by, wherever). Once you have done your first read through, the next thing to do is start blocking. First of all, the definition of blocking, for those of you who don’t know: to plan or work out the movement of performers in a play. This is where the “F’s” come in… it is fun, frustrating, and FOREVER! Yes, the first time walking through and doing basic blocking of the play seems like forever, but don’t worry, it speeds up quickly! You will probably only get through the play maybe once, but call it a wrap and head home. HOWEVER, emphasize to the kids to start memorizing their lines (always do this, sometimes it takes a while to sink in). Also, remind them that as of Day 5, you will be “off-book” (no scripts) so, good luck.

Day 3: MORE BLOCKING. You may get through 2 times today. But that’s okay, the kids will have a basic idea of what they are doing and where they are going now. KEY POINT: kids will start coming up with ideas for their character: GO WITH IT! This is where their creative juices starting to flow. This is VERY IMPORTANT; if they feel empowered with the Bard, and start having fun with Shakespeare, they will start to embrace his work more and more (you are on your way to creating a Shakespeare monster!).

Oh yeah, and start thinking about costumes. WHAT! Costumes? Yes, costumes. This can be a major headache or really simple. I go with the really simple route myself. Hit Walmart or K-mart the day after Halloween and buy a bunch of plastic swords, renaissance type costumes, and miscellaneous fun stuff (the Witches are great fun to buy for). I typically throw everything in one or two bins and tell the kids to have at it. They spend about 20 minutes trying on costumes and seeing if they can make things fit, it’s great fun! But don’t do this piece until Day 5 (or the day before the show).

Most of the time there are at least one to two parents that can make a costume or two as well. You’ll always have those few talented moms out there who love to help! They are the BEST!

And remind the kids again… on Day 5 we are off book!

Day 4: AND MORE BLOCKING. Now you are starting to move a little faster. Some kids know their lines, other kids don’t, but they are starting to come up with ideas whether for costumes, props, how to die on stage (with dramatic sword fighting of course!) or whatever, just go with it! Keep remembering, the entire goal here is to have fun with Shakespeare. The kids will love it, the parents will love it, and I bet ya Willy will be watching too and having a great ol’ time!

And remind them, next time we meet we are off book!

Day 5: OFF BOOK. Yep, that’s right. These two to three run-throughs today will be a bit slow, but by the third time you go through it, most kids will be moving pretty well with their lines and starting to really have fun!

DRESS UP TIME! Okay, pull out your two to three bins of clothes and let the kids have at it. Remember, this is NOT a perfect play. Some of the clothes will not fit perfectly (that’s what clothes pins, belts, and duct tape are for). If kids have their own stuff, let them bring it in too. They will really love doing this!

At this point, you are welcome to add more days for rehearsals. As any director will tell you, actors can ALWAYS use more rehearsals!

Day 6: DRESS REHEARSAL and PERFORMANCE.

DRESS REHEARSAL: I typically do the performance in the same time slot that I have been doing all the other group meetings and rehearsals, but it is up to you. This day starts straight away with getting into costumes. You should perform two dress rehearsals just before the big show. And at this point, just let the kids just run it with no interference. Don’t even go backstage for this, they need to learn that the world is really their stage. Just stand back and enjoy the show.

THE BIG SHOW. By this time, the audience has filed in and you are ready to go with the show. So, to break the ice, you get on stage first. Thank the kids for all their hard work, the parents for putting up with Shakespeare in their homes for so many weeks, and then stand on stage and introduce the wrong show. Set this up before hand with all of the kids yelling from backstage the correct play. i.e.: “I am proud to announce today’s play, ‘Hamlet.’” From backstage the group says, “NO!”. Then one kid wanders on stage, whispers into your ear the correct play and you proceed to change your intro to: “I am proud to announce today’s play…(asking backstage so the audience can hear) what is it again?” Then all the kids yell in unison, “MACBETH!” “Oh yeah! Right! I am proud to announce today’s performance of …‘Macbeth!’” This typically helps break nervous tension that the kids have built up.

Then stand back and watch the show!!!!

That’s about it – pretty simple, huh?

For more information or fun items like the Shakespeare Insult Generator, check out: PlayingWithPlays.com

Shakespeare Lesson Plan (Day 1): 6 weeks with the Bard, from start to stage. (Just an hour a week - it's easy!)

Designed for grades 4-9.

Over the next few paragraphs I am going to give you the simple keys to introducing Shakespeare to your kids in a way that will ensure they will LOVE him for the rest of their lives. So much so, they will want more and more! Guaranteed! I have taught this to middle school and elementary kids, as well as kid’s drama programs for local public theaters. I also ran two successful after-school programs simultaneously (one developed after they saw the other performances in the first area).

In a nutshell, you are going to take your group, whether it is an after-school program a home-school program, or a class in a school, and in just 6 weeks, have them on stage performing Shakespeare!

It is pretty straightforward and easy to do. This can be done in 6 one-hour sessions, but if you have more time or 8 weeks available, it may be a little more sane (I am slightly insane (my wife would argue with the use of “slightly”)). Either way, I know it can be done, because I have done it.

A little forewarning: this lesson plan is strictly designed for those who appreciate fun being at the heart of learning. If you can’t handle melodramatic, crazy Shakespeare, leave now. Or better yet, why are you even teaching?

The steps for day/session 1:

1) Explain the story to the kids

2) Auditions – part 1

a. Dieing

b. Screaming

3) Read the play

4) Fill out audition forms

5) Read parts for the play

6) Cast the play

Now for more details:

Fun! Day 1 is where it’s at. If you can’t hook them here, you’re going to have a tough time getting them invested for the balance of the time. But DON’T WORRY, I’m here to help ya!

First: Introduce the play you are going to do. I do a quick and crazy one man rendition to get the kids into the swing of things (check it out here: PlayingWithPlays.com) But there are several other ways to do it:

• Do your own one-man show

• Show some snapshots of the Reduced Shakespeare Companies renditions to get the kids intothe flow of the melodramatic feel

• Have them hop on line and watch my one-man show (PlayingWithPlays.com)

• Super simple method: Cliff notes version – you tell the story, but you have to do it within 5 minutes in VERY simple language. And get the kids to interact with you during the story.

Second: Auditions – ahhh, this is the BEST part. You have to do VERY LITTLE, and the kids have to do EVERYTHING, and they will LOVE IT! Yes, I am shouting, this is exciting stuff! First round of auditions: your best death. Have the kids line up to “die” their most dramatic death (possibly start with the ham in the group to set the tone, or better yet, YOU do the first death). Remember, the more dramatic it is, the more fun the kids will have and the more the audience will laugh! And believe me, kids will line up again and again to “die” in new and creative ways (and yes, this is why the tragedies are more fun than the comedies). Some will even do it in teams, so be it! Second round of auditions: Screams. Yes, when someone dies, typically, someone screams when they find them. Either way, kids love this part too! So line them up again and let’s hear their best scream. Remember, this can be “agony”, “excitement”, “shock”, “fear”, “dieing”, etc. - throw out some descriptive words for them to act against! (Depending on their age, you may want to wear earplugs!)

Third: Read the play – choose one of the plays located here (PlayingWithPlays.com). I choose these plays for several reasons:

1) Very easy to understand – using modern simple language mixed with Shakespeare’s own lines scattered throughout.

2) Funny!

3) Each book has 3 plays for 3 different group sizes, so there is one that is perfect for your group.

4) I wrote them!

Randomly hand out parts and have the group read through the play. This should take about 15-20 minutes and by this time they will have a basic idea of what the story is about as well as which parts they want.

Fourth: Fill out the “audition form”. This will take about 5 minutes. Download the form here. This is what you will use to determine who gets which parts.

Fifth: Third round of auditions: by this time, you are running out of time – so if you don’t have time, skip it. Especially if you already know your kids and assign your parts. However, if you are working with this group for the first time, you’ll want to do this to get a better feel for the kids. Have some pre-determined sections of the play that you want 2-4 kids to read and start cycling through their readings.

Sixth: At this point, the kids are done, send them home, to recess, or to some other place away from you so you can think. Now you have to cast the roles. My advice, don’t wait to do it, DO IT NOW! As it is fresh in your mind, it will only take about five minutes, so go!

So let’s summarize:

1) Explain the story to the kids

2) Auditions – part 1

a. Dieing

b. Screaming

3) Read the play

4) Fill out audition forms

5) Read parts for the play

6) Cast the play

See, pretty simple, huh?

Next blog will have the balance of the weeks. Good Luck and GO!