Some of the young audience members at Playing Shakespeare

The very thought of Shakespeare at school sent shivers down my spine. I use to complain and moan when we would have to brandish ourselves with the work of the Bard. Why, and more to the point how do we know that this Shakespeare line is meant to mean this? The answer of “because it is”, never really filled me with much joy.

Of course, now a few years down the line and a wider knowledge of theatre has led me to believe that actually Shakespeare and his works is not only important for us to know of as British citizens but also vital in understanding how theatre has developed. A part of this undertaking of accepting the work of Shakespeare as a pleasure rather than pain seems to be a prominent feature of the work from The Globe Theatre.

Enter Stage Left: Playing Shakespeare

Back in 2006 The Globe Theatre embarked on a challenge to change perspectives of young people towards Shakespeare in education by actively engaging them in the core of the theatres work. Some 4 years down the line and the Education work of the Globe Theatre is immense, and possibly unknown to most people.

In March 2010 The Globe Theatre will once again be bringing their Playing Shakespeare programme to the hearts of students and young people aged 11 to 14 by giving away 14,000 free tickets to their production of Macbeth, along with other free tickets for members of the public on special open performances.

Not only are they providing the opportunity to engage with the work directly through their free ticketing scheme but the resources available for the participants is both impressive and huge. There are in-depth and interactive web resources (what a better way to engage with young people these days!), professional developement days for teachers and even in-school workshops.

Shakespeare is finally open to our younger generations through a means that doesn’t throw scene after scene down their necks expecting them to understand the meaning. The online resources allow for discussions, insights into the characters and plot in a method that younger people understand and already engage with.

To get an idea of the sort of engagement that the Globe Theatre are portraying check out their Playing Shakespeare website at www.playingshakespeare.org which will shortly be bursting to life in the coming months.

A big thumbs up to the Educational department at the Globe Theatre for continuing to get rid of that horrible feeling that Shakespeare is not accessible, the truth: It is.

For more information see the Globe Education website on www.globe-education.org