Always on the lookout for Shakespearean happenings, Claudine Nightingale shares what she's spotted through her beady bardy binoculars.
Shall I compare thee …
It's not long now until Shakespeare's birthday (23 April), and what better way to celebrate than to take a closer look at the book that secured his legacy – the First Folio. And why stop at one? At First Folios Compared, you can look over 50 copies of the famous publication, sourced from all over the world, and compare them side by side.
You might wonder why anyone would bother looking at two copies of the same book together, even if it is by the famous bard. Each copy has been on its own exciting journey over the last 400 years – some stolen, others stood on by dogs, another ripped apart by one of its many owners (he only liked happy stories, so ripped out the tragedies section). As such, many have unique and intriguing marks, accumulated over time, that tell their tale. The inimitable Professor Emma Smith has written a short guide, found on the website, which shows users some of the fascinating differences you can find in First Folio copies, including printing errors, the changing portrait, and owner annotations.
The site is completely free to access, and there is even a Key Stage 5 lesson plan available to download, which gives a range of ideas for using the First Folio and the website to help students explore Shakespeare and Renaissance drama practice.
Be you [at Shakespeare's Globe], and you shall see wonders
Shakespeare's Globe has announced their line-up of productions for the summer season, which runs from April to October 2025.
First up is a new production of Romeo and Juliet (running 25 April – 2 August), directed by the Globe's Associate Artistic Director Sean Holmes and starring Abdul Sessay and Lola Shalam in the title roles.
Other Shakespearean offerings will include: The Merry Wives of Windsor, also directed by Holmes (running 4 July – 20 September); Twelfth Night, directed by Robin Belfield; and a special production of A Midsummer Night's Dream: For One Night Only, which will be directed by Blanche McIntyre and take place on 14 September. The company of actors for this performance will meet for the first time on that same day.
The Globe Director of Education Lucy Cuthbertson will be directing a return to the stage of the successful 2024 hit Rough Magic, which will be staged in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. This will run from 19 July to 23 August.
Also directed by Cuthbertson will be their flagship secondary school offering – the Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production, which will be Macbeth this year. This 90-minute production is created especially for young people and designed to support the curriculum. Public performances of this will run from 13 March to 20 April.
‘I am delighted to share our 2025 summer season,’ Michelle Terry, Shakespeare Globe's Artistic Director, says. ‘This season at The Globe has artists and audience in mind as we try to balance well-known and beloved plays, with lesser known, but equally extraordinary ones. We hope this season strikes that balance; with these timely and timeless tales told by some of the most important artists working in British Theatre today.’
Find out more about these and other planned productions at shakespearesglobe.com
I will be satisfied; let me see the writing
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) are launching a new project to improve primary school students' writing skills. Teachers are being invited to join a new research programme led by the RSC and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
The RSC is one of 11 recipients who will have their research initiatives supported as part of a multi-million-pound investment package, announced this week by the Education Endowment Fund (EEF). The RSC's project, which is called Rehearsal Room Writing, follows on from their previous successful research initiative Time to Act. Their research so far has demonstrated a link between their ‘rehearsal room’ approach to teaching Shakespeare and an improvement in children's writing and language skills.
Teachers who contribute to the research project will be placed in either an intervention or a control group; those in the intervention group will attend five training sessions and then apply the techniques they have learned to their own teaching. Both the control and intervention groups then submit a series of written responses to be independently analysed to assess the impact of the intervention on the children's attainment and writing skills.
The RSC aims to sign up 200 primary schools to its Rehearsal Room Writing project. Between now and June 2025, they are calling for expressions of interest from Year 5 primary school teachers across England. Find our more at rsc.org.uk/learn/research/current-research/rehearsal-room-writing