The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge…

As the UK starts slowly to emerge from its lockdown hibernation, theatres have begun tentatively to announce plans for their re-openings: Shakespeare's Globe in London will bring back guided tours of the theatre from 13 April, and also welcome schools back for tours and workshops. Tours will be running every day of the Easter holiday, at a rate of 7 tours a day.

However, the world of theatre will never quite be the same again, and it is likely that a number of the online initiatives that have sprung up over the past year will continue in some form – making the output of such institutions available to a vastly bigger worldwide audience. Online offerings continuing at the Globe for the moment at least include ‘Shakespeare Boost’, a new series of online workshops for GCSE and A Level students; ‘Globe 4 Globe’ – an online symposium exploring Shakespeare and the Climate Crisis; CPD courses for teachers (see our review on page 40), Acting Short Courses for young people, Telling Tales workshops and storytellings for families, and the return of Globe and West End hit Emilia to screens.

‘Shakespeare Boost’ workshops for KS4 and 5 students will be released on a ‘pay what works for you’ basis, to ensure the workshops are as accessible as possible. Led by a Globe practitioner, each two-hour session will provide participants with strategies to respond to questions in their final assessments. There will be sessions on Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet for GCSE, and Othello and Hamlet for A level.

Meanwhile, up in the birthplace of the Bard, the RSC has announced that a filmed version of The Winter's Tale, directed by Erica Whyman, RSC Deputy Artistic Director, will be broadcast on BBC Four around Shakespeare's birthday in April (transmission date TBC), and will then be available on BBC iPlayer. And in the summer, the RSC will restart live performances in Stratford-upon-Avon for in-person audiences, opening with an outdoor production of The Comedy of Errors, directed by Phillip Breen. The Company will stage the production in the Garden Theatre, a specially constructed outdoor performance space located in the Swan Gardens, flanked by the River Avon. A full performance schedule and Box Office details for The Comedy of Errors and further programming will be announced in mid-April. shakespearesglobe.com; rsc.org

Read upon this book…

© READTHROUGH

The full cast of ReadThrough's Macbeth

Lockdown initiative ReadThrough has now mounted two online readings of Shakespeare plays with star casts for school students to log in and watch live, and free.

Set up by a group of professionals from television, film and theatre, ReadThrough launched in January 2021, offering online play readings and school workshops designed to improve the comprehension of exam-body English plays for students across the UK, with a particular focus on students from less privileged backgrounds. After each performance a student and teacher-led Q&A

More than 26,000 students and teachers logged on from 624 schools for the first live ReadThrough event held on Thursday 11 February, with a cast including Joe Lycett, Pearl Mackie, Remmie Milner and Esther Smith performing Macbeth to aid students’ comprehension of the curriculum text. A second performance, of Romeo & Juliet, on 11 March 2021, featured George Mackay, Simon Callow, Jade Anouka, Kayla Meikle and Pandora Colin, among others.

More performances will be announced and details for workshops can be found online at wearereadthrough.com

I heard thee speak me a speech once, but it was never acted…

Guildhall School of Music and Drama are continuing their online offering with courses running through April, May and June, including ‘Intermediate Level Shakespeare: An Experiential Workshop’. Running on Wednesday evenings from 28 April through until 2 June, from 6:30–8:30pm, the six-week online evening course will aim, GSMD says, ‘to help participants take their classical acting to the next level. Working, with one of the UK's leading classical actors, [participants] can expect to take part in a series of fun sessions, that will equip them with tools to perfect their Shakespeare. The course will be divided between practical work, group discussion and lectures.’

This course is for participants aged 18+, so this is one to attend and steal ideas from to pass on to your students. It is for those who are very confident in handling Shakespeare's language and are happy to be learning in a fast-paced learning environment.

For more information on all GSMD courses and to book, go to gsmd.ac.uk/shortcourses