Theatre director Bill Buckhurst is at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, in Bankside, London.
Bill explains that when preparing to stage a play, one of the most important things to do is to mark out the space your actors will work in and establish where your audience will stand or sit. He shows how this can be done simply at school or at home.
As Bill talks about directing Shakespeare, we see some video footage of previous Globe Theatre productions.
As Shakespeare plays are quite long, he suggests choosing a short extract to perform rather than an entire play.
When choosing set and props, Bill recommends keeping it simple. He explains that in his own recent production of 'Othello' at Shakespeare’s Globe he used boxes as props/set, letting the audience use their imagination to create the world of the play.
Teacher Notes
The Globe Theatre is a reconstruction of the theatre in which many of Shakespeare’s plays were originally staged. An idea for a lesson is that students could research the history of theatre entertainment in Shakespeare’s time, including both the outdoor Globe theatre and the Blackfriars Theatre (an indoor playhouse used by Shakespeare in his later career).
Students could design sketches or cross sections for their own Elizabethan outdoor or indoor playhouse, with a view to making and evaluating their own designs, perhaps with the assistance of computer aided design.
Students could choose (or be provided with) a short extract of a Shakespeare play to perform. They could be challenged with thinking about what readily available props they could use to convey a simple sense of plot and character.
Curriculum Notes
This clip will be relevant for teaching Drama and English at KS3 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and third level in Scotland.
More from How to put on a Shakespeare play:
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Maxine Peake shares her tips for acting in a Shakespeare play, including ‘actioning,' movement and body language.
Shakespearian characters' costumes. video
Robin Belfield of the Royal Shakespeare Company explains how to devise a costume for a character.
What did actors sound like in Shakespeare's day? video
Actor, author and Shakespeare specialist Ben Crystal talks about how actors would have spoken in Shakespeare's day.
How is Shakespeare's verse similar to modern hip-hop rhythms? video
Lorianne Tika Lemba of The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company compares Shakespeare’s verse rhythms - iambic pentameter - to hip hop.
