Budding bards take on Shakespeare at Brighton school

Thirty Year 4 children from Brighton College Prep School found they were not a-verse to the Bard’s Hamlet when they acted it out scene by scene with the coaching of award-winning touring educational group Shakespeare4Kidz.

The children from the Eastern Road school got stuck into the famously grisly play with gusto, firing questions at the end to father and son actors Alan and Helen Clarke about the play.

Ms Clarke said: “It’s very easy for young people to be put off by Shakespeare because it can seem inaccessible. By doing these workshops, we are showing the children that these are great stories behind the language. His plays are the basis for many other stories they will come across in life too.

“Educationally, most children will do Shakespeare at some point in their school career so it really gives them a head start if they know about the stories beforehand and they get so much more out of their lessons.

“We are also teaching the children how Shakespeare tells his stories and about the art of storytelling because if you can tell a story you will be a good communicator – a wonderful life skill.”

Brighton College Prep School Head of English Bobbie Granville said: “The children get so much out of these workshops and the new understanding they gain about the play they are doing is invaluable. It means when they encounter the play in the classroom, they have an immediate affinity with it and can grasp the concepts they have acted out so much more quickly.

“It always delights us that at the end of the workshops, when the children are told to ask any questions they might have about the play they have just acted out, that their hands shoot up and they make some great observations that show they really have taken it all in.”

Shakespeare 4 Kids was started up in 1996. It provides education in a fun way to young children all over the UK and globally and as well as running workshops it stages musicals for young people bringing the playwright’s work to life.