In spite of all the challenges in the world right now, Spring has still managed to weave her beautiful spell, with blossoms on the trees, warmth in the air. And as we take our steps into this new season (even if we can only take a few outside of our homes at the moment) — we can begin yet another journey: this one towards a better understanding of Shakespeare. With this in mind, we wanted to share some materials that we have found to be essential in the earliest days of introducing children to Shakespeare. “The basic elements,” if you like!
One great way to begin is with Shakespeare’s own story. Establishing the life and times of the man himself introduces children to the pageantry of Elizabethan England — and no book does that better than Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema’s The Bard of Avon. We’ve written about it before, and it remains a perfect starting point for young performers. Many are amazed to learn about Shakespeare’s own career as a successful London actor!
Puck’s epilogue from A Midsummer Night’s Dream is another excellent place to begin. (Read it here and listen to it above.) This delightful piece has always been the first one that we share with our students, for it introduces them to the idea of creating a character (the popular mischievous sprite), highlights the relationship between actor and audience (given that the epilogue is directly addressed to the viewer), and has a lively tone which captures the rhythm of Shakespeare’s language. You can begin by reading the children Charles and Mary Lamb’s account of the play, or Bruce Coville’s eloquent retelling.
At its heart, introducing children to Shakespeare is all about the stories: the ones that he told, and the ones that actors can, in turn, share with their audience. And each of the tales above — whether about Shakespeare’s life and his plays, or those told in his own words — are the seeds that one can plant so that the children’s understanding and admiration for Shakespeare can blossom.