Monday 3 March 2008

Too young for shakespeare?

This morning's Today Programme carried a report on how the RSC wants to encourage more primary schools to do Shakespeare.

I certainly didn't come across any Shakespeare until secondary school, and then it was Midsummer Nights Dream - which seems to be the one most commonly used with children.

But I am sure I could have understood some of it at a younger age.

Last year I went along to Banks Road School in Garston for their annual Shakespeare performance.

This is a primary school. But every year they do something from the bard and on that occasion they were doing Hamlet.

I have to say that on the way there I had worried whether Hamlet would be too difficult. But with a few cuts (and I mean a few) they did it brilliantly.

So let's hope the RSC will be able to persuade more primaries to follow Banks Road's lead.

1 comment:

Edis said...

Having gone to primary school in Stratford-upon-Avon mumble decades ago, with a lot of attention paid to the exploits of the local boy made good, I can say that Shakespeare can be pretty accessible to that age group.