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BOOK HOUSE WWW.SALARIYA.COM You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Shakespearean Actor! Teachers’ Information Sheet by Nicky Milsted It is the late 16th century, and the book follows the fortunes of a young boy who aspires to be an actor. He lives just outside London, in Shoreditch, where a new playhouse has just been built by James Burbage for his company of actors. The company also includes an upcoming and talented playwright called William Shakespeare. After hanging around the theatre and volunteering as an ‘extra’ to play small background roles – much to his parents’ disgust – the boy is offered an apprenticeship with the company. He soon learns, however, that life as part of Burbage’s company is not easy. There are errands to run, costumes to try on, hours of rehearsals and endless lines to learn. The boy is trained to take on the female parts in the plays. He learns to walk, talk and even dress like a lady because women don’t act in the theatre in the 16th century. An outbreak of plague in 1597 sees the company’s theatre closed to try and halt the spread of the deadly disease; the company takes to the road to try and earn money by putting on plays in other towns. But it is a difficult time for the company. They are turned away from many places and have little to eat and nowhere, other than in barns or underneath their wagon, to sleep. When they return to London, they are thrown out of their theatre and have to club together to build a new theatre, which is called the Globe. This later burns down! So although on the face of it life on stage sounds glamorous, it is clear that You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Shakespearean Actor! Who was William Shakespeare? William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. He remains the most famous writer that has ever produced works in English. He wrote around 38 plays – the exact number is still debated! – and more than 150 sonnets (which are a type of 14-line poem). Shakespeare’s plays have been performed more often than those by any other writer. They have been made into countless films and TV adaptations, as well as inspiring other works of literature and art. Shakespeare’s work has been translated into at least 80 different languages (including Star Trek’s Klingon!). In the later 16th century, Shakespeare left Stratford-upon-Avon and moved to London, where he joined ‘The Lord Chamberlain’s Men’, the acting company of Richard Burbage. He wrote the majority of the plays performed by the company, as well as appearing in them as an actor too. When James ascended to the throne after the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, the company was given royal patronage and became ‘The King’s Men’. © MMXVI The Salariya Book Company Ltd © MMXVI You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Shakespearean Actor! BOOK HOUSE WWW.SALARIYA.COM Shakespeare’s plays included history plays about England’s kings, such as Henry V, comedies like As You Like It, and tragedies including Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. Shakespeare is credited with introducing a large number of words and phrases into the English language that are still used today. Examples include: ● A foregone conclusion (from Othello) ● A sorry sight (from Hamlet) ● All of a sudden (from The Taming of the Shrew) ● Dash to pieces (from The Tempest) ● Good riddance (from Troilus and Cressida) Shakespeare retired from his life on the stage and as a playwright in around 1613, and returned to Stratford where he died in 1616. Famously his last will and testament included the gift to his wife, Anne Hathaway, of his ‘second best bed’! Activity 1: Life as an apprentice Life as an apprentice in a Tudor theatre would have been hectic. The boy in You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Shakespearean Actor lives with the Burbage family, but has to do chores to earn his keep. Alongside his acting, he spends his time fetching and carrying, moving props around, and helping to clean up the theatre after the performances. He also has lengthy rehearsals to attend, and lots of lines to learn and remember – for between 50 and 100 different roles in as many as 40 different plays! It would be really tricky to remember which lines were from which plays. The boy usually plays women’s roles (because women aren’t allowed to act). This makes costume fittings a particularly long and unpleasant experience; he is forced into a metal corset and a metal-hooped underskirt called a farthingale before donning an elaborate dress and wig! Challenge your pupils to imagine that they are an apprentice in a Tudor theatre. Ask them to write a letter home to their parents describing their daily life. What do they most enjoy about their life in the theatre? What is the most difficult, boring or unpleasant task that they have to undertake? What do they miss from home? Your pupils could also prepare an itinerary or daily schedule for an apprentice using the activity sheet. It would have been a day packed with rehearsals, errands and learning lines. Activity 2: A poster for a play Publicity is really important when it comes to putting on a play – both in Shakespeare’s times and today. Can your pupils research a Shakespearean play of their choice, and design a poster to advertise a modern performance of it? You may like to provide a selection of recent play posters for your pupils to analyse first. What elements are important on a publicity poster? Talking point: how do your pupils think that plays may have been advertised in Shakespearean times? (See also Activity 3: The company parade) The Salariya Book Company Ltd © MMXVI You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Shakespearean Actor! BOOK HOUSE WWW.SALARIYA.COM Extension activity: 2016 is the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Challenge your pupils to design a poster or piece of artwork to mark this anniversary. You could ask your pupils to think of ways that the anniversary could be celebrated – would they want to put on a Shakespeare festival, create a modern musical montage of some of his most famous lines, or nominate ‘National Speak-like-Shakespeare Day’ for charity for example?! Encourage your pupils to be imaginative and creative with their ideas! Can they ‘sell’ their anniversary idea to their classmates? Activity 3: The company parade When Shakespeare’s company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, is forced to leave their theatre and London during an outbreak of Bubonic Plague (the Black Death) in 1597, they take their plays on tour. When they arrive in a new town, it is important for the company to make sure that everyone knows they have arrived and create enough excitement to ensure that people living in the town attend their performance. The members of the company would take part in a company parade through the streets showing off their acting and singing skills. Some of the company may have played musical instruments; others may have juggled or shown off acrobatic skills. Challenge your class to put on their own company parade! They could work together or in small groups. They might like to compose and perform a song about why people should come and watch them perform. They may like to choreograph a dance routine, or perform lines from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Why not try… performing your parade for an invited audience of parents? Activity 4: Shakespeare’s language Lots of common phrases in the English language today were first used by Shakespeare. Begin by challenging your pupils to match the modern English explanations of some (or all) with the Shakespearean phrases on the activity sheets. Can they write sentences of their own that include the Shakespearean phrases? Why not try… a game of Shakespeare phrase bingo? Each pupil should choose nine phrases from the activity sheets to include in their blank grid on the ‘Hark you!’ activity sheet. Read out the Shakespeare phrases one at a time at random to complete a game of bingo. For Shakespearean authenticity, rather than using ‘bingo’ as the winning call, use ‘hark you!’ It was used by Shakespeare in his plays as a means for a character to attract the attention of others. For example, in Hamlet, Hamlet encourages Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to listen to him by saying: “Hark you, Guildenstern – and you too – at each ear a hearer” © MMXVI The Salariya Book Company Ltd © MMXVI You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Shakespearean Actor! BOOK HOUSE WWW.SALARIYA.COM Extension activity: with more able pupils, or once you have played a simple game of Shakespeare phrase bingo and your pupils are confident that they know the phrases, try using the modern English explanations, rather than the phrases themselves. When your pupils are very familiar with the phrases, you could even try playing Shakespeare phrase bingo by just calling out the names of Shakespeare’s plays and matching phrases to the plays that they were used in! Research challenge: Shakespeare wrote large sections of many of his plays using rhyming couplets and iambic pentameter. Can your pupils use the internet to help them to find out what iambic pentameter is? They could even try writing some of their own rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter! Extension activity: alongside his plays, Shakespeare wrote over 150 sonnets. These are a type of 14-line poem with a structured rhyming pattern, written in iambic pentameter. One of Shakespeare’s most well-known sonnets, known as Sonnet 116, is reproduced below (and on the activity sheet).

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