- Students create imagery of the words with physical actions, this helps them understand the feelings and emotions of what is being described. It is connecting with the content physically.
"To talk about an image gives you one level of understanding, but an image with your own body, that is to take it to a far deeper level." - Mary Johnson, Practitioner, RSC.
- Creating physically creates a deeper understanding of the words.
"Imagine the words is extremely helpful for students. It is active, it is memorable and ensures their own understanding." - Natasha Evans, English teacher, Queensbridge School.
- Performance of the words make them more memorable.
"Imagery and physical memory with students helps them to take an abstract concept and make it concrete, so they are able to take the idea that Shakespeare is writing about and really understand them." - Amy McKibben, Language Arts teacher, Reynoldsbury Gateway Academy.
- It helps demystify and take the hidden meanings and complexity out of Shakespeare's words.
"Shakespeare's words are so beautiful, sometimes very complex, very dense, and, physically, those words really helps open the story for everyone. Embodying the words, inside my body and my soul, really helps me focus on the script and what is going on at that precise moment." - Debbie Korley, Actor/Freelance practitioner.
- Performing the words is important for actors and for the audience, to help understanding during a show, not just in education.
"It's really about what the words feel like, and I think this is why Shakespeare's language has lasted so long." - Aileen Gonslaves, Assistant Director, RSC.
The performance element of Shakespeare is something that I have brought up in my Unit Two work, and which has been classified as essential. Shakespeare, back in his time, never had a class preference with his work, even the 'uneducated poor' could go and enjoy it. This is what Shakespeare's performances are all about, the physical entertainment of the performance that elevates the audience's understanding.
This element of creating imagery and performance from the text can be key to understanding how my work/ outcome should be seen. It could be some sort of interactive element that requires movement or something!
"Acting them out makes you realise there's great depth to what they are actually saying. They're not just words that I find hard to read."
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