News & Events - General

English A-level students recently had a day devoted to Shakespeare, which featured workshop activities inspired by Hamlet and Macbeth and lectures by guest speakers including Dr. Peter J. Smith from Nottingham Trent University and Dr. Will Sharpe from the University of Warwick.

Describing the day, English Literature student Alexandra Foulsham said: " 'Shakespeare Day' started off with us insulting one another. No, really! We all had to choose three words from three separate columns containing abusive terms used by Shakespeare.
My favourite was “Thou jarring swag-bellied scut!” I thought this was a great start to the day and a funny, light-hearted way to gain a greater insight into the language of the plays."

She added: “Secondly, we had a workshop in which we were given roles in an imaginary inquest into the events of Hamlet, including a judge, Horatio and Osrick as well as a few reporters who had to write an account of a court hearing for a newspaper. This activity had outcomes that I probably wouldn’t have thought of without it being put into this sort of context; I felt it was interesting and very entertaining. After a short break, we had a guest speaker called Dr. Peter J. Smith; he spoke about Macbeth and Hamlet in performance and showed us all the different ways people could read the plays. I found this opened my mind and made me rethink the plays for myself. After lunch, we had another workshop in which we explored the questions raised by the appearance of the Danish royal family in a Jerry Springer format, which had comical yet informative outcomes. Then came the last activity of the day – a lecture from Dr. Will Sharpe, who gave an in-depth history of the plays. All in all, the day was a hit, with everyone coming away with a broader view and new perspectives on the plays.”