Shakespeare for the terminally terrified

Struggling with The Bard? I can help. Tailored master classes for KS3, 4 and 5. England and Wales. I'm not familiar with the Scottish system. All plays commonly taught offered - or just some basic 'coming to grips' classes.  I can offer practical drama and/or text based classes as well as CPD.  Tell me what you need and I'll tell you if I can cover it. If I can't, I won't pretend I can.  I charge £50ph (minimum 2 hours) or £200 a day (5 hours) plus expenses. I'll provide resources but ask you to undertake any necessary photocopying. If I use a ppt, I'll leave it with you. I mark AQA Lit paper 1 (AQA) and I have marked A2 Shakespeare (AQA B) and KS3 SATs when it existed.  email me with any queries.  

Comedies A comedy is a play which ends in a wedding. Note: all Globe DVDs are cheaper from Amazon. You can also utilise The Globe Player .   The Taming of the Shrew - possibly Shakespeare's earliest play.  Lots of debate about that one. 1591 at the latest. Two sisters - horrible, bad-tempered, rude Kate and lovely, sweet innocent Bianca, both unmarried. Bianca can't marry till someone takes Kate on. Enter Petruccio who marries Kate and turns her into the ideal wife whilst Bianca is finally shown in her true colours. Best adaptation: Ten Things I Hate About You - 1999 Musical: Kiss Me Kate - 1948 on Broadway/1953 film Best sequel: The Tamer Tamed - John Fletcher - 1611 for The King's Men. Globe version . (I love this production.) The Two Gentlemen of Verona - 1590 . Performed at Gray's Inn. Two couples, Valentine and Sylvia and Proteus and Julia marry at the end of the play after undergoing lost of difficulties including kidnap, women disguised as me...

I've only used one of these, so they don't come with recommendations: https://www.playshakespeare.com/shakespeare-pro-app Apple and Android - free. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/shakespeares-globe-360/id959985371 Apple only - free (This is the one I've used - I like it.) https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-tempest/id1099176816?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 Apple only - £5.99 The Tempest . They are planning an app for each play. https://www.iphoneness.com/iphone-apps/shakespeare-apps-for-iphone/ My laptop won't open these, but they look interesting. https://www.educationalappstore.com/app/shakespeare Apple only - free https://www.getjar.com/tag/William%20shakespeare/ Android - free. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsunguk.shakespeare&hl=en_GB This look brilliant! Android. Seems to be free. Says 9-12 but the reviews suggest it can be used by older pupils. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/starting-shakespeare/id763440089?mt=8...

For everyone : http://www.novelguide.com/ Don't be put off by the title. It covers all the plays. Summaries, key themes, character guides, key quotations and quizzes. (Also useful for other texts.) https://www.playshakespeare.com/ Summaries, character outlines, the play, reviews, discussion forum  https://www.shakespeareswords.com/ David and Ben Crystal. Needs a subscription after the 1st 20 searches. I have been using this site for years and can't recommend it highly enough. I also have the book   https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeares-life-and-times   Context. The RSC site also has pages for each play and teaching resources. https://www.bbc.com/timelines/z8k2p39 Biographical timeline with lost of useful links http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/education Lots of useful stuff - some interactive, suitable for KS3 and lower ability KS4. The Discovery Space is more suitable for KS4/5 http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/ US site, probably best suited to high...

It isn't, really. The stories are all pretty straightforward.  The history plays are all about, well, history. Mostly English kings. In the tragedies , the main character dies (sorry - spoiler alert), usually because he (and once or twice, she) has done something stupid.  In the comedies , at least one couple marries in the last scene but they've had to overcome all kinds of problems before they're allowed to actually get married.  There aren't any comedies about kings - though the Henry IV plays come close before Hal becomes Henry V when he has to turn into the best king England has ever had and lots of Richard III is very funny indeed. Almost everything else is a fairy story.   And there's Measure for Measure which doesn't really fit into any of the other categories though you could call it a back comedy.  But it looks hard on the page.  This is because most of the plays are mostly written in blank verse - in Shakespeare's case ...

This is for anyone who wants to know more about Shakespeare. In the UK, we all have to study his plays in school, and we may also study a sonnet or two, and trying to come to grips with the work of someone who's been dead for over 400 years can be a bit challenging!  I'm not an expert, but I have taken a special interest in Shakespeare's life and work for most of my life. I'll never be a Stanley Wells, David Crystal or Andrew Gurr (other experts are available and equally interesting to read) but I'll do my best to take the fear out of the need to understand the plays and try to put some of the fun back. There is lots of fun.  Please ask if there's anything specific you'd like me to cover and I'll do my best. (I don't do homework!)