Horace Mann - Summer 2016 - 8

Horace Mann School and England's Royal Shakespeare Company photo by Jasmin Ortiz Horace Mann School required no commemorative "moment" to bring Shakespeare into the lives of its students. While the work of William Shakespeare has been part of HM's curriculum since the school's beginnings today a unique partnership between Horace Mann School and England's Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is engaging HM students, from Nursery through Grade 12, with the Company's signature approach to teaching Shakespeare. That approach brings the company's own "rehearsal room method" into the classroom. Research by the RSC and others has shown this "active learning" style to be highly effective for teaching Shakespeare, and for engaging students in all subjects. At a time when the world is memorializing William Shakespeare, HM students and teachers are bringing his words to vibrant life. Students practice the RSC's "Stand Up for Shakespeare" techniques in HM's Black Box Theatre. around the globe. Her conviction that "bringing voice" to Shakespeare "builds confidence" led her to share the RSC's practices at schools in under-resourced neighborhoods, and at prisons. RSC Education continues to be inspired by Berry's belief that: "You do not understand Shakespeare fully until you have spoken the text aloud ... because there is something in the physicality of the language which is not only an intrinsic part of the rhythm and form of the writing, but also of the underlying motive and reasoning of the characters involved." Rebecca Gould, a Lead Practitioner in the RSC Education department, co-author of Teacher's Toolkit for Shakespeare, and a leader of the RSC's Continuing Professional Development program further explained: "Shakespeare is a prism through which you can teach and view many things. To gain from all that Shakespeare provides we want children to experience Shakespeare, more than we want to teach it to them." Gould coordinated the RSC's side of its work with Horace Mann School during the first year of this partnership, working closely with HM Upper Division English teacher and former Department Chair Dr. Adam Casdin, who directs the partnership for HM. photo by Barry Mason The Royal Shakespeare Company and its educational mission The Royal Shakespeare Company, based in Shakespeare's home of Stratford-on-Avon, in Warwickshire, England, is a premiere interpreter of Shakespeare's plays. The company emerged from Stratford's Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Ltd., which was established there in 1875 to fulfill the longheld hope of having a permanent, subsidized ensemble company of actors perform Shakespeare's plays where they originated. Opened in 1879, the Theatre became the site of an annual Shakespeare festival of plays performed by this resident company. The RSC was formally established on March 20, 1961 with the royal announcement that the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre would henceforth be known as the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the company as the Royal Shakespeare Company. RSC productions in Stratford and at affiliated theaters in London are today seen by over a million people annually. Productions by RSC touring companies at major theaters worldwide, together with RSC broadcasts of live performances at schools, theaters and online multiply audiences by millions more, fulfilling the Company's goal of encouraging "a lifelong relationship with Shakespeare and with live theatre." The RSC embraced an educational mission from its start. That mission was advanced by Cecily Berry, the RSC's legendary Voice Director, who took the Company's rehearsal room techniques to workshops for actors HM Upper Division English teacher Dr. Adam Casdin coordinates the HM-RSC partnership. 8 Horace Mann Magazine Summer 2016 Stand up for Shakespeare The RSC continued to develop its work in schools in Great Britain into the early 2000s, connecting schools with its rehearsal methods, bringing children and teens to regional RSC productions, and helping teachers prepare students to understand and gain from the expe-

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Horace Mann - Summer 2016