CREATING A SCHOOL LARP ON

SHAKESPEARE – IN PRACTICE

Ewelina Janowiak

Katarzyna Brzozowska

FA II MU

CONTEXT OF THE PRESENTATION…

1)Methods to create the LARP activity2)Results of it3)Educational materials for students on

Shakespeare and theatre4)Role-playing in practice

(Domestic) methods to

create LARP at school

HOW TO COPE WITH A HUGE CLASS IN CREATING LARP?

Work in

small groups

Role play

Group role play

WHY LARPING IS A GOOD METHOD TO TEACH ABOUT SHAKESPEARE?LARPing is a social process (especially important when learning about theatre!)

Influences cognitive processes- can see different points of view, interpretations

Increases awareness in terms of role playing

Construction of knowledge about theatre in practice

Provides peer support

Motivational benefits

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS OF A CLASS = ADVANTAGE FOR LARP

Large group teaching is more and more common in Poland

Limited opportunities for peer to peer interaction in large classrooms

LARP is a learning method successfully used in small group and large as well

Everyone has a dedicated role

Results

RESULTS: WHAT WE EXPECT FORM STUDENTS TO SAY AFTER IT…?

•Interactiveness & engagement •“...was very interactive”•“very engaging”•“activeness in questioning and answering questions”•“the level of communication between students” •“encouraged active involvement”

•Group work:•“Liked working in groups”

•Social benefits•“Group work helped me to know more people”

Peer interactio

n

•Aids understanding•. ...aided understanding of the complexity of studying organisational behaviour”

•“It is easier to understand some theoretical views because we have to prepare on session”

•“the preparation helped me to understand better the topic”• Social learning•[group work]: could share knowledge” •“I learned about many different ideas and opinions from different people “

• “...like to hear how other colleagues think”• “Easier method of learning; able to argue and debate on ideas”

•Helps to put theory into practice•“With the practical case we had the opportunity to put theory in real life

Learning benefits

CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION

Group role play encourages peer to peer interaction

Can encourage social learning in large group settings

However, it should be mixed with a lecture. It has to be organised so that students are

encouraged to engage and prepare good quality presentations.

Group role play also might be used in teaching other subjects

What we can teach about

Shakespeare in advance of LARP?

Staging a Show

To stage a show in Elizabethian times, you needed:– A patron – A company– Shareholders– Playwright(s)– Actors– Costumes– Props– An Audience

Actors

• Major role filled by the shareholdes

• Minor actors were hired by the company to act in small roles

• A good memory was helpful, but not 100% necessay

Costumes

• Costumes were extremely elaborate during Shakespeare’s time

• Scenery was not, so often times the costumes would set the tone for the play

• Costumes were so important when trying to convincingly portray men as women

Setting the Scene – no scenery

In order to inform their audience about the setting, Shakespeare and his contemporaries would always have a character mention something about the setting at the beginning of the scene if it was important to the play

Elizabethan

Theater

• Before Elizabeth’s reign, plays were performed by noblemen actors

• In 1572, actors began to be required to have a patron in order to keep traveling on the road to perform in different towns– As a result of this decree, acting

became better, because actors and playwrights were forced to hone their craft to ensure patronage

MOUNTINGPlot Structure of Tragedy

Exposition

Complication

Rising Action

Climax

Falling Action

Moment of final suspense

Catastrophe

Shakespeare• Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon

Avon• His father, John Shakespeare was a

successful glove maker– Finally given coat of arms (family crest) in

1596 after William’s success

• His mother, Mary Arden came from a rich, landowning family

• Was the third of eight siblings, although his two older siblings died young

Shakespeare in love• November 1582, 18 year old

Shakespeare married 26 year old Anne Hathaway, also of Stratford upon Avon

• May 1583, Susanna (1st child) was born

• Had three kids: Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith– Hamnet died at eleven, leaving

Shakespeare without a son

Shakespeare’s writing• 1588, Shakespeare began

writing and acting– five poems– 154 sonnets– 37 plays

• Histories, comedies, and tragedies

• In 1599, Shakespeare became a principle holder of the globe theater

Last days

• Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616• Was buried in Holt Trinity Church in

Stratford-upon-Avon• Anne Hathaway (wife) died in

August 1623• Anne Hathaway, daughter Susanna,

Dr. John Hall (son-in-law) and Thomas Nash (Susanna’s son-in-law) were buried next to Shakespeare

LARP on Shakespeare

WHAT IS NEEDED?

Show students (pupils) a presentation on Shakespeare, mentioned in earlier slides, so that they could feel the spirit of Elizabethian times

Group students in sets of 4-6

WHAT IS NEEDED?

Give every group different Shakespeare’s book (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, etc.)

Let pupils choose a part of the book on which they will role-play in front of the whole class (or videotape themselves and play it in from of the class if setting is needed)

WHAT IS NEEDED?

If costumes are hard to get, let pupils design them on paper

WHAT IS NEEDED?

Let pupils give their own interpretations of the book (comic/tragic/etc.)

Let it go viral – online!

WE HOPE TO USE THIS IDEAS IN THE NEAR FUTURE

ON OUR OWN CLASSES! ONLY TEACHERS CAN MAKE

IT POSSIBLE

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ewelina Janowiak – 50%Katarzyna Brzozwska – 50%

Based on…• Carlson M. (1999), Journal of Dramatic Theory

and Criticism, New York, pp. 102-115• Schoenbaum S. (1975), William Shakespeare: A

Compact Documentary Life, Oxford, pp. 24–26 and 296

• Halliday F.E. (1964), A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964, Baltimore, pp. 531

• What costumes did actors wear?, [in:] http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2013/10/costumes_cosmetics.pdf, accessed on December 27, 2013