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