And for KEYSTAGE 2 by William Shakespeare - manchester actors company

manchester actors company   present

       A WORKING GUIDE TO

                                      and

                      for KEYSTAGE 2
                        by William Shakespeare

KEY INFORMATION:

THIS SHOW IS SPECIFICALLY DEVISED TO INTRODUCE SHAKESPEARE TO
PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN AT YEAR 3, YEAR 4, YEAR 5, AND YEAR 6, TO
LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH AN ENDURING IMPRESSION OF THE MAGIC
THAT SHAKESPEARE PROVIDES, BRINGING THE STORY ALIVE THROUGH
ACTIVE DRAMA, EXPLORING THE CHARACTERS AND PLOT, AND SHOWING
HOW TO ENJOY THE LANGUAGE.

THE PLAY IS A CONCISE ABRIDGED VERSION OF THE ENTIRE PLAY, AND
CONCENTRATES ON ALL THE KEY SCENES. THE PLAY IS BROUGHT VIVIDLY TO
LIFE. THE PLAY FLOWS AS A COMPLETE PLAY IN ITSELF, AND IS NOT A SERIES
OF INDIVIDUAL UNCONNECTED SCENES. THE WHOLE 60 MINUTE
PERFORMANCE ACCURATELY CAPTURES THE DRAMA OF SHAKESPEARE’S
FAMOUS TRAGEDY, AND BRINGS THE TEXT TO LIFE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES TO
ENJOY.

WE USE AN ENSEMBLE OF SKILLED ACTORS, AND WE ARE WELL KNOWN FOR
OUR ENERGETIC, VIGOROUS, PHYSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCES WHERE
CLOSE ATTENTION IS PAID TO THE LANGUAGE, BRINGING THE PERFORMANCE
ALIVE AS A DYNAMIC, WELL-SPOKEN DISPLAY OF THEATRE. ALL OUR
PERFORMERS ARE PROFESSIONAL, QUALIFIED ACTORS, AND ARE RECENTLY DBS
CHECKED TO ENHANCED LEVEL.

EACH PERFORMANCE LASTS 60 MINUTES. PLUS, AFTERWARDS WE HAVE A
30-MINUTE INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION WITH THE AUDIENCE GUIDED BY THE
ACTORS, WHERE WE CAN DISCUSS THE CHARACTERS ROMEO AND JULIET, AND
EXAMINE THEIR CONTRASTING PERSONALITIES, THOUGHTS, FEELINGS AND
MOTIVES, AND HELP TO EXPLAIN/EXPAND/EXPLORE THE TEXT FARTHER. THE
CHILDREN WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED THROUGH A
CAREFULLY STRUCTURED RANGE OF DRAMA AND LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES, IN
ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PLOT, CHARACTERS, THEMES, LANGUAGE
AND STYLE OF ‘ROMEO & JULIET’.

EACH PERFORMANCE COMES COMPLETE WITH A FREE TEACHERS’ PACK
CONTAINING A WEALTH OF INFORMATION, BACKGROUND NOTES,
PERFORMANCE NOTES, AND A SERIES OF SUGGESTED FOLLOW-ON ACTIVITIES
FOR BOTH TEACHERS AND PUPILS, TO HELP MAXIMISE THE IMPACT OF OUR
VISIT, AND HELP DEVELOP THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF SHAKESPEARE

DATES ARE AVAILABLE TO BOOK FROM MONDAY 25th FEBRUARY 2019
THROUGH TO FRIDAY 10th MAY 2019, WITH PERFORMANCES IN THE MORNING
AND AFTERNOON.

MORE ABOUT THE SHOW:
‘ROMEO AND JULIET’ contains some of Shakespeare's most beautiful and lyrical love poetry, and some
of his best-loved characters. The romance is played out against a background of gang-warfare and
street-fighting as the bitter long feud between the Montague and Capulet families disrupts the city of
Verona and causes tragic results for the young lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Revenge, love, and a secret
marriage force the young star-crossed lovers to grow up quickly, and fate causes them to commit suicide
in despair. Our performance has a linked sequence of events using the original text from the following
scenes in the original play, and all performed using the original language:

       Our Scenes (in order)                               Source in the Text
1.     Two Families at War                                 Prologue
2.     Capulet’s Party                                     Act I, Scene 5
3.     A Surprise Visit                                    Act II, Scene 2
4.     Nature and Poison                                   Act II, Scene 3
5.     Marriage Plans                                      Act II, Scenes 4, 5
6.     Street Fighting                                     Act III, Scene 1
7.     Difficult Parents                                   Act III, Scene 5
8.     Wedding Preparations                                Act IV, Scenes 2 to 5
9.     Two Families Reconciled?                            Act V, Scene 3
ROMEO AND JULIET is probably Shakespeare’s most famous play, set against a violent background of
hate and rivalry that is still recognisable in modern life. Set against a long history of family feuding
between the Montagues and the Capulets, Romeo Montague falls hopelessly in love with Juliet Capulet,
and from the very beginning fate has decided that the two of them are doomed.... The couple have a
feeling that things will go badly for them: Romeo thinks something is 'hanging in the stars', while Juliet
says a 'faint cold fear thrills through my veins'. They believe their love can conquer their families hate, but
it is proven to be too fragile, and because of their ill-fated star-crossed love a series of events, both comic
and tragic, unfolds in a very short space of time as true love turns to tragedy. The play explores love
either as spiritual friendships, or the romantic love between the main characters, but entwined within the
love is death, conflict, loyalty, and fate... for fate has badly treated the lovers and their brief affair.
For this production we have created a clear, condensed, working guide to Shakespeare's romantic
tragedy particularly aimed at Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 Primary schools pupils. This is an
abridged version of the entire play, concentrating on all the key scenes, characters and confrontations,
and flows seamlessly. This detailed dramatic overview of the play will create a strong, lasting impact
with pupils; and brings vividly to life the plot, the characters, and the themes of the forcefulness of love,
love as a cause for violence, the individual versus society, and the inevitability of fate. The whole 60
minute performance is very tight and compelling: accurately capturing the tense tragedy of
Shakespeare’s text. Performed by our talented ensemble of professional actors, this production will
have a strong and lasting impact on the audience, and will bring the text vividly to life.
PLUS: after each performance we have a 30-minute, face-to-face interactive discussion with our young
audience, guided by actors in the company, where we can talk directly to the main characters in the
play by hot-seating ROMEO and JULIET, or any of the other characters, and examine their contrasting
personalities, thoughts and motives, and help to explain/ expand/ explore the text by actively involving
the young audience through a carefully structured range of drama and language activities as we unravel
the plot, characters, themes, language and style of MACBETH.
Each performance lasts 60 minutes, followed by the interactive discussion which lasts 30 minutes.
All told a total of 1½ hours of compelling Shakespeare for Primary Schools.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Who are these shows suitable for?
All of these presentations are devised specifically for Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 Primary
School Pupils as a compelling introduction to Shakespeare.
What space and equipment do you need the school to provide?
We will use the School Hall and make full use of available space. All performances are presented
front-on: if there is a stage then we will use that, otherwise we will perform on the floor. We DO
NOT need the school to provide any equipment, and we will bring everything with us, including
costume changes and small props to be used in the performance. There is no set or lighting
equipment to erect. Set up time is 25 minutes, and we would need the space to ourselves for this
preparation time.
What can we expect from the presentation?
Each of these presentations lasts 90 MINUTES. We start with a performance of the play, which
lasts for approx. 60 MINUTES and is a concise, abridged version of the entire story, devised
specially for Keystage 2 pupils, and performed by our ensemble of talented, professional actors.
The play is performed using the original language. Concentrating on key scenes, characters and
confrontations, each play flows seamlessly, and our detailed dramatic overview of this compelling
story is constructed to create a strong, lasting impact with pupils: and brings the plot, the
characters, and the themes vividly to life. We are well known for our energetic, vigorous,
physical theatre performances where close attention is paid to the language, bringing the
performance alive as a dynamic, well-spoken display of theatre, and each performance will have a
strong impact on the audience, and will vividly bring the text to life. Following the performance
there is a face-to-face interactive discussion which lasts 30 MINUTES. This is guided by actors in
the company, and driven by a Q&A session where our young audience is encouraged to talk
directly to the fascinating characters in the performance by ‘hotseating’ them, and asking any
questions they may have. Each question and answer develops an area of discussion and activity
which unravels the plot, characters and themes of the story. This session is always extremely
popular with teachers and pupils, and adds an extra dimension to the understanding of the play.
Do you provide any resource material to accompany the presentation?
TWO WEEKS before our visit we will Email you with full details of of our visit (including a
confirmation of timings, plus the names of the actors, and their DBS details), and we will also
include access to a ‘TEACHERS INFORMATION PACK’ for you to print. This pack helps to
maximise the impact of our visit: containing important background information to the play; a full
list of scenes that you can expect to see in our performance; character profiles; an analysis of the
story; some follow-up quizzes for you to use with the audience; and some suggested reading,
writing, drama and art activities for both teachers and pupils to use after our visit has ended. This
pack adds real value to our visit on the day.
How does this presentation help our audiences?
A live performance of a text has a great impact on learning, and stays in the pupils’ minds long
after we have left the school. Shakespeare was never written to be merely read in class, but to be
performed by actors, and presented to a live audience, and our presentation vividly lifts the words,
the scenes, the plot and the characters off the page and BRINGS THE PLAY TO LIFE, giving voice
to the words, making it easier to understand the plot, characters, themes, language and style of
the stories, and the Q&A session after the performance allows the audience to unlock the story
even more by quizzing the characters, nd getting constructive answers to enable them to better
understand the play.

RECENT TESTIMONIALS:

We don’t solicit testimonials from the schools that we visit, but plenty love to let us know what they think of
our presentations. We’ve printed here just a few of the comments we’ve received about our previous tour of
‘Romeo & Juliet for Keystage 2’, to give a flavour of the sort of response we get from schools:
“...Just a note to say a huge thanks for yesterday. We welcomed Gavin, Beth and Adam to do the most
brilliant version of Romeo and Juliet. The children were mesmerised by quite simply an awe inspiring
performance. The chemistry between the three was so awesome. The children sat so attentively as the
production grabbed their attention and was a perfect end to our Shakespeare week here at Parlkands. The
way in which the comedy was intertwined with the tragic events at the end was sublime. In 22 years
working in schools I can honestly say that these guys were the best.... I was sat on the edge of my seat for
over an hour……”                                  Chris Dyson, Headteacher, Parklands Primary School, Leeds
“…We really enjoyed the Romeo and Juliet and all the staff who watched it were very impressed with the
performance and the knowledge of the actors in the discussion afterwards. The children really loved it: it was a
great success for us. …”   Alice Pepper, Literacy Coordinator, Tyntesfield Primary School, Sale, Manchester
“….Romeo and Juliet was fantastic. It was very well acted and made very accessible for Primary school
children, without losing the essence of the play. The children thoroughly enjoyed the performance and
workshop. In Year 5, we built a unit of work about Shakespeare and the play around the performance, and he
children were really enthusiastic about it and they seemed to access the story better after having watched it for
themselves….”                                 Sarah Horan, Literacy Coordinator, St. Nicholas RC Primary, Leeds
‘….Just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for the wonderful experience your company
provided the children with yesterday. We all loved the performance of Romeo and Juliet, and the
question and answer session was quite brilliant, and really helped the children understand the play.
Many thanks to the actors for their excellent manner with the children. Please do keep us up-to-date
with future tours as we would love to have you back!….” XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXJenn Lucraft, Literacy Coordinator, Shelley First School, Huddersfield
“….Many many thanks for your visit to our school earlier this week with ‘Romeo & Juliet’ for our Year 5:
they were enthralled and mesmerised by such a brilliant performance of Shakespeare, and it greatly
exceeded all our expectations. The actors were stunning, mixing tragedy with the comedy so well. The
Q&A session worked brilliantly as well, and the actors dealt ever so wonderfully with all the questions
that the pupils were dying to ask. Three days later and they haven’t stopped talking about it yet! We’d
love to invite you into school again very soon….” XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Stephanie Pearson, Deputy Head, Melbury Primary School, Nottingham
“…We thoroughly enjoyed the Romeo + Juliet visit. The children got so much out of it because we'd done a
storyboard and some drama in the days building up to it so they were familiar with the story. The show held
the children's attention and had the perfect balance of the original story, mixed in with humour - the nurse was
especially popular for the laughs! The questions in role at the end also worked well as it allowed the children to
delve deeper into the characters - and the actors playing Romeo and Juliet dealt with all the questions in an
excellent way.…”                                          Andy Foden, Hursthead Junior School, Cheadle Hulme
“….We were very impressed by the professional performance and thought that the actors were very
professional too. The performance brought Shakespeare to life for all the children and inspired them....
The Q & A session was particularly useful. We will definitely use your company again…... Please can
you pass on our thanks to your wonderful actors and also to you for your help in organising the
event….”                                                          Kate Pearson, Holmfirth Junior School.
“…… Hi, just wanted to say how great the performance of ‘Romeo & Juliet’ was today and how much
we all enjoyed it. The actors were amazing, and the question and answer session was really excellent,
it really enhanced the children's understanding of the play. Thank you….”
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxDebbie Johnson, Pathways Academy, Sheffield

HOW DO I MAKE A BOOKING?

           IF YOU WISH TO MAKE A BOOKING,
           OR GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
                   ‘ROMEO & JULIET’

                             then either:

     TELEPHONE US on           0161 445 8477
                   and speak to BRIAN

           or   FAX US on      0161 332 7867

                        or   EMAIL US at:

          brian@manactco.org.uk

   And we will talk you through the detail of the
presentation, answer any questions you may have,
       and arrange all the details with you.

NOTES ABOUT MANCHESTER ACTORS COMPANY

We have over 38 YEARS experience of bringing professional theatre to the north west and
neighbouring counties...... Providing an exciting, relevant, non-condescending and unpretentious
theatre service in a full range of mostly non-theatre venues. We are well known for our energetic,
vigorous, physical theatre performances where close attention is paid to the language, bringing the
plays alive as a dynamic, well-spoken display of physical theatre, performed by some of the UK.’s
hottest young stage talent. Almost 100,000 school children watch our productions annually....

FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES we have presented a series of theatre projects aimed
at keystage 3 and keystage 4 students, which in recent years have included: ROMEO AND JULIET;
THE TEMPEST; MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING; MACBETH; OF MICE AND MEN; AN INSPECTOR
CALLS; A CHRISTMAS CAROL; THE STRANGE CASE of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS we have presented a series of both well-established favourites and
new writing projects - aimed directly as a springboard for keystage 1 and keystage 2 classwork -
all of which are always very well received by schools and their young audiences.
In recent years, the established favourites have included: ALICE IN WONDERLAND; THE PIED
PIPER OF HAMELIN; PINOCCHIO; ROBIN HOOD; ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS; THE
FIREBIRD; THE SELFISH GIANT; BIG BAD WOLF, THE SWORD IN THE STONE, ALADDIN, PUSS IN
BOOTS, MOTHER GOOSE, DICK WHITTINGTON, BABES IN THE WOOD, .... Whilst brand-new
original projects have included: THE PIRATE QUEEN; THE ENCHANTED TOYSHOP; DAREDEVIL
DEXTER; POETRY IN MOTION; FANTASTIC FABLES; HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN; WATCH OUT
MR. PUNCH; DANNY OCEAN, UNDERWATER EXPLORER; MERLINS MAGIC STORYBOOK; TALES OF
MOUNT OLYMPUS; BLOOMING POETRY; TALES FROM ARABIAN NIGHTS......

Since 2012 we have been successfully touring Primary Schools with specially adapted versions of
Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET and MACBETH created especiallyfor Keystage 2. All of our
primary school projects are hugely successful and each a total sell-out.

NOW WE PRESENT OUR LATEST SHAKESPEARE PROJECT FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS. DURING THE
SPRING OF 2019 WE ARE TOURING WITH BOTH ‘MACBETH’ and ‘ROMEO & JULIET’, BOTH
SHOWS ARE SPECIFICALLY DEVISED TO INTRODUCE SHAKESPEARE TO PRIMARY SCHOOL
CHILDREN AT YEAR 3, 4, 5, 6, TO LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH AN ENDURING IMPRESSION OF
THE MAGIC THAT SHAKESPEARE PROVIDES, BRINGING THIS FAMOUS STORY ALIVE THROUGH
ACTIVE DRAMA, EXPLORING THE CHARACTERS AND PLOT, AND SHOWING HOW TO ENJOY THE
LANGUAGE.