To read or not to read – a project with special focus on William Shakespeare
Since William Shakespeare is still one of the most influental and important English playwrights, three of his famous plays were part of a project carried out by the students of the 7C. Working together in teams of two, they had a closer look at “A Midsummer Night’s Dream“, “The Taming of the Shrew“ or “Romeo and Juliet“.
Their job was not only to find out more about the author and the plot of the play assigned to them but to choose at least one scene and create a masterpiece based on and representing this particular scene. It was the students‘ own choice what their masterpiece should look like.
After a period of intense research and the creation of their masterpieces, the students presented their results in their English lessons in June. The groups analysing “A Midsummer Night’s Dream“ created posters as well as a model showing a scene from the enchanted forest by using Playmobil figures as the main characters. “The Taming of the Shrew“ inspired the students to write and act out interviews between some of the main characters. One group even created their own film with the help of Playmobil figures swapping genders. The third and most famous play “Romeo and Juliet“ resulted in beautiful paintings depicting the tragic love story of the two protagonists. Two students even created their own “theatre“ with movable puppets made of cardboard to present the famous balcony scene, while another group acted as Romeo and Juliet in their self-made film.
The various types of creative masterpieces show Shakespeare’s talent to inspire people until today as well as the students‘ ability to express themselves artistically. Therefore “to read or not to read“ Shakespeare’s plays should not be a question anymore.
