Experience shared

In autumn 2011, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) toured its Young People’s Shakespeare (YPS) production of Hamlet. It was a lively, physical 75-minute version of the play intended for young people of eight upwards, and it was designed so that it could be performed in any school hall, sports centre or theatre. After seeing the show at school, a boy of ten went home and begged his grandmother to come and see it with him again that evening. Though she was in her late-50s, it was her first experience of Shakespeare too; she was captivated, and understood entirely what had so excited her grandson. It is very unlikely that she would have gone without his encouragement.

If there are enough of them, such shared, positive engagements have the potential to transform attitudes to live theatre generally, and to Shakespeare in particular, across whole communities. But however exciting and memorable those first encounters might be, relationships with Shakespeare still need to be nurtured.

This year the YPS production will be King Lear. It will tour nationally, but to schools and theatres that we have recruited to be part of our Learning and Performance Network (LPN). The LPN is a three-year partnership programme, supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Progress Foundation, that works together with schools and theatres to transform students’ experiences of Shakespeare. It involves postgraduate qualifications for key teachers and artists; school-based, in-service work; school-initiated projects; and local and national festivals of young people’s performance work. Although the LPN has been in existence since 2006, and many schools, teachers and pupils have experienced its impact, we have re-imagined it for a new cohort who will join us in September. Partnerships with five regional theatres (Hull Truck Theatre, Hall for Cornwall, Newcastle’s Theatre Royal, Nuffield Theatre Southampton and York Theatre Royal) and the integration of the YPS tour are two of the most significant changes.

The YPS tour will visit the partner schools and theatres in the first term of their partnership with us. By touring to schools we will take live Shakespeare into the heart of communities; communities that might otherwise feel little or no connection to it. Schools are familiar and popular community venues and they have established networks, such as newsletters and websites, through which the shows can be marketed to new audiences.

Taking professional productions to both schools and local theatres helps build a belief in these communities that Shakespeare is a natural part of what we all do and how we all live. In terms of audience development, the benefits to theatres are clear. But the real beneficiaries are the young people, their families and the communities that get to experience the delight of sharing live performance.