IJ in Singapore
Posted : July 20, 2015
Monday 20th July
We all introduced ourselves with an additional true thing about us OR a big fat lie - turns out someone's dad HAS swum with sharks, someone else ISN'T made of glass and someone else really does only eat rice on Mondays). We warmed up physically and vocally and learnt a tongue twister (Big Black Bugs Bleed Black Blood But Baby Black Bugs Bleed Blue!) and the first line of the play.
Then with 10 children, we did a physical representation of an iambic pentameter and then they did it vocally.
We chatted about Shakespeare facts and played a Shakespeare quiz and discussed what made a tragedy, comedy and a history play. We then introduced the beginning of the story of Twelfth Night and did mirroring exercises to represent the twins. They made glorious statues of Olivia in mourning and then falling in love and some donned her black veil and spoke some of her words of love to Viola.
We talked of the theme of love running throughout the play and the different kinds of love which led us to self-love and Malvolio. Again, some lovely statues and gloriously confident delivery of text.
After lunch we played a problem-solving game to get everyone working together and creating physical pictures together. Then we played Four Corners with the children creating a physical image in each corner of Ship in a Storm, Olivia's House in Morning, Olivia's Garden and the Drinking Party.
The children then made up their own Shakespearean names to give a clear idea to an audience of what their own character might be and presented them to the rest of the group with an action and wrote them up on the wall. Some of the brilliant names were Nurp Sweat Hand Jr, Madame Sar Sing-in-the-Shower, Queen Elizabeth Cake of England, Lord Chopalot and Lady Diya CandyCorn.
We then made a soundscape of the storm with different children conducting and the captain and Viola and Sebastian calling over the top.
To finish, they chose to stand where they felt most nervous and then where they had had their best idea. And then everyone shared moments that had made them smile or people that they were impressed by. They then closed by reciting the first line of the play beautifully.