Shakespeare’s London audience was actually composed of many immigrants – Welsh, Scottish and Irish. A significant number were not London-born, male or young.

You could bring this fascinating fact into your lessons by asking your students to:

  • Write the diary entry of one of the audience members
  • Pick out aspects of Shakespeare’s plays which would appeal to that target audience

Globe theatre GaryReggae [CC BY-SA 2.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons


Victoria Walker, the Curriculum Leader for English at Addey and Stanhope School, suggested the above activities after hearing Dr Abigail Rokison’s (University of Birmingham) lecture Rhetoric in Shakespeare’s history plays at the New Teacher Subject Day in London on Shakespeare’s histories for English teachers.

Schools Programme members and those who attended the New Teacher Subject Days 2015-16 can download the resources from the event in the  PTI Staffroom

Want to discover more inspiring subject knowledge?  See our upcoming events and courses, including our CPD Subject Day: Why Shakespeare? Teaching the Bard at Key Stage 3