In February 2016 British Council Croatia invited teachers and students of primary and secondary schools to join the competition celebrating Shakespeare’s life and work in the year of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
Who took part?
Teachers and students of the final two years of primary school (7th and 8th grade) and teachers and students of the first two years of secondary school (1st and 2nd grade).
WHAT DID THEY HAVE TO DO?
We asked the teachers and their students to visit our Schools Online portal and download our Shakespeare Lives Schools Pack which was created in partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company. The pack celebrates Shakespeare as a writer who still speaks for all people and nations, addressing big questions and themes about the human experience and what it means to be a citizen in the twenty-first century. It encourages teachers and pupils to engage with some of the key issues, themes and ideas in Shakespeare’s plays, and to explore the ways they remain relevant and current in our lives today, wherever we are in the world.
Using this resource as a starting point, teachers and students had to produce their own creative interpretation of Shakespeare and submit it on their You Tube channel as a video recording for us to see. We were looking for engaging, colourful and dynamic interpretations in English which:
1) use one of the 5 themes from the pack
2) are not longer than 5 minutes in duration
3) involve up to 10 participants (including teachers)
4) use only props which can be carried to the stage by participants (i.e. no sets or backdrops)
5) can be easily staged somewhere else
WHO WON?
We received 11 entries from all over Croatia and selected the following three as the best:
1st place: Gimnazija Županja, prof. Katarina Berać Vuić: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpA27koBmD0&feature=youtu.be
2nd place: Škola za umjetnost, dizajn, grafiku i odjeću Zabok, prof. Dea Kovačević: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMz2eOsoDDs&feature=youtu.be
3rd place: OŠ Marija Bistrica, prof. Alemka Mihalić Hubak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KJMpbJFeig&feature=youtu.be
What were the prizes?
The three entries won a selection of Shakespeare-related gifts for the participants and the teacher. Gimnazija Županja also had the honour to perform at the Croatian National Theatre in the presence of TRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall on the occasion of their March visit to Croatia.