Category Archives: Performing Shakespeare for kids

Sofa Shakespeare for Kids

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

Online drama classes with your kids can come with some challenges. We did a Zoom of our Hamlet for Kids for teachers by teachers, and it was fantastic and a great way to engage your kids back into performances. However, time, access to technology, lack of bandwidth, and a variety of other reasons can hinder you and your kids for doing a Zoom type presentation. Well, Sofa Shakespeare for Kids is a great solution that can get you and your kids back to performing, without having to deal with these difficulties.

Continue reading →

How to do an Online Reader’s Theatre

By | | ,
2 Comments

Was it perfect… no way. Was it fun, oh yeah! A group of theatre educators, drama teachers, and I got together, via zoom, to perform our Hamlet for Kids.  We were from all over… Houston, Seattle, Chicago, Anaheim, and San Luis Obispo. We did this to inspire other teachers to do remote online performances. We wanted to see if it could be done and how it would feel. I can tell you this, it was fun, exciting, engaging, and a great learning experience! And I was even a bit nervous before showtime! (I LOVE that feeling!)

Was it easy, yes!!!  … Continue reading →

Summer Drama Camp in 1-week – a Simple How-To Guide

By | | ,
Leave a comment
summer drama camp fun

Recently I have been contacted multiple times on how to run a 1-week summer drama camp and questions around it. So, I figured I would write a post on how to do it and hopefully help any others who want to get kids excited about Shakespeare and drama!

First of all, YES, yes you can do it. It’s easier than you think. Secondly, YES, yes the kids CAN MEMORIZE all their lines by the end of the week. I’ve taught a summer drama camp over 20 times and haven’t found a kid who couldn’t be successful yet!

Continue reading →

3 Quick Tips for New Drama Teachers

By | | ,
Leave a comment

I am often asked by teachers, when I present to their classes, to give their kids my top two or three tips they should focus on while they rehearse. Although there are so many tips that one could give, it always comes down to the following three for me:

1) PROJECT YOUR VOICE – One of the biggest challenges I find for kids is their ability to project their voices. Some get it confused with yelling. But really, basic projection comes from the diaphragm. Projecting your voice goes for both a larger setting as well as smaller settings. … Continue reading →

Olivia Twisted – a twist on Twist

By | |
Leave a comment

This post is about a fantastic twist on Twist for those wishing to do an all-female version of Oliver Twist for Kids!

Unfortunately, most plays are male-centric, with few female leads. There are some, such as Pride and Prejudice for Kids and Little Women for Kids (not yet released) that have more roles for females than males. And it is true, that females can play the male leads with no issues in most plays. But sometimes, this gets old. And you want something with more females than males.

So this is a great idea that came … Continue reading →

Create a Performance Playbill

By | | ,
Leave a comment

This is a short post about an activity you can do with your kids as you get ready for the show.  As many of … Continue reading →

Creative Performance Ideas

By | | ,
Leave a comment

This is a quick post about a couple ideas that are awesome, and all credit goes to an amazing homeschool mom, Amy.

Recently Amy directed her … Continue reading →

Environment is King for Drama

By | | ,
Leave a comment

I was talking with a mom earlier this morning, and she said something very interesting. She said that her daughter loves my drama classes, and talks about me … Continue reading →

Character Line Quantities for Playing With Play Books

By | | ,
2 Comments

Over the years, I have taught EVERY single one of our plays, most of them multiple times, and some of them at least 20 times…. (Hamlet, Midsummer, R&J, Caesar, Macbeth…). But, one of the best tools for me to use is the Character Line Quantities spreadsheet to help me with casting.

A teacher asked me recently, “why don’t you share that?” Which I gladly did. But it hit me, why don’t I share this with EVERYONE?

There’s nothing like casting a play. Trying to figure out dynamics of who can synergize with whom; what characters will pull the most … Continue reading →