Residencies

Our immersive Shakespeare residency gives students tools to access Shakespeare through movement, voice, history, and safe stage combat. Each day is active and standards-friendly: students read and perform original text, analyze character objectives, practice collaboration and communication, and build confidence through embodied learning. Residencies are adaptable for grades 5–12 and can be run as a 1–4 day sequence or as single workshops. The residency can also be easily adapted to accommodate any Shakespeare play that your students might be working with. While most classes opt for the traditional Romeo and Juliet, from Henry IV to The Tempest, we’ve got ways to make Shakespeare engaging for young learners.

Questions? Contact anna.klein@unionartscenter.org

Learn About Our Residencies!

Introduction to Shakespeare

Remove the mystery around Shakespeare and give students a joyful, curiosity-driven starting point. Great as a stand-alone intro or the kickoff for a multi-day residency.

Materials / space: open floor for movement, whiteboard for key terms, printed Prologue lines (provided). 45–65 minutes recommended.

Student takeaways: greater familiarity with Shakespeare’s language; physical strategies for interpreting text; confidence using original lines.

Learning objectives:

Understand who Shakespeare was and why his stories still matter.
Identify core themes in Romeo & Juliet (love, grief, family conflict, fate) OR a Shakespeare play of your choice.
Practice iambic pentameter and discover how verse shapes meaning.

Activities (in-class):

Cross the Line — quick warm-up with recognizable Shakespearean phrases to surface prior knowledge.
Mini-lecture + Q&A on Shakespeare’s world (brief, age-appropriate).
Iambic pentameter kinesthetic exercise to feel meter and stress.
Statues of Shakespearean themes to build actor vocabulary of posture, gesture, focus.
Small-group tableaux.

Stage Combat & Story of Violence

Teaches students how physical action and text work together to tell a story—while emphasizing safety, consent, and responsibility. Powerful for social-emotional learning and ensemble-building.

Differentiation / safety: moves are non-contact (or minimal-contact) illusions and scaled for grade/ability; risk-assessment conversation and boundaries are built into the lesson.

Materials / space: clear, non-slippery floor; comfortable clothes and secure shoes; copies of the opening brawl scene. 60–80 minutes recommended. We bring scripts and insult sheets.

Student takeaways: physical confidence, communication and consent skills, ability to analyze how violence functions in a story.

Learning objectives:

Learn safety-first stage combat principles (distance, signal, knap, reaction).
Translate Elizabethan conflict into clear, performable stage business.
Use Shakespearean insults and text to develop vocal clarity and character.
Critical thinking of how and why combat is used within storytelling.

Activities (in-class):

Warm-up with Shakespearean insults (fun way to practice diction and text ownership).
Demonstration + breakdown of basic moves: slap, punch (stage like), shove, hair-pull (masked for angle). Each move taught with safety rules and partner responsibility.
Pair-work at ¾ speed with emphasis on making partner look good and staying safe.
Choreography: groups create a 5-move fight sequence and rehearse it embedded in a given Shakespeare scene.
Scene integration: groups perform the scene with choreographed combat and text.

Elizabethan Dress & Dance

Uses costume, manners, and dance to teach historical context and character motivation — excellent for kinesthetic learners and cross-curricular tie-ins (history, social studies, art).

Materials / space: music player (provided), open floor, playing cards (provided), costume photos (provided). 45–65 minutes recommended.

Student takeaways: concrete historical context for the Capulet Ball; embodied understanding of status and ritual; teamwork through partnered dance.

Learning objectives:

Recognize how clothing signaled status in Elizabethan society.
Understand the meaning of status and what that has meant historically vs. what it looks like now.
Practice Elizabethan bows and curtseys and see how status affects behavior.
Learn two period dances (pavane & branle) and explore how movement can reveal character and relationships.

Activities (in-class):

Visual exploration of Elizabethan dress (images provided) and “wear the corset” posture exercise to feel historical constraints.
Status game: students receive a card and practice bowing/curtseying to infer status — a playful lesson in social dynamics.
Etiquette mini-lesson (palm-to-palm signals used in the Capulet Ball).
Dance teach: pavane (processional, status display) + branle (circle dance, energetic) with live/recorded music and partner rotation.
Short reflection: how dressing and movement influence who characters can be and whom they can marry.

Speaking Shakespeare: Scene Study, Objectives & Tactics

Deep dive into the language and acting choices of the characters in a given Shakespearean scene. Perfect as a culminating day where students move from page to stage with practical acting tools, or as an independent lesson in performance.

Materials / space: printed scenes (provided), whiteboard for tactics list, open performance area. 60-80 minutes recommended.

Student takeaways: pragmatic acting toolkit (objectives, obstacles, tactics), stronger text comprehension, rehearsal strategies.

Learning objectives:

Read and interpret a scene for meaning and subtext.
Identify objectives, obstacles, and tactics; apply them to original text.
Stage a short scene using movement, gaps, and tactics while preserving Shakespeare’s lines.

Activities (in-class):

Table work in pairs: read the meeting scene closely and define unfamiliar vocabulary.
Telegram read to isolate key words and rhythms; identify repeating motif words.
Acting fundamentals: define objective vs. obstacle; brainstorm tactics as a class.
Gaps & tactics exercise: perform lines moving closer/away to show want and resistance.
Performance lab: students rehearse a 1–2 minute chunk incorporating tactics and movement, then present with peer feedback prompts.

Play Adaptation

Students become the directors, reframing a Shakespeare play in a brand-new setting and style. They learn how timeless themes can be reimagined for modern audiences—just like 10 Things I Hate About You or The Lion King. Perfect as a creative capstone to a residency or a standalone workshop in adaptation and storytelling.

Materials / space: Large paper or poster boards (provided for small additional fee), markers (provided, though classrooms may want to suppliment depending on class size), basic plot summaries and theme lists (provided), wild card prompts (provided). Open space for group collaboration. 80-100 minutes recommended, but can be scaled down as needed.

Student takeaways: Creative ownership of a Shakespeare play, understanding of adaptation as an artistic process, collaborative storytelling skills, and a pitch-ready concept for an original production.

Learning objectives:

Identify a central theme in a Shakespeare play and explore how it translates across time and place
Develop a unique setting, characters, and genre that bring the play’s core conflicts to life in a new way.
Create a short concept pitch—title, visual design, scene translation—that sells the adaptation to an audience.

Activities (in-class):

Theme & Setting Selection: In groups, choose a theme from the provided list (or invent one), then reimagine the play’s world—school, spaceship, underground nightclub—anything that supports the theme.
Character Mapping: Pick five characters and assign modern equivalents or new roles within your chosen setting.
Scene Translation: Choose one moment from the play and reinvent it for your setting, describing what changes and what stays the same.
Design & Pitch: Create a poster, pick a title, and develop a quick pitch to “sell” your adaptation. Use wild card prompts to inspire surprises or twists.
Presentations: Groups pitch their concept to the “producers” (the class), sharing visual elements, setting, and scene translation.

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Information for Teachers

Grade range: lessons can be tailored for middle or high school levels (5–12).

Group size: ideal 15–30 students; adaptable for larger classes as needed

Time: each lesson is 45–90 minutes (with some exceptions); we can compress to 1–2 intensive days or expand into a weekly residency. You can also choose certain lessons to host a la carte.

Standards alignment: supports CCSS reading for drama and speaking/listening standards, SEL competencies (collaboration, self-management), and movement/PE objectives. We’re happy to map to specific state standards on request.

Accessibility & inclusion: all activities can be adapted for neurodiverse learners and students with mobility differences — we’ll collaborate with teachers ahead of time to meet needs.

Materials we bring: lesson packets, printed scenes/photos, insult sheets, card decks, music.

What school provides: open floor space (gym, multipurpose room, classroom with cleared area), and writing area (whiteboard or the like).