Australian Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

An incursion for schools in NSW.

 “Perfectly linked to the syllabus, directly supports their HSC”

 “Authentic performances”

“Interacted brilliantly”

“Engagement with the rubric, explanation of scenes and different contextual interpretations made it absolutely beneficial.”

The feedback is in, and the word needs to get out that this brand new incursion for HSC students is razor sharp.  

 The myriad of human experiences alive in The Merchant of Veniceplaces it as a rich text for HSC study. The characters represent a host of human qualities and emotions giving students a playground of options to identify the anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations. 

 By giving students their own unique lived experience of this play in performance, their connection to these characters forms on a deep level. In the 1.5 hour session they come face to face with the original context and explore how adjusting this context, playing with purpose, stylistic and grammatical features and form impacts the human experience of others and themselves. 

Teachers are commenting how well this session later translates to insightful written response. The interactive format stands the students in the heart of the action – watching scenes and speeches and immediately discussing and interrogating. As these characters unfold in front of them we debate their motivations, and this visceral experience gives students ownership of the world of the play.
 
The goal is to not to bring the heightened text down to a modern translation, but rather we work to raise the hearts of a modern audience to the heights of Shakespeare. And it’s working! It’s Shakespeare for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow….

Available in Terms 3 and 4 for HSC Students across NSW. Go here to book.

Teachers in Victoria can also book The Merchant of Venice - go here.