What are the best Shakespeare plays for school children?

Romeo and Juliet. Full stop.

We jest! There are so many good plays you could do with your classes. We’ve performed Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Anthony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing and The Merry Wives of Windsor in schools and they all work. Though we’d hesitate about recommending The Merry Wives of Windsor. No jest, it’s just not very memorable even with our Rubbish styling.

So there you go, and honest answer- a Shakespeare play not to do in schools! But which ones are best for your class?

Well, there’s the ones that are part of the zeitgeist- Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth and these are really great for cultural capital and for pupils’ exams when they get to upper Secondary School or High School. The more touch points pupils have on these plays, the better. Repetition will really help them to remember more, and when they come back to it, they’ll feel a little more confident approaching it each time.

But you may want to give pupils a broader sense of Shakespeare- challenge them and go further than the traditional topics. If they can understand more than one play, even if it’s just briefly having a go, it’ll broaden their knowledge of what Shakespeare did and will really help them to assimilate more of his language.

Unfortunately, there’s no one answer for your class. The main thing we’d recommend is to make sure pupils have fun with Shakespeare- don’t make it stuffy, don’t take away the drama (whether that’s love or death), don’t be afraid to make bold decisions and encourage children to perform the play. If we can curate joy of Shakespeare in our pupils, we can help to create a richer world beyond their exams and essays (and the joy will help them to learn more anyway)!

So, ask yourself, what play would you most enjoy teaching? What play would you be able to have fun with? What play can I book Rubbish Shakespeare for? And then do that one! Your enthusiasm will infect everyone!