The Globe experience
Student treads the boards at Shakespeare summer school
NINETEEN-year-old Newbury student Megan Kerrigan has just taken part in the Young Academics summer school at Shakespeare’s Globe.
Megan was one of just eight selected to take part in the course, joining 16- to 19-year-olds from across Europe for an
intensive week of lectures and practical workshops with a dedicated team of Globe Education Practitioners. Having been put through their paces in text, performance practices, and even historical dance, the summer school culminated in an end of course presentation which saw Megan take on character and language in Othello and Macbeth.
Megan said: “I’m a little bit obsessed with Shakespeare to be honest, so the Globe’s Young Academics summer school seemed a perfect way to spend a week of my summer holidays. “I first visited the Globe to see Macbeth in 2010, and I’ve seen six more productions since.
“I’m about to begin my second year studying English and classical studies at Bristol, but I’m also thinking of applying for the Shakespeare studies MA at the Globe after I graduate. Spending a week here getting involved in lectures and
practical workshops has really helped support my studies, and it’s definitely opened my eyes to new ways of interpreting the plays.”
Director of Globe Education, Patrick Spottiswoode, explained that every year more than 50 students from around the world join one of Globe Education’s summer school programmes. “Some are aspiring academics, others are budding young actors, and some are adults continuing to explore their favourite plays.
“Our courses are led by experienced Globe Education practitioners, actors trained to adapt rehearsal techniques informed by the architecture of the Globe Theatre and Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Most importantly, they allow us to share the unique access we have to those spaces with our students.”
Globe Education at Shakespeare’s Globe was established in 1989 by Spottiswoode with the aim of enabling everyone to encounter Shakespeare, as he intended, through play and in the spaces for which he wrote. Today it welcomes more than 120,000 students a year, of all ages, from pre-school to postgraduate. As well as its range of summer schools and short courses for Shakespeare-lovers, it tailors programmes for schools, continuing professional development for teachers and creates dynamic resources to support the curriculum.
