Shakespeare Lives brings the famous writer to life for Chinese students
Chinese students were able to embrace and enjoy Shakespeare's works as the UK's Globe Education brought workshops to many schools in China.
"We were supporting Shakespeare Lives, a project which aims to bring the work of Shakespeare to students across the world," said Georghia Ellinas, head of learning at Globe Education.
"It is special because this year we are commemorating the death of Shakespeare 400 years ago, the same year that the great Chinese poet Tan Xianshu died. It is also special because we're working with students in a way which many of them have not experienced before," she added.
The arts education organization visited a number of Chinese schools in Tianjin, Jinan, Xi'an and Nanjing between Nov 28 and Dec 8, bringing Shakespeare to life for students by using teaching and rehearsal techniques from Shakespeare's Globe.
They run a series of workshops and classes to help Chinese students explore the language, imagery and themes of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays. The ages of Chinese students participating in workshops ranged from 9 to 22.
However, students are not sitting idly behind desks reading the plays as if they were books.
"We ask them to become actors, exploring and thinking about the plays as something to be performed. That makes students think harder about what the words mean, how they should be said, what impact they have on the audience, and how they can say them in different ways to prompt a different reaction," Ellinas explained.
One Chinese student whose English name is Vivian, from Northwestern Polytechnical University, enjoyed the workshop. "Great! First time I have ever had an experience like this, I feel like I understand Shakespeare for the first time," she said.
Dang Zhengsheng, vice principal of Xi'an International Studies University, said, "The Shakespeare Lives activity gave the university a precious opportunity to learn Shakespeare from real experts from the theatres Shakespeare worked in."
