It’s funny how environment vastly changes the dynamic of your learning. The place you’re in, physically and socially, has a profound effect on your interest and engagement with any subject material. This is not news to any teacher, as we know one of the most important tasks at the beginning of the year is setting up a positive learning environment. Such an atmosphere looks different for all teachers, but it generally includes setting up your desks, stations, functional areas in a way that’s conducive for all learners and perhaps implementing several community building exercises to establish a sense of trust. Never underestimate how the physical set up of your room can influence the community you build.
I thought of the influence of set-up on classroom dynamic as we toured the Globe on our first day. We spent the first part of the day simply observing and completing the sentence, “I see...” Eventually, we added to our observations with a “I notice” and “I wonder...” Our group began pointing out that the Globe doesn’t really have many good seats in the our sense of what is good. Many seats give you just as good of a view of the audience as they do of the stage, and we wondered why that was.
Some seats were meant to be seen just as much as the actors themselves. Part of going to the theatre was not only to see a play, but also for other people to see you. Think like… Coachella. But without Instagram. Seats practically next to the stage in the balcony—the absolute worst seats by my standards—were typically reserved for royalty or highly ranked officials. I mean, if audience members sees Queen Elizabeth laughing at a joke, then they will likely laugh too. Alternatively, if the audience notices that their neighbors are stone-faced during what’s supposed to be the funniest punchlines, then actors can expect nothing but crickets. This social dynamic should sound familiar to, uh I dunno...any teacher ever.
A lot of thought went into the design of the Globe, but the most fascinating part is the section for groundlings. This standing area gives the audience a chance to converse with actors on stage in a sort of magical dynamic. I don’t mean groundlings are carrying on a conversation with the actors, although I’m sure there’s plenty of heckling. Rather, standing audience members can converse through facial expressions or body language that actors so easily see as they move about the Globe. The space is quite intimate, and actors can easily assess who is on their side. Demetrius knows you think he’s a jerk to Helena. Hermia knows you support her decision to defy her father. It could be the smug look you had when she said no to her father, or something as subtle as an eyebrow raise, but the set up of the Globe allows all these faint interactions to be shared between audience members and actors constantly. The actors see these exchanges yet fight for your approval. Demetrius wants you on his side, not Lysander’s, dammit!
This dynamic is truly replicated in the classroom. A good teacher is constantly observing all the students’ responses toward the lesson. Are they on your side? Have you lost them? How is this student’s response affecting all the others? Should you acknowledge that joke or play on? (Always acknowledge the joke; your day is more fun.) I’ve never before considered how environment is a major linking factor between the classroom and theater until I came here.
The environment here at this program has certainly had a major impact on my learning. To be honest, I have never considered myself a Shakespeare enthusiast. I enjoyed the Shakespeare class I took in college very much and I also love teaching Hamlet and MacBeth, but I wouldn’t describe myself as a fanatic. Now that I am here, surrounded by experts and total Shakespeare nerds (in the best way), I am jazzed for the Bard.
Our schedules are jam packed; we are in workshops for about forty hours a week! I’ve already learned so many performance strategies that I don’t know where to begin, but I’ve begun curating and I’ll likely write about some of my top favorite strategies once I can marinate in them a bit. We also met our short scene performance groups today and did some warm up exercises! So far all the instructors have been marvelous. They are incredibly knowledgeable and excited to share how they approach Shakespeare.
This goes to show if you are excited about the content, your students will be too. Sometimes our excitement requires a bit more acting than other times, but I guess perhaps “All the world’s a stage..” even a high school English classroom.