Year 6 Carousel Week – Shakespeare

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the focus of a stimulating set of workshops for each of the three Year 6 forms during our current carousel weeks. The children begin by acting out the ghost scene, in which Hamlet meets his dead father, probably murdered at the hands of Claudius, his ruthlessly ambitious brother. The children relish the spookiness of this activity. They re-enact The Murder of Gonzago, the ‘mousetrap’ play, modified by Hamlet to help him establish the truth about Claudius. They learn about the characters; about the spymaster Polonius and Ophelia, his unfortunate daughter, about the ‘with friends like these, who needs enemies’ Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. They appreciate the loyalty of Horatio, the wit of the Clown/Gravedigger, and reflect on Hamlet’s indecision, his craft and eventual resolution. They pick their way with increasing excitement through the chain of events towards the play’s dramatic, and tragic, denouement. With supporting video clips and the use of IT and ‘Greenscreen’, a program that allows the user to project themselves onto a background of their choice, they produce drama, writing, artwork, and a live news report, seemingly on location!