Hamlet in context: free livestreamed CPD for English teachers

British Library Learning

Join Professor Emma Smith & teacher Michael Donkor for fresh perspectives, tips & resources focusing on ideas of theatricality & performance

Get new inspiration, practical tips and resources for teaching Hamlet at Key Stage 4–5, drawing on the British Library’s Discovering Literature collection.Join Professor Emma Smith, and teacher and author Michael Donkor for a lively discussion of theatricality and performance in the play. They'll offer close analysis, critical views and contextual insights, using vivid sources from the 'Bad' quarto to Holbein's Danse Macabre.This is part of our free mini-series of Shakespeare CPD events with Professor Smith and Michael Donkor. Check out our session on <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1561976697349?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1561976697349?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The Tempest</a>. Hamlet in context: what to expect?<ul><li>Michael Donkor will host the event, and introduce a brand new teacher's resource pack full of fresh ideas for approaching the play using primary sources with students</li><li>Professor Emma Smith will explore the themes of theatricality and performance, looking at the play within the play, soliloquy, mourning and madness</li><li>Michael will delve into the role of Horatio</li><li>There will be time for the speakers to respond to some of your questions.</li></ul> Following the event, delegates will receive a digital resource pack, full of teaching activities, expert articles and vivid sources to strengthen students' understanding of Hamlet in its social and cultural context. If you have any queries, please email <a href="mailto:discovering.literature@bl.uk" title="mailto:discovering.literature@bl.uk" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">discovering.literature@bl.uk</a> Introducing our speakersEmma Smith is Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford. She explores the reception of Shakespeare in performance, print and criticism, and her book This Is Shakespeare (2019) was a Sunday Times Best Seller.Professor Emma Smith has worked with theatre companies including at the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and Donmar Warehouse, and is a regular speaker in schools, literary festivals, theatres, libraries and book groups, as well as universities. She has contributed to radio and TV programmes and written extensively for newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Telegraph, The Observer and The Guardian. Michael Donkor studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, and then undertook a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway and a PGCE at the Institute of Education. He has 15 years of teaching experience, and has worked at a range of institutions including Esher College and St Paul’s Girls’ School, Hammersmith.He is a novelist too: His debut Hold (4th Estate) was published in 2018, he was longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize, shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and selected by Scottish poet laureate Jackie Kay as one of the ten best writers in the UK. His second novel, Grow Where They Fall, was published by Penguin in 2024. He also reviews books for The Guardian, Independent, Times and TLS. Image credit: Boydell’s Collection of Prints illustrating Shakespeare’s works. Illustration showing Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 4. Hamlet, Horatio, Marcellus and the Ghost on the platform before the Palace of Elsinore

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Hamlet in context: free livestreamed CPD for English teachers

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Hamlet in context: free livestreamed CPD for English teachers

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