First developed in 2004 by a Bigfooter called Oli Mason, and given new life by our very own Aidy a decade ago, Rapspeare- a Shakespeare workshop for primary schools with a difference- Â keeps evolving and is one of our longest running and most well loved programmes to date. Don’t believe us?! Read on…
“My son, Dylan (age 9), attended the session with Adrian on Friday 11th July (2025) and absolutely loved it – he hasn’t stopped talking about it since! This was Dylan’s first experience of drama, and he is now very keen to explore it further. He is even asking about Macbeth and is eager to read a retelling or abridged version. Please could you pass on our sincere thanks to Adrian for making the session so engaging and enjoyable. Dylan is autistic and can sometimes find new experiences challenging. He is not usually a fan of pantomimes or immersive theatre, so I was a little apprehensive about how he would respond. I had prepared him in advance that he could take a break if he felt overwhelmed, particularly as he has been going through a tricky time at school recently. However, from my understanding, he fully engaged with the workshop and got so much out of it, which means so much. Thank you for offering such a valuable and inspiring experience.” (Jacey, Dylan’s mum, July 2025)
It’s definitely not rare for us to receive emails from those who have been inspired by this programme over the years. We wrote a post a few months ago about a teacher called Zoe who first experienced Rapspeare in school when she was a Primary school pupil. Zoe vowed to track down ‘Mr Rapspeare’- the name of the programme, not Adrian’s alias ;)- when she qualified as a teacher in order to give her pupils the same inspiring educational experience.
“Watching Adrian deliver his ‘Rapspeare’ sessions to my students exceeded all the expectations I had based on my childhood memories. His ability to elicit enthusiasm and earnest engagement allowed me to see a completely different side to some of my students. As a teacher, it was clear to me just how valuable it is to have the opportunity to enjoy and explore Shakespeare freely beyond the curriculum. Through my students’ unwavering attention and exuberant engagement, I could witness their real-time realisation that Shakespeare’s plays are brilliantly entertaining: something to be inspired to study rather than to be endured.” (Zoe, Class Teacher, April 2025)
Teachers find this programme an invaluable resource when introducing Shakespeare to their students; it’s fun, pacey, exciting… exactly how Shakespeare should be explored with children and young people! After all, the texts were never designed to just be read, but rather physically explored by the ‘players’ on stage to help bring the verse to life!
“Our educator had a very good rapport with the children in our group and had the children enthralled from the start. This was an highly engaging session that brought Shakespeare to life for our pupils, having them engaged and excited from the very beginning to the very end of their session.” Â (Andrew Goulding, Director of Learning, July 2025)
So if you’re looking to breath new life into Shakespeare for your children, and for the experience to have a lasting impact that will go way beyond the workshop session itself, get in touch! 🙂
