Rapspeare Live is Bigfoot’s Shakespeare workshop experience for KS2, delivering Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream through contemporary hip hop beats, live performance and brilliant storytelling. Perfect for Shakespeare Week, Arts Week, World Book Day, Enrichment Days and Literacy and Oracy work, it is the Shakespeare experience that pupils talk about long after the curtain falls.
Two Bigfoot educators arrive with a difference of opinion. One loves Shakespeare the traditional way: the language, the staging, the history. The other loves Shakespeare too, but finds the way it is taught exhausting and wants to show everyone why the Bard is still everywhere, from Disney to Stormzy, from The Lion King to Taylor Swift. What unfolds is sixty minutes of live comedy, debate, costume, audience challenge and music that takes pupils inside four of Shakespeare’s greatest plays before they have even realised it has happened.
Pupils hear the Witches’ spell from Macbeth delivered over a hip hop beat, meet Romeo and Juliet through performance and staging, discover how closely A Midsummer Night’s Dream mirrors the shows they watch at home, and learn what the iambic pentameter actually is in a way that makes complete sense. Pupils leave with a genuine understanding of Shakespeare’s themes, genres, language and relevance that no textbook has ever managed to give them.
Read our Blog about how a Pupil was inspired by Adrian delivering Rapspeare at her school, how it inspired her to be a teacher and how she booked Adrian to return to her school to deliver Rapspeare to her pupils! READ IT HERE
“High energy, engaging and incredibly well pitched. Every pupil was fully absorbed. The combination of humour, music and clever storytelling made the experience both educational and genuinely entertaining.” — Ella Jenkins, Literacy Lead, Broadmead Primary School
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Understand who Shakespeare was, what inspired him and why his work remains relevant today
- Explore the plots, characters, themes and language of Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Understand Shakespeare’s three genres and recognise them in contemporary film, TV and music
- Develop oracy, vocabulary and spoken language confidence through active participation in live performance
- Experience the iambic pentameter and understand how Shakespeare’s verse connects to rhythm and rap
NATIONAL CURRICULUM LINKS
- English (Reading/Literature): Understanding Shakespeare’s plays, themes, characters and language; exploring how his work has influenced literature, film and music
- English (Oracy): Developing spoken language confidence, vocabulary and performance skills through active participation in live theatre
- Drama: Responding to live performance; understanding genre, character and staging; exploring verse through the body and voice
- Music: Understanding the relationship between rhythm, beat and language; exploring hip hop as a contemporary art form rooted in classical tradition
- Personal Development: Building confidence, engagement and a sense of cultural heritage through access to one of the world’s greatest literary traditions
FORMAT
Target Audience: KS2 (Years 3 to 6)
Performance: 60 minutes (whole school or key stage group)
Capacity: Up to 120 pupils (Per hour long experience)
Ideal For: Shakespeare Week, Arts Week, Enrichment Days, Literacy and Oracy enrichment
Resource Pack: A comprehensive teacher resource pack is included with every booking, packed with pre and post activities that extend the learning and bring Rapspeare Live into the classroom.
HOW TO ENQUIRE & BOOK
For us to quote your school and offer availability, please fill out the form below and tell us the year groups and how many classes you would like us to work with, along with any specific dates. We promise to respond to you within 24 hours. Important: if you haven’t heard from us, you may need to check your folder of doom (spam folder) where our emails may occasionally end up!
