Young scholars research the social context of Elizabethan England for Shakespeare's "Hamlet". They identify cultural influences on the play focusing on the theme of revenge and then analyze and compare film interpretations of the play.

Students discover how Shakespeare's play interprets Elizabethan attitudes toward revenge, as reflected in the structure of the Elizabethan revenge tragedy, one of the most popular forms of drama of that era. Students perform certain...

Students develop an appreciation for Shakespeare by researching the Elizabethan period and situations in the Twelfth Night. In this Shakespeare play lesson, students complete a 52 page packet to learn about the period of time and...

Shakespeare loved to write plays about famous kings. A study guide for Richard II explores the drama surrounding the reign of King Richard while reinforcing important language arts skills. After attending a performance of the play,...

Young theatre artists engage in a scavenger hunt to acquaint themselves with set design. The challenge is to search the site and match a separate maquette with each of the 24 clues.

Clothes might not make the man but they certainly do help an actor create a character. How costume designers employ the same elements of design found in sets (line, color, texture, shape) to realize a character is the focus of a lesson...

Students take a closer look at Japanese drama. In this Japanese culture lesson, students study the attributes of Noh theater and compare it western theater. Students conduct independent research on the art form prior to acting out a Noh...

After reading Act II of The Tragedy of Macbeth, give your class this prompt to complete. One other question is listed along with information regarding the divine right of kings. A full plan is not written out here, but the prompt is a...

Students gather textual citations from Othello, discuss stereotypes that they hold, examine primary source materials, and write character profiles.

Students compare Noh drama to western drama and trace the influence of Japanese theater on modern western drama.  For this Noh drama lesson, students read the play Black Tomb (Kurozuko) defining the elements and conventions of Noh...

Students are introduced to the background behind Shakespeare's "As You Like It". In groups, they compare and contrast the family issues in the play with those in their own family. They also write the traits of each character and answer...

High schoolers examine eras of theatre history using a multi- media approach.

Students research word frequencies in Macbeth and create a frozen picture inspired by a word.  In this Macbeth lesson, students view Blood Will Have Blood and discuss the dual meaning of the word "blood."  Students identify...

This is a lesson on Elizabethan drama leading up the the reading of Shakespeare's Macbeth. It discusses the precursor mystery or morality plays including links to Everyman, the most famous of these. It continues with a discussion of how...

The theme of revenge was very popular in Elizabethan drama. This lesson plan helps young scholars understand how Shakespeare used that convention in "Hamlet."

Detailed class notes on English drama and the artistic and historical influences that shaped it. Includes information about the University Wits, pre-Shakespearean acting troups and Elizabethan acting style.

This is the text of a lecture on Elizabethan Theatre by Thomas Larque, originally given to Performing Arts students as part of their course in 2001. In it he discusses the following topics: Drama Before Theatres, The First Theatre, The...

This lecture and slides traces the history of the Elizabeth theater through a variety of topics: London, inn-yards, great halls, outdoor theatres, performances, indoor threatres, theatre and drama, actors, acting, and audience. These...

This resource provides information about acting styles in the Elizabethan Age.

Very extensive guide to period costumes of the Elizabethan age. Offers color photographs of men's and women's clothing, patterns and tips for making the costumes, and a definition page with more pictures to illustrate terminology.

This site mainly discusses the Elizabethan Theatres. It gives statistics about the various theatres of that time period, and provides interesting information about them. Some information on William Shakespeare is also provided.

A discussion of the importance that Dekker's prose work has in giving us a picture of Elizabethan England.

This comprehensive site offers links to the history of British theatre including the Classics, Medieval and Renaissance, Elizabethan, 17th, 18th, 19th Century, Contemporary, and Non-Western theatre. It also provides links to theatre...

This site provides biographical information concerning Christopher Marlowe, texts of his works, articles and essays about his works, and a list of other available sources.