Young Adult Literature

Teaching Romeo & Juliet:

Host Joseph Fiennes takes us back to the source – an Italian story translated into English when Shakespeare was a boy. Shakespeare adapted and dramatized the Italian poem, and other writers have been adapting him for centuries ever since. Examine why it remains the most-performed of all Shakespeare plays, and the hopeful message coming from the tragic ending, one about the eternal power of love. Great background and historical information about the play itself while showing scenes from the Globe Theatre performance. 

Film Adaptations

This contemporary production played in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Barbican in London, and on a 2019 national tour.The show featured Bally Gill and Karen Fishwick in the title roles, and used young people from the different regions visited to perform as the Chorus alongside the professional cast.

Directed by Academy Award nominee Baz Luhrman (Moulin Rouge), this adaption of the classic Shakespearean play is passionate, visceral, sexy, violent, and other-worldly. Set in the mythical city of Verona Beach, the Montague's and Capulet's are two feuding families whose children meet and fall in love. Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes) must hide their love from the world... but with tragic consequences. This is the rent or buy version through Youtube. 

Produced and directed by legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay by screenwriter and playwright Tony Kushner, WEST SIDE STORY tells the classic tale of fierce rivalries and young love, set in 1957 New York City. A whole new generation can experience this reimagining of the beloved musical originally choreographed by Jerome Robbins, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and original book by Arthur Laurents. Ansel Elgort stars as Tony, a former member of the Jets street gang, and Rachel Zegler stars as María, a young woman whose brother is the head of the Jets' rival gang, the Sharks. When Tony and María meet, they fall in love, but those close to them discourage their union. As racial and territorial tensions mount between the competing gangs, events unfold that threaten the young lovers' happiness. Along with its iconic songs, the film features breathtaking new choreography from Justin Peck, with the score helmed by renowned Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel and arranged by composer and conductor David Newman. WEST SIDE STORY also stars Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Josh Andrés Rivera, Ana Isabelle, Corey Stoll, Brian d'Arcy James, and Rita Moreno, who was featured in the 1961 film version, and who serves as an executive producer. The film's creative team additionally includes Kushner as an executive producer, along with Daniel Lupi and Adam Somner, with Kevin McCollum and Kristie Macosko Krieger also producing. A timeless story of love and social unrest, the film also features stunning cinematography by Janusz Kaminski.  This is the rent or buy version through Youtube. 

Companion Books in YA Lit

Teaching Hamlet

Shakespeare in Perspective- Hamlet, is 25-minute personal introductions written and presented by journalist Clive James with extracts from the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark directed by Rodney Bennett.

John Green teaches about Hamlet, William Shakespeare's longest and most-performed play. People love Hamlet. The play that is, not necessarily the character. Hamlet is a Tragedy with a capital T (I guess I don't have to point that out since you can see clearly in the text that the T was capitalized). By Tragedy, I mean virtually everyone dies at the end. John will talk a little bit about the history of the play and the different versions of it that have appeared in the centuries since it was written. You'll also learn about some of the big themes in the play, get a brief plot overview, and the all-important connections between Prince Hamlet and Simba, the Lion King. Seriously though, The Lion King is totally just a Hamlet musical with animals instead of people.

From plot debriefs to key motifs, Thug Notes’ Hamlet Summary & Analysis has you covered with themes, symbols, important quotes, and more.

Film  Adaptations

A ghostly visitor with a shocking secret, a daughter devastated by loss, a deadly duel and the most famous question in all of drama: Shakespeare's iconic tragedy will hold you spellbound. Jonathan Goad is witty and courageous in the title role, but also deeply human. The film excites and surprises at every turn, with a cast of some of the world's finest classical actors bringing to life the most intense and heart-breaking relationships the stage has ever seen.

Set in an unnamed African state, Paapa Essiedu is the first black actor to play Hamlet for the RSC in its 55-year history.

Hamlet has the world at his feet. Young, wealthy and living a hedonistic life studying abroad. Then word reaches him that his father is dead. Returning home he finds his world is utterly changed, his certainties smashed and his home a foreign land. Struggling to understand his place in a new world order he faces a stark choice. Submit, or rage against the injustice of his new reality. Simon Godwin (The Two Gentlemen of Verona 2014) directs Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet in Shakespeare's searing tragedy. As relevant today as when it was written, Hamlet confronts each of us with the mirror of our own mortality in an imperfect world.

Spoken in verse but with contemporary dress and David Tennant in the eponymous role of Hamlet. Tennant's interpretation garnered critical approval and Patrick Stewart - playing Claudius - was praised for a performance of great depth and complexity. In this specially-shot screen version of the stage play (filmed on location rather than in the theatre), Tennant and Stewart reprise their roles.

Kenneth Branagh ("Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," "The Road to El Dorado") writes, directs and stars in this four-time Oscar-nominated classic Shakespeare saga about the melancholy Dane. With an all-star cast, including Oscar-nominee Kate Winslet ("Iris," "Titanic") and Oscar-winner Julie Christie ("Dragonheart," "Dr. Zhivago"), as well as appearances by Charlton Heston, John Gielgud, Jack Lemmon, Gerard Depardieu, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and many others. Branagh received an Oscar nomination for his outstanding screenplay. This is the rent or buy version through Youtube. 

Also known as The Animated Shakespeare, is a series of twelve half-hour animated television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, originally broadcast on BBC2 and S4C between 1992 and 1994.The episodes continue to be used in schools as teaching aids, especially when introducing children to Shakespeare for the first time. However, the series has been critiqued for the large number of scenes cut to make the episodes shorter in length.

Companion Books in YA Lit

Teaching Midsummer's Nights Dream

Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) started his career understudying Ralph Fiennes as Lysander, one of the four lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They meet up to try to untangle the extraordinary plot of one of Shakespeare’s most enduringly popular plays, a great comedy of love and enchantment with a delicate balance between comedy and tragedy, the natural and the supernatural. Great background and historical information about the play itself while showing scenes from the Globe Theatre performance. 

From plot debriefs to key motifs, Thug Notes’ A Midsummer Night's Dream Summary & Analysis has you covered with themes, symbols, important quotes, and more.

Through fun animation, this video gives a great breakdown of the play as an introduction. Ready for some fairy-inspired drama? Then, A Midsummer Nights Dream has got you covered! As Oberon King of the Faeries cooks up a plan to win the love of Titania, the Fairy Queen. This seems pretty simple at first but quickly becomes complicated as Puck is instructed to meddle in the affairs of humans. After all, the course of true love, never runs smooth!

Film Adaptations

Classic Shakespeare play adapted for television by Russell T Davies. In the tyrannical court of Athens, pitiless dictator Theseus plans his wedding to Hippolyta, a prisoner of war, and young Hermia is sentenced to death by her own father. Meanwhile, in the town below, amateur theatre group the Mechanicals rehearse, with all their comic rivalries. And beyond Athens, in the wild woods, dark forces are stirring...

 A Midsummer Night's Dream adapted by Peter Bowker, updated for the 21st Century, and reflecting a cross section of contemporary Britain. Reworked for modern audiences to enjoy.

Companion Books in YA Lit

Teaching Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar upholds Liberty against Tyranny. But what is tyranny? Presenter Brian Cox examines how this play challenges all political systems and all definitions of tyranny -- challenging us to wonder how well we even know ourselves.

This Shakespeare in Perspective episode, Julius Caesar, was written and presented by political commentator Jonathan Dimbleby and was filmed at Palace of Westminster and 10 Downing Street, London, England, with extracts from the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Julius Caesar directed by Herbert Wise.

This is a timeline of events in the life of Julius Caesar, a powerful general and ambitious politician of the Roman Republic. He was known for his military conquests and declared himself 'Dictator for life' before his brutal murder in 44 BCE.

Stage Play

Really good version- performed and staged as Shakespeare would have done. This political thriller tells the story of the conspiracy against Caesar, his assassination and the defeat of his conspirators. Angus Jackson directs Shakespeare’s epic political tragedy, as the race to claim Rome spirals out of control.

Film Adaptations

Julius Caesar is a 1970 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, directed by Stuart Burge. It was an independent production of Commonwealth United Entertainment, filmed in England and Spain. It is the first film version of the play made in colour.

Also known as The Animated Shakespeare, is a series of twelve half-hour animated television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, originally broadcast on BBC2 and S4C between 1992 and 1994.The episodes continue to be used in schools as teaching aids, especially when introducing children to Shakespeare for the first time. However, the series has been critiqued for the large number of scenes cut to make the episodes shorter in length.

Companion Books in YA Lit 

Teaching Macbeth

This Shakespeare in Perspective episode, Macbeth, was written and presented by crime writer and poet Julian Symons and was filmed at Cawdor Castle, Nairn, Scotland, with extracts from the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Macbeth directed by Jack Gold.

'Macbeth in The Classroom 2' examines an NQT's perspective on ways of approaching Shakespeare at Key Stage 3. It also provides insights about how an experienced teacher is able to take risks in classroom management and practice. In this programme, NQTs from the Institute of Education and Lecturer in Education, John Yandell, watch the programme 'Macbeth in the Classroom 1', in which Sabrina Broadbent works on Act 3 Scene 1 of Macbeth with a Year 9 group at Hornsey School for Girls in London. The group then talk about the techniques Sabrina used to get the children involved in understanding and performing difficult Shakespearean language, and they reflect on the value of those techniques and how easy it might be to duplicate them in their own classes. New teachers are often advised to improve their practice by observing more experienced colleagues. This programme is an example of such observation.

From plot debriefs to key motifs, Thug Notes’ Macbeth Summary & Analysis has you covered with themes, symbols, important quotes, and more.

Stage Play

Really good version- performed and staged as Shakespeare would have done. Surrender to a haunting story of ambition and its dark consequences, as a military hero and his wife conspire to seize the throne of Scotland.

Film Adaptations

Performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company, staring Christopher Eccleston, Niamh Cusack, David Acton, Luke Newberry, Tim Samuels, Edward Bennett

Macbeth updated for the 21st Century. 

Also known as The Animated Shakespeare, is a series of twelve half-hour animated television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, originally broadcast on BBC2 and S4C between 1992 and 1994.The episodes continue to be used in schools as teaching aids, especially when introducing children to Shakespeare for the first time. However, the series has been critiqued for the large number of scenes cut to make the episodes shorter in length.

Companion Books in YA Lit