A Shakespeare Primer at the Castle

At the end of November, Mr. Marthaller’s Grade 8 class took a trip to Craigdarroch Castle to get some exposure to olden time language. The castle was the perfect backdrop for a Shakespearean-themed guided tour of the castle, followed by a scene workshop with actors from the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival. The actors did a game with the students, breaking down a scene from a Shakespeare play to make it easier to understand. “The castle looked bigger when we were inside,” said Ylva, a Grade 8 student who went on the field trip. “It had so many levels… it just kept going up and up.” “I’ve been there a lot, but this time was really fun because our tour guide was really funny,” said Julia (Grade 8). “He did a fake british accent and made a lot of jokes. I had a shadow day that day, and the girl I was with really enjoyed it–she had a lot of fun.” “The accent definitely made the tour better,” agreed Thomas (Grade 8). The trip was good preparation for the Spring Term, when they will be reading their first Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing. “This is likely the first Shakespeare play they will have read as part of the Language and Literature curriculum, and they’re often apprehensive about it,” Mr. Marthaller said. “Anything we can do to demystify and/or inject some fun into things will hopefully make for a better experience later.”