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Books

Publications

Jennifer and Tracy have published widely on creativity, theatre and Shakespeare in education. Find a selection of their work below

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Tracy Irish

Jennifer Kitchen

Arden Shakespeare, 2024

 

How can the study of Shakespeare contribute to equipping young people for the challenges of an uncertain future? In this book, we explore the theory, practice and implications of teaching Shakespeare through theatre-based techniques.

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Drawing our research and experience with organizations including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare's Globe, the Folger and Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation, Part One consolidates recent developments in the field and engages in lively dialogue with core questions of Shakespeare's place in the classroom. Part Two curates a series of interviews with leaders and practitioners from the above and other Shakespeare institutions, exploring their core principles and practices. Part Three presents chapters from and about classroom teachers, who share their experiences of successfully embedding theatre-based approaches to Shakespeare in their own diverse contexts.

Tracy Irish

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Forthcoming in 2025  An Introduction to the Gonsalves Method: Meisner inspired practice for today’s theatre makers. Co-authored with A. Gonsalves. London: Methuen Drama

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2023, ’Signing Shakespeare’, co-authored with A. Rokison-Woodall in Shakespeare and Social Engagement, R. Mackenzie and R. Shaughnessy (eds), Oxford: Berghahn.

2023 ’Teaching Shakespeare in Oman: exploring shared humanity and cultural difference through Shakespeare’s texts’ in Reimagining Shakespeare Education. Eds. L. Semler, J. Manuel and C. Hansen. Cambridge University Press


2021 Shakespeare and Meisner: A Practical Guide for Actors, Directors, Students and Teachers. Co-authored with A. Gonsalves. Arden Performance Series, Bloomsbury


2019 ’Theatre, education, and embodied cognition: young women in the changing world’ in Palgrave History of Women on Stage. Eds. J. Sewell and C. Smout. Palgrave MacMillan

 

 2015 - 2018 RSC School Shakespeare (edits for six titles and page by page activities for Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest), Oxford University Press


2015 ‘Performing Shakespeare in the Olympic Year: Interviews with three practitioners’. In Shakespeare on the Global Stage: Performance and Festivity in the Olympic Year. Eds. P. Prescott and E. Sullivan. Bloomsbury


2011 ‘Would you risk it for Shakespeare? A case study of using active approaches in the English classroom’. English in Education, 45, 6-19


Talks and presentations include:

•    2024 ‘Why Shakespeare for Primary?’  PTI Headteachers conference 
•    2022. ’Shakespeare and nuance’, University of the Philippines conference, online
•    2021 ‘Shakespeare and Meisner’, BritGrad conference plenary, Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon
•    2021 ‘Signing Shakespeare’, Hay Festival online
•    2021 'Thy very stones prate of our whereabout: Shakespeare, caves and climate change’ at Shakespeare’s Globe conference, online
•    2019. ’Shakespeare and young people: developing a culture of links’. BritGrad conference plenary, Stratford-upon-Avon
•    2016. ‘The value of performance pedagogy in teaching Shakespeare’. British Shakespeare Association conference, Hull
•    2016. ‘The pedagogy of theatre-based practice’. Teaching Shakespeare conference, Brighton
•    2015 ‘Policy and Practice: the implications and paradoxes of nationally mandated Shakespeare’. National Council of Teachers of English conference, New York
 

Jennifer Kitchen

Forthcoming 2025 ‘Restorying Play in Educational Drama and Theatre’ in Research in Drama Education Special Edition - RiDE 2056: The Futures of Drama Education And Applied Theatre And Performance

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Forthcoming 2024 ‘“Shakespeare on your doorstep”: opportunities for inclusion and participation in the educational and community work of the Shakespeare North Playhouse’ in The Shakespeare North Playhouse: Replica Theatres and their Uses London: Routledge eds. Keenan, Timothy

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2023 Critical Pedagogy in Active Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

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2022 with Rachel Turner-King ‘‘IDIERI: Critical reflections, messy boundaries, complex futures’ in Applied Theatre 10:1, 7-19

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2022 ‘Shakespeare Youth Performance Festivals as Spaces for Postcolonial Restorying’ in The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Young People eds. Busby, Selina, Freebody, Kelly and Rajendran, Charlene

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2021 ‘Theatre Education and Populism: the ensemble ‘family’ as a space for dialogic empathy, civic care and social hope’ in British Educational Research Journal 47:2, 372-388

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2020 ‘Oh Brave New World: Play, Shakespeare and pro-social pedagogy in Early Years’ education.’ In Drama Magazine London: National Drama

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2020 ‘Critical Pedagogy and Active Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare’ in Teaching Shakespeare: Policy Pedagogy Practice York: British Shakespeare Association

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2020 ‘Radical acceptance, “decolonial listening” and cultural democracy: What can the arts in education teach us about social justice?’ In British Educational Research Association Blog

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2018 'Playfulness in performative approaches to teaching Shakespeare' in The Arts in Language Teaching. International Perspectives: Performative – Aesthetic – Transversal LIT Verlag: Berlin eds. Mentz, Oliver and Fleiner, Michael

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2015 ‘The ensemble domesticated: Mapping issues of autonomy and power in performing arts projects in schools’ in Power and Education 7:1, 90-105

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2015 'Play isn't just for primary school kids - it's got an image problem' in The Conversation

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2014 ‘Shakespeare plays key role in teaching children to take creative leaps’ in The Conversation

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Talks and Presentations include:

  • 2023 ‘Teaching and Learning Shakespeare Through Theatre-Based Practice’ – Blended online/in-person roundtable, British Shakespeare Association Conference, Liverpool

  • 2022 ‘Critical Pedagogy and Active Shakespeare’ Invited Panel – New Scholars, International Drama in Education Research Institution Conference Warwick

  • 2021 ‘Reimagining Education’ Invited Panel, TEALFest – Technology Enhanced Active Learning Festival, Warwick

  • 2019 ‘Ensemble pedagogy, playfulness and the creation of ‘third spaces’ in education’, Collaboration, Creativity and Complexities: Developing networks and practices of co-production with children and young people, Manchester

  • 2018 Workshop presentation ‘The Power of Play: Ensemble pedagogy, playfulness and the creation of ‘third spaces’ in education’ Hellenic Theatre/Drama Education Network International Conference Athens

  • 2017 ‘Playful Shakespeare: can a focus on playfulness help deepen understanding of ensemble pedagogy as an approach to teaching Shakespeare?’, British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Brighton

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