Helen Mirren ‘unbelievably excited’ to help launch RSC’s Shakespeare curriculum

Dame Helen Mirren has said it is “so unbelievably exciting” to see the Royal Shakespeare Company launch a curriculum aimed at changing the way Shakespeare is taught in UK secondary schools.

The Oscar-winning actress, 80, joined the global theatre company in the 1960s and has performed in stagings of Antony And Cleopatra, Macbeth, Hamlet and more.

The RSC’s Shakespeare curriculum, which is free for all state and Send schools, has transformed 10 of the bard’s most studied plays into a 24-part creative learning experience that draws on thousands of archive resources.

Dame Helen, who appeared alongside Sir Ian McKellen at a launch event in London, said: “I was very lucky, because when I was about 15 I was taken to see a production of Hamlet, and I fell in love with Shakespeare just like that.

“You’re so ripe for Shakespeare when you’re 13, 14, 15, 16-years-old, it’s the perfect age to be exposed to Shakespeare.”

She continued: “The teaching of Shakespeare in schools has been… I think teachers have done their very, very best, really struggle (to) try to make it live and relevant, but it’s very, very difficult when you’re dealing with that kind of language.

“Big shout out to teachers over the years, but what an amazing, wonderful tool they now have in this Shakespeare curriculum.”

She added: “To me, and Ian, I’m sure, it’s so unbelievably exciting to see that there is a new initiative to bring Shakespeare so thrillingly, sexily, violently – all the good stuff – to life.”

Sir Ian, who has played King Lear and Macbeth in RSC productions, joked that he “shouldn’t really be” at the event, held at Middle Temple, “because I have always thought that Shakespeare didn’t belong in the classroom”.

He said: “I thought the idea that (it would be) handed down by governments who want to introduce children to our national hero, and it is wonderful that the most famous, celebrated Englishman who ever lived was not a politician or a general, or indeed a monarch, but an actor…

“But is that the reason that Shakespeare should be taught? To make us feel patriotic? I just know after 60 or 70 years of acting Shakespeare that it is bloody difficult, and I’ve still not worked out how to do it.

“So how could a child of 13 or 14 begin to appreciate the wonderful difficulties of Shakespeare’s writing?”

He continued: “But looking at the curriculum, I’ve changed my mind, and so that’s why it’s appropriate that I should be here speaking to you.”

“Most teachers can’t be expected to be fitted to teach Shakespeare.

“It’s very complicated business, and the curriculum does it on their behalf and allows them to be thoroughly involved.”

The Shakespeare curriculum is “the first teaching and learning platform of its kind dedicated to Shakespeare’s plays with user interfaces for both teachers and students”, the RSC said.

The company are aiming to have 80% of UK secondary schools using the curriculum by the academic year 2029/2030.

The first play in the programme will be Macbeth, followed by Romeo And Juliet, with the platform expanding with two more plays each academic year.

Each play is divided into eight modules that contain three lessons building knowledge around the play and its themes such as language, character and plot.

The development of the curriculum has been led by the RSC, who were given a grant of 1.06 million by the Foyle Foundation.