Interpretations - Year 8 London c1600 Richard Jones-Nerzic
This is my favourite
interpretations activity. Not only is it a great dress-up, role-play
lesson, it also helps relatively young students to understand that
historical reality is a very difficult thing to pin down. It takes
seriously what David Lowenthal once descibed as the 'epistemological
fragility of history'.
Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for the
activity which features in the Counsell et al Think Through
History series of texts, Changing
Minds.
The activity takes a pair of students through an
empathetic journey as two Italian brothers on a visit to
Shakespeare's London. Along the way they encounter all the dangers
and delights of London at this time. The interpretative twist is
provided by the fact that one of the brothers is a pessimist and the
other an optimist.
My only original contribution to the activity is to provide some
additional resources along the way and to film the concluding
role-play.
For example, I made this video to illustrate London
as it might have looked in 1600.
The
second video below is a lesson in its own right about Elizabethan theatre. The edited extracts are taken from Olivier's wartime
production of Henry V. The students are given an extract to watch
with headphones in an ICT room. The following questions
are designed to get them thinking about change and continuity in the
theatre.
Before the final
role-play I give the students some 'Horrible History' extracts to learn about
Elizabethan swearing and how to make a ruff. On the day of the role-play
we even have competitions for best costume and best/biggest
ruff!
