Julius Caesar • 2013 - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Theater warm-ups
Unlike many of the classic works studied in the English classroom, Shakespeare’s plays were written to be spoken
out loud and heard by an audience. Introducing performance into the classroom can be a powerful tool for increasing
fluency and comprehension, encouraging empathy, and exploring character perspective and choices. A student who
has had the chance to “be” Antony and create their own interpretation of “Friends, Romans, Countrymen…” is less
likely to be intimidated by the foreign nature of Shakespeare’s words.
Learning and understanding Shakespeare is a skill. It is different from history or math classes where you are required
to learn and apply facts. Learning Shakespeare can be compared to learning music, sports or other “learning by doing”
classes. How does a music class usually begin? With a warm-up. How do you start a physical class? With a warm-up!
Most of the time, those warm-ups are physical and usually not only engage the body but also engage the mind.
A brief physical and vocal warm-up can help your students move from a “classroom mode” to a “studio mode.” It sets
the tone for a student learning Shakespeare in a theatrical sense as well as a literary sense. And you will find that after
the first couple of times, your students’ nerves—and yours—will be unseated by energy and focus. A few rehearsals
in the privacy of your own home can do a lot to bolster your courage! Every actor develops his/her own set of physical
and vocal warm-ups. Warm-ups help the actor prepare for rehearsal or performance not only physically, but also
mentally. The actor has the chance to focus on the work at hand, forgetting all the day-to-day distractions of life, and
beginning to assume the flexibility required to create a character. The body, the voice and the imagination are the actor’s
(and the student’s) tools in mastering Shakespeare.
PHYSICAL WARM-UPS
Getting Started
✪ creates focus on the immediate moment
✪ brings students to body awareness
✪ helps dispel tension
Begin by asking your students to take a comfortable stance with their feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing straight
ahead, knees relaxed. Ask them to inhale deeply through their noses, filling their lungs deep into their abdomen, and
exhale through their mouths. Repeat this a few times and ask them to notice how their lungs fill like a six-sided box,
creating movement in all six directions.
One of the actors at Chicago Shakespeare Theater likes to describe the experience of acting Shakespeare as
the “Olympics of Acting.” Shakespeare’s verse demands a very flexible vocal instrument, and an ability to express
not only the flow of the text, but the emotional shifts which are suggested by the variations in rhythm and sound.
In light of the sheer volume of words, some of which are rarely—if ever—used in modern vocabulary, the actor must
also be prepared to help the audience with his body, as well. An actor acting Shakespeare must go through each
word of his text, determine its meaning, and then express it clearly to his audience. This requires a very physically
demanding style. The physical and vocal warm-up is the actor’s basis for each performance.
Julius Caesar • 2013