Mayflower Team | Saturday, April 23, 2016
BEST SHAKESPEARE RESOURCES ON THE WEB
BRITISH LIBRARY
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British Library’s Shakespeare collection can be explored at Discovering Literature: Shakespeare. All the bard’s resources are conveniently devided into eight sections from which we especially recommend: Articles where one can find over eighty, richly illustrated articles presenting Shakespeare and his times in historical, biographical, bibliographic and performance contexts; Collection items which is a depository of two hundred and eighty-two books, manuscripts, playscripts, engravings, illustrations and images, presented with informative descriptions; if you are a teacher looking for interesting materials for your teenage students, we encourage you to visit Teaching resources section.
FOLGER
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Everything about the Folger Shakespeare Library is impressive: starting from their location on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC (just a few steps from the United States Capitol), through art, cultural and scholary programmes, to the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, including, among other gems, eighty-two (!) copies of the 1623 First Folio. The Folger offers a stunning range of materials on every aspect of Shakespeare’s life and legacy. From this incredible collection of resources we find Podcasts and recordings and Shakespeare for kids sections especially worth browsing, and we adore the motto that appears on the frontpage of the latter: "It’s never too early to discover Shakespeare!".
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
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The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), based in Stratford-upon-Avon, are one of the world’s best known theatre ensembles. Similarly, their internet location is one of the best places to check in if you are looking for a great selection of Shakespeare resources. Online visitors can explore the most comprehensive range of resources in the form of Teacher Packs, Interactive Whiteboard Resources, as well as Image and video galleries. To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the RSC collaborated with the British Council and created the Shakespeare Lives - a series of events and activities, as well as a special edition teacher resource pack, which can be downloaded from schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org.
SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE
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Essentially, Shakespeare’s Globe is an oak-and-thatch replica of the original Elizabethan theatre, where plays are performed in the open air. However, if you do not happen to be in London to feel the atmosphere of the live performance, you can do it online and the experience is equally worthwile thanks to Globe 360, an absolutely amazing application that offers a tour around a virtual version of the Renaissance theatre. Also, we invite you to visit the Discovery Space area of the site; with actor interviews, fact sheets, theatre glossary and academic research papers, it is a must-visit for all Shakespeare lovers.
TEACHING SHAKESPEARE
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We recommend Teaching Shakespeare to anybody who is tired of browsing tonnes of internet pages and materials in search of perfect Shakespeare resources. At Teaching Shakespeare they have done this mundane task for you and hand-picked some of the best resources from Britain’s leading cultural institutions such as the British Film Institute, the British Museum, Into Films, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Victoria and Albert museum. As TES is the world’s largest online network of teachers, you can also find there a wide range of activities prepared by educators.