For:
•• English teachers
•• English subject
leaders
Active
Shakespeare:
Capturing
evidence of
learning
Directing
Romeo and Juliet
Pupil reflection log
We want our website and publications to be widely accessible,
so please contact us if we're not meeting your needs.
Qualifications and Curriculum
Development Agency
53–55 Butts Road
Earlsdon Park
Coventry CV1 3BH
Telephone 0300 303 3010
Enquiry line 0300 303 3011
Textphone 0300 303 3012
Fax 0300 303 3014
info@qcda.gov.uk
www.qcda.gov.uk
Text extracts from the play have been taken from Cambridge School
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 3rd edition by Rex Gibson,
text © Cambridge University Press 1984, 2005 reproduced with permission.
QCDA/10/4797
First published in March 2010
© Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 2010
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is currently operating certain
of its non-regulatory functions under the name of the Qualifications and Curriculum
Development Agency (QCDA). The legal entity remains QCA, established under
the Education Act 1997. QCA is an exempted charity under the Charities Act 1993.
Reproduction, storage or translation, in any form or by any means, of this
publication is prohibited without prior written permission of the publisher,
unless within the terms of the Copyright Licensing Agency. Excerpts may be
reproduced for the purpose of research, private study, criticism or review, or by
educational institutions solely for educational purposes, without permission,
provided full acknowledgement is given.
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
Contents page
STAGE 1
1
Resource 1: Meet the cast and director
1
Reflection opportunity 1: Potpan and servingmen – Act 1 Scene 5
2
STAGE 2
3
Resource 1: Words as weapons – Act 3 Scene 1
3
Reflection opportunity 1: Throwing words
5
Reflection opportunity 2: Mercutio and Tybalt
6
Reflection opportunity 3: Effective language
7
STAGE 3
8
Reflection opportunity 1: Status words and actions – Act 3 Scene 5
8
STAGE 4
10
Resource 1: Act 3 Scene 5
10
Reflection opportunity 1: A 21st Century perspective - Act 3 Scene 5
2
SYNOPTIC TASK: Directing the play
3
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
STAGE 1
 Resource 1: Meet the cast and director
Phil Cumbus plays
Colin Hurley
the second
plays Lord
servant and Tybalt
Capulet
Tunji Kasim
Claire Lams
plays Benvolio
plays Juliet
Chiké Okonkwo
Jonjo O’Neill
plays Romeo
plays the first
servant
Rachel
Louise
Lumberg plays
Jameson plays
the Nurse
Lady Capulet
Nicholas Khan
plays second
Bill Buckhurst
directs
Capulet
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
1
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
STAGE 1
 Reflection opportunity 1: Potpan and servingmen – Act 1 Scene 5
Potpan and servingmen: extract 1
Write down as many words as you can that describe the mood of the extract you have just
seen:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Potpan and servingmen: extract 2
Write down as many words as you can that describe the mood of the extract you have just
seen:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
How would you direct this scene?
Which interpretation of the scene do you think would best set the scene for what happens
at the ball?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Explain your choice.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
2
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
STAGE 2
 Resource 1: Words as weapons – Act 3 Scene 1
Lines from Act 3 Scene 1
The day is hot, the Capels are abroad
…thou art as hot a Jack in thy mood as any in Italy
…simple!
Gentlemen, good e’en: a word with one of you
Zounds, consort!
Your worship in that sense may call him ‘man’.
Thou art a villain
Farewell. I see thou knowest me not
Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done me
Calm, dishonourable, vile submission
Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?
Good King of Cats
A dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death
A braggart, a rogue, a villain
I have it, and soundly too
Thou wretched boy, that did consort him here
Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he?
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
3
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
Where are the vile beginners of this fray?
Tybalt, my cousin, o my brother’s child
Write down the words you chose as weapons.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Which words best fitted with a throwing action and why?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
4
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
STAGE 2
 Reflection opportunity 1: Throwing words
Are the actors’ choices of ‘weapon words’ similar to yours or did the choices surprise you?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Which words do you think were the most effective ‘weapon words’? Explain your choices.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
How did the actor deliver the word that made it effective?
Consider how they played with: word length, tone, emphasis of particular vowels and/or
consonants, gesture etc.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
5
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
STAGE 2
 Reflection opportunity 2: Mercutio and Tybalt
How does the actor playing Mercutio use his words as weapons to taunt Tybalt?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What effect do Mercutio’s words have on Tybalt in this version and how do the actors
reflect this?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Can you think of any other ways of playing this exchange?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
6
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
STAGE 2
 Reflection opportunity 3: Effective language
Words that provoke a fight:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Words that encourage peace:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Identify what you have discovered about the use of words in this scene to achieve their
purpose.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
7
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
STAGE 3
 Reflection opportunity 1: Status words and actions – Act 3 Scene 5
What words does Lady Capulet use that show her status compared to Juliet?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What words does Juliet use that show her status compared to her mother?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What actions can you identify that show the characters’ relative statuses?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
8
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
What does Lord Capulet do that shows he is an Elizabethan father?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
How does Juliet’s behaviour show that she is an Elizabethan daughter?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What is the status relationship between the Nurse and Lady Capulet throughout this
scene?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
9
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
STAGE 4
 Resource 1: Act 3 Scene 5
Read through your extract.
Nominate a director in your group.
Decide on how your actors will deliver their lines, when the actors should move and how
they should react. Experiment with different ways of acting the scene.
Practise the scene.
Decide which version you prefer.
Extract 1
Nurse
Your lady mother is coming to your chamber.
The day is broke, be wary, look about.
Exit Nurse. Enter LADY CAPULET
LADY CAPULET
Why how now, Juliet?
JULIET
Madam, I am not well.
LADY CAPULET
But now I'll tell thee joyful tidings, girl.
JULIET
What are they, beseech1 your ladyship?
LADY CAPULET
Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child,
One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,
Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy,
That thou expects not, nor I looked not for.
1
may I ask
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
10
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
Extract 2
JULIET
Madam, in happy time, what day is that?
LADY CAPULET
Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn,
The gallant, young, and noble gentleman,
The County Paris, at Saint Peter's Church,
Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride.
JULIET
Now by Saint Peter's Church and Peter too,
He shall not make me there a joyful bride.
I wonder at this haste, that I must wed
Ere1 he, that should be husband comes to woo.
I pray you tell my lord and father, madam,
I will not marry yet. These are news indeed!
LADY CAPULET
Here comes your father, tell him so yourself;
And see how he will take it at your hands.
1
before
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
11
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
Extract 3
Enter CAPULET and Nurse
CAPULET
How now, wife,
Have you delivered to her our decree?
LADY CAPULET Ay, sir, but she will none, she gives you thanks.
I would the fool were married to her grave.
CAPULET
Soft, take me with you, take me with you, wife.
How, will she none? doth she not give us thanks?
Is she not proud? doth she not count her blest,
Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought
So worthy a gentleman to be her bride?
JULIET
Not proud you have, but thankful that you have:
Proud can I never be of what I hate,
But thankful even for hate that is meant love.
CAPULET
How how, how how, chopt-logic1? What is this?
'Proud,' and 'I thank you,' and 'I thank you not,
And yet 'not proud,' mistress minion2 you,
Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,
But fettle your fine joints3 'gainst Thursday next,
To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.
LADY CAPULET
Fie, fie, what, are you mad?
1
riddles
2
spoiled brat
3
get ready (the expression comes from a grooming horse)
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
1
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
STAGE 4
Reflection opportunity 1: A 21st Century perspective - Act 3 Scene 5
How is the 21st Century interpretation of Act 3 Scene 5 different to the Elizabethan
interpretation you watched earlier?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
2
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
SYNOPTIC TASK: Directing the play
Your class is going to stage a production of Romeo and Juliet and you have been asked
to direct it.
You have to decide whether you would like to stage an Elizabethan interpretation or a 21st
Century interpretation of the play.
You need to produce an extended piece of writing that describes the choices and
decisions you have made to create your interpretation of the play.
You should focus on the three scenes you have been working with:
Act 1 scene 5 – Potpan and servingmen
Act 3 scene 1 – Mercutio and Tybalt
Act 3 scene 5 – Lord and Lady Capulet.
Remember
Focus on the language and identify what words and lines gave you your ideas for
the production.
Show that you have thought about the characters’ relationships with each other and
how their behaviour changes in different situations.
Think about how well this play can be understood by an audience today; How will
you reflect Elizabethan or contemporary social conventions?
You don’t need to explain how to stage the play or how the actors should deliver a
line or describe in detail the costume and set design.
Use quotations from the play to support your opinions and explain how these
quotations support your interpretation of Romeo and Juliet.
Don’t forget to look back at the notes you have made in your reflection log.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
3
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
Page for writing
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
4
Active Shakespeare: Directing Romeo and Juliet
Page for writing. Please ask for more paper if you need it.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is the non-regulatory part of the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. © QCA 2010
5
For:
•• English teachers
•• English subject
leaders
Active
Shakespeare:
Capturing
evidence of
learning
Directing
Romeo and Juliet
Pupil reflection log
We want our website and publications to be widely accessible,
so please contact us if we're not meeting your needs.
Qualifications and Curriculum
Development Agency
53–55 Butts Road
Earlsdon Park
Coventry CV1 3BH
Telephone 0300 303 3010
Enquiry line 0300 303 3011
Textphone 0300 303 3012
Fax 0300 303 3014
info@qcda.gov.uk
www.qcda.gov.uk
Text extracts from the play have been taken from Cambridge School
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 3rd edition by Rex Gibson,
text © Cambridge University Press 1984, 2005 reproduced with permission.
QCDA/10/4797
First published in March 2010
© Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 2010
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is currently operating certain
of its non-regulatory functions under the name of the Qualifications and Curriculum
Development Agency (QCDA). The legal entity remains QCA, established under
the Education Act 1997. QCA is an exempted charity under the Charities Act 1993.
Reproduction, storage or translation, in any form or by any means, of this
publication is prohibited without prior written permission of the publisher,
unless within the terms of the Copyright Licensing Agency. Excerpts may be
reproduced for the purpose of research, private study, criticism or review, or by
educational institutions solely for educational purposes, without permission,
provided full acknowledgement is given.
About this publication
Who is it for?
Teachers and English subject leaders.
What is it about
Providing active and engaging ways to integrate Shakespeare in the
ongoing periodic assessment of pupils’ reading.
What is it for?
To support the teaching and assessment of Shakespeare at Key Stage 3.
Related publications
Shakespeare for all ages and stages, DCSF–00470–2008
For more copies
Download from www.qcda.org.uk/curriculum
Reference QCDA/10/4797
Contact information:
Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency
53–55 Butts Road, Earlsdon Park, Coventry CV1 3BH
Telephone 0300 303 3010
Textphone 0300 303 3012
Fax 0300 303 3014
info@qcda.gov.uk www.qcda.gov.uk
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partnership with