Shakespeare regularly explored how power affects the individual and Cymbeline is a play in which many characters display different types of power. Shakespeare revisited some plot points and themes he used in other plays, such as: banishment from court, a woman disguised as a man, a sleeping potion that creates a ‘living death’, and creates a story that is part fairytale, part dark psychological study of human behaviour.

THE SET UP...

Cymbeline is King of Britain at the same time that Augustus Caesar is Emperor of Rome. He has a daughter, Imogen, and two sons who were stolen from their bedchamber when they were young. Cymbeline's second wife has a son, Cloten, whom Cymbeline wants Imogen to marry; but Imogen has secretly married a commoner, Posthumus.

THE BET…

Furious at this marriage, Cymbeline banishes Posthumus to Rome, where he meets Iachimo.  Iacomo hears Posthumus boast that his wife is the most faithful woman in the world and makes a bet with Posthumus that he can seduce her. Arriving in Britain, Iachimo realises that Imogen is faithful, so decides to hide in her bedroom and gather false evidence to prove he has seduced her and wins the bet.

THE DISGUISE…

In fury, Posthumus orders his servant, Pisanio, to kill Imogen. However, the noble hearted Pisanio tells Imogen to disguise herself as a man for protection. In Wales, Imogen meets her brothers, who were stolen twenty years ago in revenge by a nobleman called Belarius, who Cymbeline had banished. Meanwhile, the Queen’s son, Cloten, follows Imogen to Wales in Posthumus' clothes, determined to assault her and kill Posthumus. Instead, Cloten is beheaded by one of Imogen's brothers, and his body is laid beside Imogen, who has taken a potion that makes her appear dead.

INVASION…

Imogen wakes and believes the body is Posthumus’s. Heartbroken, she joins the Roman army as a man. The army is invading Britain because Cymbeline has not paid his taxes. Posthumus and the stolen princes help defeat the Romans. In the final scene, the truth comes out and Cymbeline is reunited with his sons and Imogen is reunited with Posthumus. The Queen dies and Belarus and Iacomo are forgiven. Cymbeline pays Rome anyway and peace is established.

“At the beginning of rehearsals, our director, Greg Doran, got out some Greek masks and the changeling puppet and split the cast into groups to explore movement to accompany the text and help tell the story. There’s something about Greek masks that show the pain behind them. Posthumus is a problematic character and we wanted the audience to see what he’s been through.”                          

- Joshua Parr, Assistant Director, Cymbeline, RSC 2023

This physical activity introduces the main plot points of the play and helps students think like a director and build on the language to create lasting images. [You will need: a large, clear space, Copies of Resource A: Show and Tell, from the Resource section at the end of this page. Some basic craft materials such as: large pieces of paper, coloured markers, sellotape, scissors, pieces of material and masks].

•  Organise your students into 10 groups and hand each group ONE of the plot points in Resource A. (With smaller numbers, give each group 2 or more).
• Explain that they have 10 minutes to choose ONE character in their plot point and decide on a way to present this character. Remind them that creating a visual theatrical moment can be incredibly simple. In our production, a single bundle of white cloth represents a baby. Puppets can be made simply from everyday items such as water bottles or screwed up paper. Could their character be: A shadow puppet? A cartoon? An inanimate object brought to life? A simple mask worn by a member of the group? An empty coat or item of clothing moved by actors?
•  Now challenge them to think about how to present their scene featuring their character. Could it be: A news report? A comic strip come to life with speech bubbles? A rap or opera?
•  Add that they can write additional lines if they wish but they must include the original text and use every member of the group in their performance.
• Give the groups some extra time to rehearse their plot point so that everyone is familiar with it.
• Invite your groups to present their scenes in order.
• Discuss the results: What do they think this play is about? What else could Shakespeare have called this play? Which characters and images stood out and why?

“It’s important to maintain a lightness so that when the darker, more emotional moments come, they hit a lot more. Then, when you try to reach that lightness again, your audience isn’t stuck sitting thinking ‘well, this is bad isn’t it?”

- Joshua Parr, Assistant Director, Cymbeline, RSC 2023

There are moments in Cymbeline that could be light or dark, depending on how they are presented. Iacomo is a fun guy who, nevertheless, breaks into a sleeping woman’s bedroom and slanders her reputation with a lie. Cloten is a ridiculous suitor who nevertheless plots to assault Imogen and murder her husband. The Queen pretends to be lovely but is poisoning her husband in secret. And let’s not forget the god Jupiter who appears in a dream, chucking thunderbolts.

 This physical activity allows students to explore the tone of the story by making creative decisions. [You will need: Copies of Resource A: Show and Tell, from the Resource section at the end of this page.]

•  Discuss the plot points from Activity 1 and decide which might be the most serious for an audience and which the most comical. Make a list of these moments.
• Organise your students into groups of four or more. Give two of the groups the same plot point and explain that one group is going to present their plot point seriously and the other, comically. Now give two more groups another plot point and say the same and so on.
• Give everyone 10 minutes to plan and rehearse their scene.
• Encourage them to experiment with different techniques to discover which best fits the tone of their scene best: Eg. mime, tableaus, song etc.
•  Invite the groups to present their plot point and compare the results. What impact would the comic moments have on the rest of the play? Eg: If Iacomo is too charming, will it undermine the seriousness of what he’s done? If too much fun is had presenting Cloten’s head, can the moment Imogen wakes up next to his headless body be taken seriously?
•  Now challenge your groups to rehearse their scene again and strike the right balance between comedy and tragedy. Can they find elements of both in their plot point?
•  Invite the groups to perform their new scene and discuss the results: Which things did they have to sacrifice? How hard is it to create a serious moment after something funny and vice versa? Which versions do they think Shakespeare would have preferred?

Discussion Extension (for older students):

Following the above activities, discuss the following with your students:

• How important is ‘tone’ in a production. Is it possible to change tone in the middle of a scene and can they think of any examples? These might be unexpected funny moments in a serious play (or film) or a sudden twist where something serious happens when you least expect it. Eg:
  • The comic appearance of the Porter in the tragedy Macbeth
  •  The switch from black and white to colour in The Wizard of Oz
  •  The drunken singing in Jaws just before the shark attacks the boat
  • Mufasa’s death in The Lion King (a story inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet)
• Ask your students how important they think these moments are to an audience. What impact do they have? What happens when we get the tone wrong? Can they think of any other examples?
•  Ask your students to consider the more serious events that happen in Cymbeline. Eg: Cloten’s plan to assault Imogen. The Queen plotting to poison Posthumus. Posthumus ordering Imogen’s murder. The destruction of Imogen’s reputation. Iacomo’s invasion of Imogen’s bedroom. How important is it to let the full impact of these details reach the audience?
• What do they think of Shakespeare’s ending for the play? Cymbeline forgives everyone and Imogen goes back to Posthumus. The Soothsayer claims all was foreseen and the play ends peacefully. Is it important to send the audience away feeling uplifted? Does this ending undermine the power of Shakespeare’s storytelling?

“Cloten talks openly about sexually assaulting Imogen, and he loves that in a weird way but then we find the audience clap him at moments through the play. This plays with the audience’s decision about whether they like this guy or not. There’s a lot of that in the world today, with people who are problematic but we are drawn to them.”

- Joshua Parr, Assistant Director, Cymbeline, RSC 2023

The following performance activity in 2 parts allows students to examine the dangers of dismissing Cloten as a caricature and how an actor might make him real and believable. [You will need copies of Resource B: ‘Cloten’ from the Resource section at the end of this page, large piece of paper & pens or whiteboard.]

PART A) CLOTEN UP CLOSE

•  On a big piece of paper or whiteboard, make 2 lists: positive & negative. Ask your students to think of some qualities that Cloten might have. Positive could be: loyal (at least to his mother and his country), passionate, confident, motivated. Negative could be: insecure, proud, lonely, vengeful, afraid, aggressive…
• Organise your students into pairs and hand out copies of Resource B, ‘Speech 1, Cloten’ and some pens.
• Explain that each member of the pair is to choose ONE word from each list and read speech 1 to their partner in the manner of that word. Ask them to underline any words that they think might be good to really emphasise as they say it.
• Now ask them to repeat this exercise but this time, their partner is to imagine they are Imogen and must create gestures to accompany these emphasised words as they hear them, as if Imogen was on the receiving end of Cloten’s pride or anger or fear.
• Encourage the Imogens to make their gestures as large and full as possible. When this is finished, ask them to swap over.
• Invite your pairs to show their Cloten & Imogen performances and compare the results together. What happened to the language when Cloten’s emotions changed? How was Imogen affected when Cloten had a more positive emotion behind his words?

PART B) CLOTEN'S REVENGE

•  Organise your students into a big circle and hand out Resource B ‘Speech 2, Imogen’. Explain that this is Imogen’s reply to Cloten who is determined to woo her, despite the fact that she is married and does not love him.
• Read the speech out loud, taking one line at a time around the circle. Discuss any unfamiliar words. Which things might be hard for Cloten to hear in particular?
•  Now read ‘Speech 3’ in the same manner. Explain that this is Cloten’s soliloquy later on in the play where he shares the revenge he has planned for Imogen.
• Remind your students of the emotions on the lists they made in Part A ‘Cloten up Close’. Which of these emotions show up in this speech? Are there new emotions they can spot? Are there any feelings he might be trying to hide?

Discussion Extension (for older students): CLOTEN’S REVENGE PLOT

•  Organise your students in a big circle and read Resource B: ‘Speech 3, Cloten’ out loud, taking one line each.
• Discuss the meaning of Cloten’s plan and the impact it will have on Imogen if he is able to achieve it? What do they think made Cloten create this plan? Where did his ability to think like this come from? Is he capable of going through with it?
•  Ask them to consider the actor saying this speech in front of an audience. What did Shakespeare want an audience to think of Cloten? How would his scene with Imogen affect how we hear his soliloquy? For example, if we see her ridicule him cruelly or if we see her visibly afraid of him? Is revenge ever justified?
•  What modern examples can they think of where people take revenge for others rejecting them? Is revenge ever justified? What happens when it goes too far? For example:
  • Shaming on social media.
  • Acid attacks & ’Honour’ killings in certain cultures.
  • The creation and rise of INCEL.

“The magical thing about Imogen is that every time there’s a decision to be made, she takes the more difficult route in the hope that it leads her to a better ending. That’s the kind of person we hope we could be - that in a crisis we have the courage to do the thing we’re most terrified of.”

- Joshua Parr, Assistant Director, Cymbeline, RSC 2023

This performance activity, in 2 parts, allows students to explore in more depth the scene between Imogen and Cloten where she rejects his advances, sowing a very dangerous seed for herself. [You will need: Resource C: ‘Act II, Scene 3 (edited)’ from the Resource section of this page (there is a primary version also). Paper & pens or a whiteboard. A large, clear space if possible.]

PART A) ATTACK AND DEFENCE

•  Organise your students into pairs and hand out copies of Resource C. Ask your students to stand back-to-back and read the scene through once, aloud.
• Discuss any unfamiliar words and explain the context of the scene and how Imogen and Colton might be feeling at the start of it:
  • Imogen’s husband, the man she loves, has been banished from court.
  • She has already rejected the advances of Iacomo (who has hidden in her bedroom without her knowledge whilst she slept)
  • She does not love Cloten and has already refused to marry him
  • This is not Cloten’s first attempt at wooing her
  • Women had far less power than men in Shakespeare’s time
• Now ask the pairs to face each other, with the Imogens in a line, facing their Cloten across the room.
• Explain that they are to read the scene again in their pairs, all at the same time, but they must take a step forward when they feel they are ‘showing power or being strong’ and take a step back if they feel injured, scared or insulted in any way.
• When the scenes are finished, ask the pairs to examine the journeys made: Who has gained the most ground? Was it an equal journey? Which lines took the biggest or firmest steps? Were there any steps that were difficult to take or that they wanted to take but didn’t? What do these journeys tell us about these two characters?

PART B) DIFFERENT IMOGENS

•  Ask your students to think of words to describe how Imogen might be feeling in this scene towards Cloten. These can be things she hides as well as shows. Eg: Fear, frustration, contempt, pity, amusement, revulsion… Make a note of these on a big piece of paper or whiteboard.
• Invite your pairs to find a space in the room and swap roles. Ask your Imogens to choose ONE of the words from the list. Ask the pairs to act out their scene again with Imogen playing that word on every line they say to Cloten. Eg. If they chose fear, they will say every line as if they are afraid.
• When they have read the scene though once, ask your Imogens to change their word and act the scene out again.
• Discuss the results together: How did it feel to be Cloten during this scene? Did the word Imogen choose change how they felt and behaved?
•  Invite a few pairs to share their scene and see if people can guess the word Imogen has chosen.
• Discuss as a group: Which words provoke Cloten more? How might this explain his decision to take revenge on Imogen? Can we ever have sympathy for Cloten?

“Masculinity at the minute - maybe people think it’s getting better but I would argue that its getting even more toxic as these young men have access to the internet in ways that no other generation has had. There’s going to need to be some sort of forgiveness down the line but where is that line"

- Joshua Parr, Assistant Director, Cymbeline, RSC 2023

In Cymbeline, Posthumus falls prey to Iacomo’s peer pressure and accepts a bet on his wife’s faithfulness that has terrible repercussions for Imogen. The following activities allow students to examine the nature of peer pressure by creating their own scenarios and bringing them to life. [You will need: large pieces of paper & pens, a whiteboard.]

A) UNDER PRESSURE

(This can be kept age appropriate for younger students by using milder examples of bullying.)

•  Ask your students to think of some examples of peer pressure. This can be something they have heard on the news, social media or experienced themselves. Eg: Joining gangs, bullying, being pressured into smoking, drinking or harmful or illegal activity. Write these examples down on paper or a whiteboard for reference. Are there any harmless examples of peer pressure? What are the most harmful ones?
•  Now make a list of different tactics that peer groups use to pressure others into doing things. Eg: making fun of them, threats or violence, flattery, and friendship...
•  Organise your students into groups of 4 or 5 and hand each group a big piece of paper & pens. Ask the groups to choose ONE example of peer pressure and to create a character for it to happen to. Encourage them to create a name, age and brief biography.
• Ask your groups to divide their paper into 5 squares. In the first square, ask them to draw their character and how they encounter this peer pressure.
• Now ask them to decide what this ‘peer group’ wants to make their character do and, in boxes 2 and 3, ask them to draw two ways in which the group put pressure on their character to do it.
• In box 4, ask them to draw one thing that happens as result of this peer pressure. Eg: Does their character break the law? Do they hurt someone? Do they fight back
•  Finally, ask your groups to come up with a twist to end their story. Explain that this can be a positive or negative twist.
• Give your groups a few minutes to look over their 5-point story. Is there anything they can improve? Any lines or speech bubbles to add to their drawings to make them clearer? Are they happy with their ending? If this was a short play for other students to watch, what message would they like them to go home with? In Cymbeline, Shakespeare ends his play with a lot of forgiveness.

B) PEER PRESSURE PLAYS

•  Explain that they now have 15 minutes to turn their 5-point stories into short plays to perform for the rest of the class. [Depending on the appropriateness and subject matter of their story, they can choose to present it as a news report, public service announcement or documentary.]
• Ask the groups to look over their stories and decide: how they are going to cast it? Where in the room they will set the action? Will they need dialogue or a narrator? Will they use mime or frozen images, chanting, sound effects or staged violence (ie. no physical contact).
•  Encourage them to think about the tone of their play: how funny or dark is it? How do they want their audience to feel at the end? What do they want the message of their play to be?
•  Give your groups another 5 minutes to rehearse their short plays, using every member of the group so they are ready to perform.
• Invite your groups to share their Peer Pressure Plays. Discuss the results together: How could plays like this be useful in tackling the problems of peer pressure in schools or in society. Does anything like this already exist? How could plays like this make a real difference to anti-bullying campaigns or be used to combat negative social media influencers?

“Posthumus has been abandoned by his parents, then taken in by a king who then banishes him. He probably looks on Imogen as the one person who loves him for who he is. Losing her and being alone becomes his greatest fear. Then he gets sucked into this stupid bet when he’s got these blokes laughing at him and in the end, he takes the bait.”

- Joshua Parr, Assistant Director, Cymbeline, RSC 2023

Much of the tragedy in Cymbeline comes from Posthumus’s decision to accept Iacomo’s bet to test Imogen’s fidelity. The following activities allow students to examine the pressures of male society on the character of Posthumus and the motives of Iacomo.

[You will need: copies of Resource D ‘The Bet’ from the Resource section of this page (there is a primary version also), post-it notes (if possible or playing cards or paper scraps if not), pens, paper or a whiteboard.]

A) PLAY YOUR CARDS

•  Make a list of facts your students know so far about Posthumus’s background: He is an orphan; he has been brought up and looked after by the king; he is a common man with no royal blood; Imogen loves him and has married him against her father’s wishes; he has been banished by the king for this marriage; he has been forced to leave Imogen knowing that Cloten wants to marry her; he is alone in the world and Imogen is the only thing he has.
•  Now organise your students into pairs and hand out copies of Resource D and a pile of post-it notes (or cards). Ask them to cast themselves as Posthumus and Iacomo.
• Explain that Iacomo is going to hold all the post-it notes. The pairs are then going to read the scene together out loud and every time Iacomo tries to influence Posthumus in some way, he is to hand over a post-it note or card.
• When all the pairs have read the scene, get your Posthumuses to count the notes they’ve been given. Who has the most and why? What is Iacomo trying to do to Posthumus in this scene? In which different ways does he influence him? Might there be silent influences that aren’t in the lines but could be in his actions, facial expressions or pauses?
•  Discuss Iacomo’s motives as a group: Does he think Posthumus will take the bait? Has he ever done this before? What makes him think of bating Posthumus in this way?

B) Baiting Postumus

•  Organise your students into 2 or 3 big groups (depending on class size). Invite one group to play the game while others watch as ‘tactic spotters’.
• Ask two members of the chosen group to play the scene between Iacomo and Posthumous. The rest of the group are men in a tavern who are all peers of Iacomo, i.e. the peer pressure.
• Hand a stack of post-it notes to all the men except Posthumus and explain that Iacomo’s friends can dial up the peer pressure at any point by adding lines, jeering, laughter or movement to try and influence Posthumus. Whenever they attempt one of these tactics, they must stick a post-it note onto Posthumus (or hand him a card or paper).
• Invite them to start the scene, asking your tactic spotters to watch out for the smaller more subtle things that the ‘peers’ do and to think of other ways they might have influenced him. How much does Posthumus get covered by post its or how many cards does he ends up with? This is the amount of pressure he’s been under.
• Now invite another group to repeat the exercise and see if they can put him under more pressure.
• Discuss the results together: How did Posthumus feel? What was it like being in the group of peers? Did anyone start to copy anyone elses behaviour? Did the peers start to team up against him? What was it like for Iacomo to have this back up from his peers? Was it a fun and jokey scene or did it take a more sinister tone at times? If so, when was this and why?

Extension Discussion (for older students): The problem of Iacomo’s charm.

•  Discuss the actions of Iacomo after this bet is made. We know he tries to seduce Imogen and gets rejected. His decision is then to trick his way into her bedchamber when she is asleep so he can gather details to prove to Posthumus he was there.
• Ask your students what kind of character Shakespeare presents in Iacomo: He makes him a funny character; gives him lots of charm; makes him cunning; has him speak in beautiful seductive poetry.
• Are we meant to like Iacomo? If so, why? Why does Shakespeare give him such beautiful poetry to speak when he is checking a woman’s body for distinctive marks so he can pretend he’s slept with her? To what extent is Shakespeare using Iacomo to manipulate or ‘gaslight’ his audience? Using poetry to distract us from the truth of what is really happening? How effective is this tactic? Are we more horrified by Iacomo as a result?
• Can they think of more examples of ‘gaslighting’ in plays or films? Eg: the stealthy influence of Iago in Othello, the manipulative Scar in The Lion King, the beauty and humour of Villanelle in Killing Eve. What are the dangers of gaslighting? Why does it happen and when does it become a form of misogyny?
• Discuss any examples of misogyny in our modern world. Eg: charismatic men with a lot of influence who promote negative opinions of women, ways in which misogyny is spread online.

Pisanio creates tension in the play as we’re not sure whose side he’s on at first. He ends up alone with Imogen with instructions to kill her and Imogen has no-one else to trust. The following activity allows students to explore Imogen’s predicament and the morality of Pisanio. [You will need: copies of Resource E: ‘Posthumus’s Letter’ for the Resource section of this page.]

• Organise your students into pairs and hand out copies of Resource E. Ask your pairs to cast themselves as Imogen and Pisanio. Explain that this is the moment in the play when Imogen reads a letter from Posthumus, instructing Pisanio to kill her for being unfaithful.
• Discuss the situation Imogen is in: She is away from the safety of her father and the court. She is a woman and Pisanio a man. Pisanio works for her husband, and we don’t know how well Imogen knows him. They are alone in an unknown place. She has been tricked into coming here to meet her husband. Pisanio has sworn to obey Posthumus. He is also armed.
•  Explain that the Pisanios are going to hand Posthumous’s letter to Imogen and she is going to read it out loud. Encourage them to think about the following:
  • How Pisanio hands the letter over.
  • Where Pisanio stands and how he moves in relation to Imogen whilst she reads it.
  • The moment Imogen becomes aware that Pisanio has been sent to kill her.
  • How this affects the rest of her reading and her movement, how does the physical relationship change between them?
  • When does Pisanio realise her fear and change his physical position towards her? Or does he maintain his threat? Or is he unaware?
• When each pair has finished, ask them to swap roles so they can experience the scene from the other perspective. Does anything change significantly? What did they do differently and why?
•  Invite your pairs to share a version of their scene and discuss the different way this moment could be staged for an audience: to make Pisanio more of threat / to comfort Imogen / to create suspense. Does Pisanio ever intend to kill her? Could this moment be included here?

“There were many conversations where we asked, can we stage it in a way where Posthumus asks permission from Imogen to forgive Iacomo? Our director, Greg Doran, said: ‘But she doesn’t. Posthumus forgives Iacomo but she doesn’t.” We wanted to leave the ambiguity and have her stand away from the situation.” 

- Joshua Parr, Assistant Director, Cymbeline, RSC 2023

The final scene in Cymbeline includes tying loose ends and a lot of forgiveness. The following activities give students an opportunity to direct their own ending and consider the choices a director has in presenting the scene. [You will need: Resource F: ‘Act V, Scene V, the Main Events’, cut into 14 strips, large pieces of paper, coloured pens, post-it notes or smaller squares of card or paper.]

•  Organise your students into groups of 3 or 4 and hand each group the 14 strips. Explain that these events all happen in Act V, Scene V and their job is to put them in a satisfying order.
• Explain thattheir job is to imagine being Shakespeare trying to create the most satisfying order of events for an audience and an effective end to a play.
• When your groups are finished, reveal the actual order of events. Did anyone get it right? Are there any common mistakes? If so, what might this say about how the end scene is structured? Can any group make an argument for a better order of events?
•  Now ask your groups to place the events in order of importance. Discuss this new order as a group. Are there many similar choices? Ask them to look at the most frequent events in everyone’s top three. What does this tell us about the themes of the play?