Ian McKellen, RSC Associate Artist says:

"Actors, better than other Shakespeare lovers, know how difficult it is to transform his words on the page into living, breathing characters on the stage where they belong.

"To expect schoolchildren to grapple with such problems may well put them off Shakespeare for life.

"Ever since I was at school, reading a troublesome text around the classroom, I have wondered how professional theatre people might help English teachers who too often feel inadequate to the task.

"Now the Royal Shakespeare Company has come up with an answer, a practical way for teachers to lead students to an appreciation of the plays,not just as written texts but as a starting place to explore the excitement of live theatre.

"A revolution is in the offing. “The play’s the thing…!”'

Jacqui O’Hanlon, RSC Director of Creative Learning, says:

"The RSC has worked with thousands of teachers and young people over 20 years and we understand the challenges of teaching and learning about plays that were written over 400 years ago. The Shakespeare Curriculum responds to this challenge.

"Research shows that the combination of Shakespeare’s language and RSC teaching approaches improve young people’s academic, social and emotional development. As well as improved language development, writing and oracy skills, this work improves communication, self-belief and well-being and develops creative problem-solving skills.

"Through the RSC Shakespeare Curriculum, all state secondary and SEND schools will have free access to this transformational way of teaching and learning about Shakespeare’s plays."

Helen Mirren, RSC Associate Artist adds:

"Rehearsal rooms are places where we explore possibilities; where we look at a play written 400 years ago as if it was new, with the ink still wet on the page. In a rehearsal room we are questioning, experimenting and bringing our own experiences and interpretations to Shakespeare's stories.

"That spirit of collaboration and creative enquiry sits at the very heart of the RSC's new Shakespeare Curriculum: bringing the energy of the rehearsal room into secondary schools across the country, turning classrooms into places where inquiry, co-operation and creativity flourish."