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Learning Resources

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Discover teaching ideas and lesson plans to help you and your students explore Hamlet. Find a detailed guide for teaching Hamlet, supporting packs and video content.

  • Royal Shakespeare Theatre

    Stratford-upon-Avon

    8 Feb - 29 Mar 2025 Book Tickets
  • Running time:

    To be confirmed

Next performance:

8 February, 7:00PM

Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Stratford-upon-Avon

Student Events

Build on your trip to see Hamlet in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre with supporting events and pre-show workshops.

Insight Session

An interactive pre-show session in the theatre with creatives from the Hamlet company. Find out how this production was brought to life in the space and what to expect. 

6 March 2025, 10.15 - 11.15am
£5 per student, in addition to a performance ticket

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Student Conference

Explore Hamlet in depth with this day of events for Sixth Form English & Drama Students. A series of talks and practical events with academics, actors, creatives and practitioners. The day will include a range of exam-focused material including historical, social and political context, scene and character study, production choices and interpretation.

Tickets for the show in the evening can be booked separately (additional costs apply). 

12 March 2025, 10.30am - 4pm 
£20 State Schools
£22 Independent Schools 

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Bespoke Workshops

Active two hour workshops with an RSC practitioner in our Clore Learning Centre. These workshops can be tailored to your students and their current knowledge and experience of the play. You can book a workshop as a individual event or as part of your trip to see Hamlet.

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For Teachers

Certificate in Teaching Shakespeare: Introduction

Our one day courses offer an affordable way to access our rehearsal room approaches to teaching. This introductory course will develop your knowledge, confidence and skills to teach a variety of Shakespeare’s plays in your classroom.

You will leave this day with resources and planning ideas for teaching this text and transferable skills to apply to teaching other plays on the curriculum.

The course includes a ticket to see Hamlet.

21 March 2025, 10am - 4pm, Stratford-upon-Avon

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Certificate in Teaching Shakespeare: Foundation

Our flagship course for teachers new to using RSC rehearsal room approaches, the Foundation Certificate is three days of CPD investigating three of Shakespeare's most popular plays.

This course includes a ticket to see Hamlet.

28 - 29 March, and 4 July, Stratford-upon-Avon

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Teacher Webinar

A 90-minute online introduction to teaching Hamlet. Find out more about teaching this play using active rehearsal room approaches, preparing students for exams and have the opportunity to ask questions of an RSC Practitioner. 

25 February 2025, 4pm, Online
£10

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INSET Days

Book a CPD session to enhance your teaching of one of Shakespeare’s most popular tragedies exploring themes of conflict and identity, including for A level English Literature or Drama and Theatre Studies. Our INSET Days explore techniques used in our rehearsal rooms and and look at how you can use these in the classroom to bring Shakespeare to life.

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Resources and Activities

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's tragedies. It is a play about a young prince who sets out to uncover and then avenge the murder of his father, spurred on by his father’s ghost.

For students, this play is a great opportunity to explore the concepts of tragedy and family discourse as well as a range of themes including:

  • Madness
  • Morality
  • Revenge

You explore these themes and the language in the play in more detail using resources in the Shakespeare Learning Zone.

Teacher Packs

Access our Guide to Teaching Hamlet with ideas and resources for teaching Hamlet. For more ideas and activities see our past teaching packs below:

Video Resources

These resources were created to support the 2020 Schools' Broadcast of Hamlet, where students were able to access the 2016 production, directed by Simon Godwin with Paapa Essiedu in the title role. 

 

 

Shakespeare Learning Zone

Students will find many resources in our Shakespeare Learning Zone, including scene by scene analysis, activities on character relationships, in depth scene studies and PEE grids. These resources are also perfect to be used by teachers in the classroom.

 

Studying Shakespeare? Then you'll love our SHAKESPEARE LEARNING ZONE!
Discover loads of facts, videos and in-depth information about Shakespeare's plays.

Shakespeare Learning  Zone logo

Really get to grips with the stories, settings and characters of Shakespeare's plays. Unlock his language using the same techniques our actors use in rehearsals.