“How to get your child hooked on Shakespeare.”
– The Daily Telegraph
EDUCATION PACKS
We offer free education packs, designed to complement your school’s visit to see Propeller:
Henry V
Click here to download education pack
The Winter's Tale
Click here to download education pack
Richard III and The Comedy of Errors
Click here to download education pack
Pocket Dream
Click here to download education pack
Pocket Comedy
Click here to download education pack
ABOUT POCKET PROPELLER
An Introduction from Edward Hall
Pocket Propeller aims to deliver a first class theatrical experience to a young audience based on a sixty minute version of a Propeller production.
Our first Pocket Propeller production, entitled Pocket Dream, is a contemporary and physical introduction to Shakespeare based on our acclaimed version – by audiences and critics both nationally and internationally – of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We believe Pocket Propeller's original approach to this form of introductory Shakespeare is as high as it deserves to be.
With Pocket Propeller the young audience will be invited into a performance space where the actors will engage them to express and explore their relationship to the work that they see in the freest possible way. We will encourage teachers to allow their pupils to “relax” during the performance and not to feel they have to “behave”. Our young audience needs to be allowed to explore their own reactions to what they see and the Propeller actors will create the environment in which this can happen.
After the performance the actors will run a talkback with the audience encouraging them to articulate and explore the responses to the show. Pocket Propeller will leave a young audience not just having experienced Shakespeare for the first time, but having experienced theatre and crucially, theatre of the highest possible standard.
Pocket Propeller offers me the chance as an artist to revisit and develop a piece of established work by going through a process of ‘concentration’ i.e. focusing down a drama to its bare bones and in doing so, hope to recognize the essence of the work. This can often be a surprising and informative experience which helps to make me more aware of what has made up the core of a full scale production and can make me aware of areas to develop into for the next full scale show.
The performances are enormously satisfying as they give me an opportunity to engage a young audience who have not necessarily seen Shakespeare before and perhaps not even been to the theatre. Their reactions are vocal, honest and immediate giving the actors plenty to bounce off as they develop their relationship with their audience, sometimes in very vocal situations which are at the core of a good Shakespearean performance.
The performances are delivered by top level Propeller actors, some of whom will have enormous performance experience of the text they are performing allowing them the freedom to concentrate on improvising with their young and very lively audience. It is of particular importance that our young audience are being given access to an experience of the highest standard delivered by experienced and skilled classical actors who are as dedicated to their audience as they would be to an opening night in New York or Milan. In short, it is a way of giving young people access to the best drama as their first and vital taste of Shakespeare. An experience that will contribute to the audiences and theatre makers of tomorrow.
Pocket Dream
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A Midsummer Night's Dream for Young Audiences
Pocket Dream aims to deliver a first class theatrical experience to a young audience based on a sixty minute version of a tried and tested Propeller production. We are able to deliver a contemporary and physical introduction to Shakespeare based on our acclaimed version – by audiences and critics both nationally and internationally – of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which has played in excess of 200 performances worldwide.
Visit the Pocket Dream production page for more details.
Pocket Comedy
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The Comedy of Errors - pocket-sized!
Pocket Comedy is a sixty minute version of Propeller's acclaimed production of The Comedy of Errors which has been performed in theatres around the globe.
Under the direction of Edward Hall, Propeller brings the text to vivid life with a production full of clarity, poetry, speed and imagination
Edward Hall (Artistic Director of Propeller) in rehearsals for Henry V
Photo - Dominic Clemence