Book Review of "Teaching Shakespeare: a Handbook for Teachers" by Rex Gibson

Book Review of "Teaching Shakespeare: a Handbook for Teachers" by Rex Gibson

In recent decades, drama, as an element in the subject literature, is growing progressively in its presence in Singapore. This is seen, as many schools started to include drama as one of their Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) since the 1990s. In fact, over the last few years, drama has even become an ‘O’ levels’ subject for some local schools. Its surge in prominence is undeniable. This, thus, calls for the need for Singapore’s literature and/or drama, and maybe even English, teachers to be well-versed in teaching drama.
In this paper, the book Teaching Shakespeare: A Handbook for Teachers, written by Rex Gibson, is reviewed. First, a general summary of the book is provided. This is followed by a discussion of some of the things mentioned in the book which I think are particularly useful for teachers of literature and/or drama in the Singaporean context, as well as those which I find troubling, unhelpful, and/or difficult to apply in the same context. Lastly, there are suggestions of drama activities which would hopefully help enhance the local literature and/or drama lessons.

The book is published in Cambridge by the Cambridge University Press in 1998. It talks about the need to teach plays written by the world-renowned playwright, William Shakespeare, and the relevance of his plays even in our society today, as Gibson rightly states, “Part of Shakespeare’s enduring appeal is that new generations and different societies find the plays relevant to their own times, their own cultures” (p.11). This is realised simply due to the fact that “[a]s society changes, so do the meanings and significances found in the plays” (p.ii), which also means that these meanings and significances are, in a way, generated in concordance to whatever situation(s) and condition(s) the reader lives in. As such, the mastery of Shakespeare’s writings is demonstrated through the “chameleon-like form” his plays take, which allows every reader to generate his/her own meanings that suit...

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