By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR
Published: | Updated:
The days of poring over Shakespeare's texts and struggling through lines of Elizabethan verse could soon be over.
That’s because researchers believe video games could be the key to getting children interested in the Bard, by transforming classic plays into interactive adventures.
Academics have secured £590,000 to investigate whether gaming can help bring Shakespeare to life for a new generation of pupils.
The project, called The Shakespeare Arcade, will be the first large-scale study of how video games can support the teaching of his works.
Professor Erin Sullivan, of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham, said: ‘Shakespeare and video games might at first seem like strange bedfellows, but the truth is there is a long and rich tradition of adapting Shakespeare's plays to new media.
‘The Shakespeare Arcade will introduce the public to the world of Shakespeare-inspired video games and highlight how game developers might use classic texts in the future.’
One game already on the market is This Way Madness Lies, a role-playing video game where players control a group of magical girls who attempt to help Romeo fight monsters
Elsinore, meanwhile, Elsinore, follows the character of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet
While the approach may be controversial to Shakespeare purists, scientists say it could prove especially valuable as fewer students choose English Literature at A-level.
The team will explore everything from homemade Shakespeare-inspired games to commercially released indie titles.
Some games currently on the market include This Way Madness Lies, a role-playing video game where players control a group of magical girls who attempt to help Romeo fight monsters.
Another, Elsinore, follows the character of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
An adventure video game, called The Book of Watermarks, was strongly influenced by the Bard’s play The Tempest.
The researchers say they hope to uncover how interactive storytelling, player choices and digital worlds can help pupils understand complex plots and characters.
The Book of Watermarks is also an adventure game strongly influenced by the Bard’s play The Tempest.
The English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare, portrayed here in an illustration taken from Meyers Lexicon, is widely believed to have been the greatest dramatist of all time
The findings will be shared through a free online platform packed with Shakespeare-themed games and classroom resources.
Teachers across the UK will also be recruited to test the games with pupils in real lessons.
Researchers will then assess whether playing the games boosts engagement, motivation and learning.
Dr Sarah Olive, senior lecturer in communication and culture at Aston University, said: ‘Educators have always drawn on the latest technologies to engage students and facilitate learning, from cinefilm to chatbots.
‘The Shakespeare Arcade is an exciting opportunity to expand existing resources and pedagogies for teaching his works and literary classics more widely.
‘While we focus on secondary schools, elements of our work will be applicable from primary school to higher education classrooms.’
William Shakespeare: The playwright, poet and actor whose reputation transcends all other writers
William Shakespeare (baptised April 26, 1564 – died April 23, 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor who is widely believed to have been the greatest dramatist of all time.
The playwright continues to occupy a position unique in world literature as someone whose reputation transcends that of all other popular writers.
He is credited with producing 39 plays, 154 sonnets and three long poems.
His plays, the most famous of which include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Othello, have been translated into every major language.
They are performed thousands of times a year by actors all across the world and are studied by millions of students across the UK and elsewhere.
William Shakespeare (baptised April 26, 1564 – died April 23, 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor who is widely believed to have been the greatest dramatist of all time
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.
He married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18 and had three children with her: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith.
At some point between 1585 and 1592, Shakespeare began a career in London as an actor and writer.
He was the part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, who later became known as the King's Men.
They built the Globe Theatre, in Southwark, South London, at which they performed many of Shakespeare's plays.
The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1613 but rebuilt the following year before being closed in 1642 and then pulled down.
A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named 'Shakespeare's Globe', was built less than 800 feet from the site of the original theatre and opened in 1997.
At the age of 49, Shakespeare is believed to have retired back to Stratford, before he died three years later.
However, there are scant records of his private life and considerable speculation continues about his exact physical appearance.
Some questions have also been raised about whether all the works attributed to him were in fact written by others.