Claire Fenlon

Name

Claire Fenlon

What is your job title?

School Partnership Development Officer

What kind of things does your job typically entail?

My job is all about making links between the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and schools across the country (primary, secondary, and colleges.) I’m currently working with the Learning team to widen our outreach even further and build relationships with secondary schools following on from the amazing work that’s already been done in setting up the Primary Hubs across the country. I’m looking forward to developing our continuing professional development offer for teachers in the KS3, KS4, and KS5 spaces and am excited to link this in with our newly-created Teacher Champions Programme.

Why do you think learning about Shakespeare and his work is important to us today?

In his works, Shakespeare was showing us what it means to be human. His representation of timeless experiences such as the corrupting nature of power, the fallacies of love and hate, the terrible effects of prejudice and the downright confusion that we all feel sometimes really resonates with people over 400 years later. And who doesn’t love throwing out a Shakespearean insult or hearing an unexpected bum-related joke?!

What is your favourite Shakespeare related experience - at SBT or elsewhere?

A few years ago, I organised a trip for the entirety of our year 9 cohort to visit The Globe in London to see a performance of ‘Much Ado About Nothing.’ ‘Much Ado’ has been my favourite Shakespeare play since I studied it at AS Level and I loved seeing it come alive in front of the students’ eyes at the end of the unit I’d designed and taught. Hearing them laugh at Benedick’s doe-eyed declarations of love for Beatrice or watching their 21st century outrage at the treatment of Hero by the male characters of the play was just wonderful.

What are the challenges, do you think, in bringing Shakespeare to life for contemporary audiences?

Having been a secondary school English teacher for 14 years, I witnessed first-hand the groans or eyerolls that might come when we announced that our next unit of study would be a Shakespeare play. There seems to be a perception, particularly among some teenagers, that Shakespeare’s plays are ‘boring,’ or ‘slow,’: neither of which are true! Shakespeare’s plays were written to be experienced, to entertain, to surprise or shock, but this isn’t believable when your own experience of Shakespeare at school is sitting in rows and writing analytical paragraphs. I think a play needs to be seen, a sonnet needs to be heard, and the historical context needs to be experienced for a younger contemporary audience to be engaged and open to the idea that Shakespeare isn’t ‘stuffy’ after all!

Finally- what is your favourite joke? Doesn’t have to be Shakespearean…

What did the cheese say when he saw himself in the mirror?

Halloumi!