A Question of Performance: Challenges and Concerns in New Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare in Singapore

Abstract

The teaching of Shakespeare as an English Literature subject has changed significantly over the past decades. In the past, the focus is on the study of Shakespeare’s language and themes. Now, this will seem outdated and almost irresponsible in its neglect of recent theoretical approaches. In Singapore, classroom teaching of Shakespeare includes workshop activities at the secondary school level. At the tertiary level, students learn about the specific material conditions of the plays, along with some of the major theoretical approaches. Most of all, it seems almost imperative to teach aspects of performance to make Shakespeare accessible and exciting to students. In a country where the native tongue is not English, where opportunities to watch theatre productions of Shakespeare’s plays are extremely limited, Singapore poses particular challenges and problems in teaching performance. The experience of students and teachers on the course Shakespeare: Text and Performance presented at the SIM University serves as a good illustration of key pedagogical issues in teaching performance: the difficulty of conducting successful workshop activities, the complexity of using textbooks ‘imported’ from overseas, the inherent challenges of teaching iconic theatre productions not accessible in Singapore, and the problems of teaching Shakespeare in terms of films and adaptations.