Bard in the Classroom

Bring Shakespeare’s words alive and into the lives of your students! Through playful exploration, students get to experience Shakespeare’s language and discover how it resonates for them.

What:  A workshop can focus on a specific play, or it can be structured as a general introduction to Shakespeare’s language and imagery.

Who: For K-12 students. We’ll tailor the content of the workshop to suit your students’ age and needs.

Where:  At your school, in a classroom or theatre. If you are based outside the Lower Mainland, we may be able to travel to you. If you prefer to travel to us, we may be able to host your workshop at the BMO Theatre Centre in Vancouver (subject to availability, please inquire). Alternatively, virtual options are available for schools outside the Lower Mainland; please inquire.

When:  Workshops are available year-round. Please submit your request at least 6 weeks in advance of the date you’d like to host the workshop.

Length:  Up to 90 minutes long. We’ll adjust the length to fit your school’s bell schedule.

Cost:  $180 per workshop. Thanks to the generosity of the Y.P. Heung Foundation, we are delighted to offer up to 100% subsidies for workshops for the 2024/2025 school year! (Please note, some limits may apply).

Travel fees:  Will be calculated based on actual travel expenses. In most cases, the Bard Access Fund can subsidize travel fees. Please inquire.

: Bard in the Classroom

Testimonials

I would absolutely recommend Bard in the Classroom. It was fun, engaging, and super well planned out. Students got to engage with the text … and actually got to try out some of the theatre elements. There was never a dull moment!
Grace Owens, English 8/9 teacher, Argyle Secondary

Bard in the Classroom [workshops] are engaging & powerful; they help kids practise ways to express themselves with body and voice.
Derek Milloy, grade 5/6 teacher, Douglas Road Elementary

Bard in the Classroom was a breath of fresh drama air. The students laughed and cried and danced and stomped – they had a full range of dramatic feelings while playing and learning. [At] the end the students wanted to know when the next workshop would be!
MJ Moran, grade 4 teacher, Elsie Roy Elementary

Subsidies

Thanks to support of the Y.P. Heung Foundation, Bard is thrilled to offer up to 100% subsidies for workshops throughout the 2024/2025 school year. To request your subsidized workshop, please fill out the request form at the link below. Please note, in the spirit of fairness, we may need to limit the number of subsidized workshops per teacher and per school.

Bard requires a refundable deposit of $90 per workshop. Payment can be made by credit card, cheque, or electronic funds transfer.

If your booking does not incur any cancellation fees, your deposit will be refunded after your workshop. Please see the cancellation policy below for more details.

Cancellation policy

We prefer not to reschedule workshops, but we understand that sometimes unforeseen events make it necessary. A maximum of one change is permitted per booking, subject to availability.

Cancellations:

No fee will be charged for cancellations that are made 2+ weeks before a workshop.
Cancellations that are made within 2 weeks of a workshop will result in a forfeited deposit payment.

Changes:

We will do our best to accommodate changes that are requested 2 weeks or more before a workshop. No fee will be charged for changes that are requested 2+ weeks before a workshop.
Changes that are requested at least 1 week before a workshop will be accommodated if possible. If we are unable to reschedule your workshop, it will be treated as a cancellation and your deposit will be forfeited.
No changes may be made within 1 week of your scheduled workshop date. If you are unable to continue with your workshop, it will be cancelled, and your deposit will be forfeited.

Request a workshop

Identify your preferred workshop date and two back-up dates. Consult with your school’s administration to ensure that there are no conflicts on any of these dates.
Fill out the request form to request a session. Please submit this form at least 6 weeks before your preferred session date.
We’ll email you to confirm whether we can meet your request.

REQUEST A WORKSHOP

Free resources

Our Discovery Zone and A Shakesperience resources offer great ways to prepare your students for their workshop and to debrief with them afterwards. And they’re free!

FAQ

What happens when I complete the request form?

You’ll receive an auto-confirmation that we’ve received your request. Then within a few days, our School Programs Coordinator will connect with you via email with more detailed information and/or questions. If we’re able to schedule a teaching artist for your workshop, you will receive an invoice for the refundable deposit. We’ll need to receive this refundable payment before we can confirm the workshop, so we recommend payment via credit card or electronic funds transfer. Once payment is received, we’ll send a confirmation of your workshop to you and to your teaching artist. The teaching artist may reach out for further information, to ensure that the planned activities will suit your group.

What happens in a Bard in the Classroom workshop?

The Teaching Artist will arrive at your school shortly before the scheduled start time. They’ll report to the office and will need guidance on where to find the workshop location. Once there, we’d like to move any furniture to the sides of the room so that students can have space to participate actively. If this can be done ahead of time, there will be more time for the workshop. The teaching artist will lead the students through 2 or 3 activities that invite active exploration of a bit of Shakespeare text. The atmosphere is playful, encouraging, and non-judgmental. The teaching artists will encourage students to discover how the text resonates for them.

Why does Bard require a deposit payment?

Our Teaching Artists are working artists in a gig economy, and it’s very important to us that we honour our commitments to them. As a not-for-profit organization, we in turn need teachers to honour their commitments to us.

Tell me more about the deposit and refund. How does that work?

Thanks to the support of the Y.P. Heung Foundation, we’re able to offer subsidies for our Bard in the Classroom workshops throughout the 2024/2025 school year. However, each workshop costs us $180 to fulfill. In order to manage our resources effectively, we require an up-front, fully-refundable deposit payment of 50% for each workshop booked.

While we’re thrilled to offer these subsidies, this funding is not unlimited. In order to serve as many schools and students as possible, we’d like to direct this support where it’s truly needed. Therefore, if you are able to make a contribution towards the cost of your workshop(s), we will be able to broaden our impact and make these workshops available to a greater number of young people.

With that in mind, the fee structure for Bard in the Classroom is as follows:

Amount your school can contribute without hardship	School contribution amount	Subsidy amount
None of the fee ($0)	$90 deposit, which will be refunded in full if no late changes or cancellations are made	$180
One quarter of the fee ($45)	$90 deposit, of which $45 will be refunded if no late changes or cancellations are made	$135
One third of the fee ($60)	$90 deposit, of which $30 will be refunded if no late changes or cancellations are made	$120
Half of the fee ($90)	$90, of which $0 will be refunded	$90

How many workshops can I request?

There is no limit to the number of workshops that you may request. In the spirit of fairness, we may have to limit the number of subsidies that we can provide any one school or teacher. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t request additional workshops! Residencies are available; please reach out to the Education Coordinator to enquire.

Do you offer workshops for teachers?

Yes! Please see our Professional Development page for more information about our workshops for school teachers.

Contact

For more information, please contact Samantha Levy, Education Coordinator, School Programs at [email protected].