History Alive: KS1 & KS2

How do they work?

Two of our professionally trained actors visit your school and for two hours facilitate a participatory drama workshop with up to 40 children per workshop. The children and the actors use a variety of props, costumes and music to create the atmosphere of the period. Once this atmosphere has been created through drama techniques, role play, script and improvisation work, the children will experience the lives of those who lived in the past and move beyond the facts to gain a personal understanding of those who shaped our lives.

The dance workshops focus upon a specific moment in history, and through the dances and revelry of the specific time, an understanding of not only the dances themselves, but also the social context which led to their creation, is experienced.

Example workshop layout:

The Tudors

0 - 15 minutes

The children are treated as actors and begin by warming up their bodies and minds. They use their imaginations to create various aspects of Tudor life that will be explored in further detail throughout the workshop.

15 - 20 minutes

Led by the actors, the children will share their knowledge of the period in topics such as religion, health, entertainments and home life.

20 - 50 minutes

Henry VIII

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. The actors lead the children in a comedic jaunt through the six wives of Henry VIII.

Catherine of Aragon

The actors perform, with the help of a young child as Mary, a scene looking at the reasons behind the divorce, the emotions on both sides and the profound effect it had on their 12 year old daughter.

The Break of Rome

The Palace at Greenwich is created, and the children must use both factual and emotional knowledge to decide: King or Pope, and face the consequences of their choices.

Thomas More

The actors perform a scene between Thomas More and his daughter, showing both the reasoning and the effect of the divorce upon his family.

50 - 85 minutes

The Tudor Town

The children create a Tudor street with the shop keepers, tavern, barber-surgeon, town crier, day watchmen and priest. However, all is not as it should be ... The disease, death and harsh conditions in the town must have an origin, which has to be rooted out!

85 - 95 minutes

The Travelling Players

Together with three children, one of the actors creates a troupe of travelling players who arrive at the village and, through a tale of love, dishonour and death, highlight the acting style of the time and Tudor attitudes towards entertainments and leisure.

95 - 120 minutes

Elizabeth

The children create the court of Elizabeth in the year 1587. Using their own knowledge, supplied information and imagination, the children bring Elizabeth's court to life. Tudor foods, fashions and the changing world with new explorations and discoveries are examined. But all is not food and laughter...when news is brought concerning the traitorous Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth and her courtiers must choose England's path. The workshop finishes with a recap on what the children have created and experienced during the session.