Generations of students may recall the pang of dread that accompanies faltering attempts to recite life through iambic pentameter.
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But, with the help of the renowned theatre company, Bell Shakespeare, a group of Riverina students is hoping to liberate the works of William Shakespeare from their classroom confines.
"NSW is the only state that mandates the teaching of Shakespeare in its classrooms," said Joanna Erskine, head of education at Bell Shakespeare.
"If we have to teach it, then how do we do it well and make it exciting?"
Ms Erskine and the team at Bell Shakespeare are currently searching for 30 regional-based teachers from around the nation who will be mentored and trained to teach the bard without the boring bits.
"John Bell [the company's founder] is a country boy so our mandate has always been to reach the regions first," Ms Erskine said.
"That's where there are a lack of resources, a lack of support for teachers to develop and train. There aren't as many opportunities there."
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Since the fully-funding scholarship was introduced in 2007, up to 228 teachers from around Australia have been trained by the company.
Successful scholarship recipients attend a one-week intensive workshop where, Ms Erskine said, teachers spend "four days on their feet investigating the plays".
"We make the teachers become the students so that they feel what their students will feel," she said.
"If you sit behind a desk, it's never going to make sense. How does dramatic irony work, what does iambic pentametre sound like, we explore it all on our feet."
To avoid a classroom looking like the end of Macbeth following the recitation of a play, Ms Erskine said, comes down to re-envisioning the parameters for discussion.
"Most teachers have a traditional way of teaching it, that's the way they were taught it," Ms Erskine said.
"The way we teach it has to be active. It's a play, not a book. It's not meant to be read behind a desk so we have to get teachers comfortable with playing the part themselves."
Aimed at students in both primary and high school, the process involves taking the printed play and turning it into what Ms Erskine described as a "physical essay".
"It's about their level of understanding, regurgitation of quotes and facts doesn't teach understanding," she said.
"We want them to question the play, have a strong opinion about it and be passionate. Anything that can make them passionate about it is going to give them better results.
"So we talk about 'physical essays', that is building an argument and being able to argue that point on your feet, while acting out parts of the play to share your point.
"The teachers tell us this approach changes the way they teach all their texts and subjects right across the board."
Applications to attend next year's Bell Shakespeare teaching symposium and become part of the regional teaching mentorship will be open until November 25.