Explore Shakespeare & other English Classics with Digital Theatre+

Earlier this year we highlighted an exciting new addition to Durham Tech Library's resources, Digital Theatre+. We're revisiting it today to share how instructors and students alike can enjoy rich resources like streaming videos of live theatre, literary theme analysis, and more.

Click "continue reading" to see a real example of how, with Digital Theatre+, students and instructors can transform their understanding and discussions of a classic text. We use Macbeth as an example, but there are a number of other titles available to explore.

Macbeth is a great Digital Theatre+ example because of the wealth of resources available for the title. The page first gives a succinct summary of the story, followed by a number of recorded live productions available to stream at home or show in classrooms. These visual productions of the play can add to students' understanding of the context or add new exciting visual flavor to make the work more engaging to read.

Read on to read about more aspects of Digital Theater+ that students will appreciate, followed by a highlight of some of the tools instructors can use in their classrooms.

Students & Digital Theatre+

If the language of Shakespeare seems intimidating at first, Digital Theatre+ allows students to explore the classics in new ways, like a graphic novel adaptation of Macbeth. If there's still a sequence of the play that seems baffling or unclear, you can add to your understanding with comprehensive study guides written by esteemed authors.

The Macbeth study guide, written by theatre director Richard Twyman, features a helpful plot summary and compelling visual aids such as a character map for keeping track of the intrigue and relationships between characters as the play goes on.

Lastly, while Digital Thatre+ should never be used as a substitute for one's own writing and analysis, students can support their learning of literary analysis with videos like "Unlocking Literary Devices in Macbeth," which combines clips of live productions with text analysis to create an appealing and modern approach to learning Shakespeare.

Students, get started today with Digital Thatre+ by searching for a play or classic text adapted for the theater today and see what supporting documents await you.

Instructors & Digital Theatre+

Instructors can use the materials highlighted above and integrate them into their classrooms in a few ways. Students can be directed to supporting documents as laid out above, or teachers can utilize Digital Theatre+'s educator toolkits.

Educator toolkits are included with Digital Theatre+ and offer customized lesson plans for classrooms that are guided by education standards. These toolkits include study guides for students, workshop outlines, and other teacher-aid tools. The toolkits themselves can vary depending on the type of class and the education standards used.

These kits provide an easy way to deploy high-quality materials, exercises, and videos within the context of the classroom. It is easy to link to the videos for online classes, too. The included learning objectives and simple material requirements needs for the activities make planning a new type of engaging lesson much simpler than doing it from scratch.

"This sounds great, but what if I only want to take part of the toolkit and incorporate it into my classroom?"

Great news! The toolkits include time estimations for individual activities, as well as offering a glimpse into how the activity works, as seen below. With this approach, Instructors should feel free to explore the variety of toolkits available for various texts and consider incorporating new ways of finding fun new perspectives on old classics while building students' critical thinking and literary analysis skills.

We hope Digital Theatre+ whets your appetite for the performating arts and provides students with new clarity on stories that might seem daunting at first. Durham Tech Library hopes students and staff can make use of this vital new resource. See our Drama Subject Guide for assistance finding theater-related resources.

Please reach out to library@durhamtech.edu if you have questions about utilizing Digital Theatre+ in your work or classroom.