PLAYING SHAKESPEARE
WITH DEUTSCHE BANK.

Our flagship project for secondary and post-16 further education students

Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank is Shakespeare’s Globe’s flagship partnership for secondary schools. 

Each year we stage a dynamic 90-minute production of a key curriculum text on the iconic stage of the Globe Theatre. It’s created especially for young people and designed to help students from KS3 upwards as they build towards their Shakespeare studies.

We offer thousands of free-to-access tickets for pupils aged 11–16 at non-selective state secondary schools in London and Birmingham; and thousands of subsidised tickets for all other schools nationwide. We also offer CPD, student workshops and free learning resources to help teachers and students get the most out of their visit to the Globe.

Find out more about the project on the page below, explore past productions and browse free online resources. 

PLAYING SHAKESPEARE WITH DEUTSCHE BANK 2024: ROMEO AND JULIET

We are delighted to announce that Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank will return for its 18th year in 2024, with Romeo and Juliet.

Shakespeare’s famous tragedy of love and violence comes to life on the Globe stage in a gripping new 90-minute production, created especially for young people, with student workshops, teacher CPDs and resources designed to support the curriculum. Plus, our curtain raiser competition returns offering students the opportunity to perform their own response to the play on the Globe stage.

The production in the Globe Theatre will be directed by Shakespeare’s Globe’s Director of Education Lucy Cuthbertson, whose recent production of Midsummer Mechanicals was nominated for a 2023 Olivier Award.

Teacher CPD sessions will run in November and December 2023, in-school workshops for students from January to March 2024 and schools’ performances from 29 February – 27 March 2024. There are over 26,000 free-to-access tickets available for pupils aged 11-16 in London and Birmingham non-selective state secondary schools, plus subsidised tickets for the performances available for all other schools nationwide.

Applications for the project, including workshops, CPDs and performance tickets, will open in September 2024. Sign up to our Teacher Newsletter to be the first to find out application dates.

HOW TO APPLY

State secondary schools in London and Birmingham

Applications for the free-to-access project will initially open from 4 September to 22 September.

There are over 26,000 free-to-access tickets available for pupils aged 11 – 16 in London and Birmingham state schools (academically non-selective) to watch Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank: Romeo and Juliet, plus free-to-access teacher CPDs and in-school student workshops. To ensure the project achieves its core mission of promoting equality of opportunity, we prioritise schools with higher percentage of students eligible for Free School Meals in our allocation of free tickets, workshops and CPD places.

We strongly recommend applying by 22 September to give your school the best chance of taking part in the project. Dependent on availability after this point, we will continue to welcome applications and prioritise them accordingly. You will find out whether your application has been successful before October Half Term.

Please note, this production is designed for all secondary students but will be most suitable to students in year 9 and above.

In advance of completing your application, please review our  Frequently Asked Questions.

All UK secondary schools

Applications for subsidised tickets will open on 2 October and will be processed on a first come, first served basis.

There are over 6,000 subsidised tickets available for all UK secondary schools.

If your application for tickets is successful, you will also be eligible for our free-to-access Teacher CPD sessions, subject to availability.

Due to the expected high volume of applications, we recommend applying as soon as possible. We aim to advise you whether you have been successful within 5 weeks of your application.

Please note, this production is designed for all secondary students but will be most suitable to students in year 9 and above.

In advance of completing your application, please review our  Frequently Asked Questions.

Each year the project offers free tickets to students aged 11-16 in London and Birmingham state schools, and subsidised tickets to all other schools across the UK. Students come to the Globe Theatre to see a full-scale Shakespeare production, created specifically for young people. In 2022, our 16th Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production played to over 28,000 schoolchildren, over 22,000 of whom came for free.

Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank is Shakespeare’s Globe and Deutsche Bank’s flagship partnership for secondary schools and sits at the heart of the bank’s youth engagement strategy, Born to Be, which is committed to helping young people realise their full potential.

 

The audience reaction for our annual project Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank.

Stream Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank: The Tempest to your classroom

A collage of five posters from previous shows including Othello and Romeo and Juliet

Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank was launched in 2007 and since then has been giving students from London and Birmingham the chance to see Shakespeare for free. Pictured: a selection of previous production posters.

WATCH

RESOURCES WEBSITES

Over the past sixteen years, to work alongside these productions or on their own, we’ve created a wealth of teaching resource websites for individual Shakespeare plays. These include the key curriculum titles The Tempest, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. You can find links to all of the individual websites below.

PREVIOUS PRODUCTIONS

There have been 17 Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank productions so far. Travel through time with the below gallery and take a look back at some of our previous play titles.

CONTACT US

Got a question about Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank?

Email the Learning Projects team

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