Shakespeare’s Mobile is a comedy drama that is written and produced by children from Whitehall Primary School in Bristol. Junaid is a fourteen year old boy who is crazy about Shakespeare. When bullies chase Junaid down the cycle track he is suddenly transported back in time to Elizabethan England where he meets William Shakespeare himself. Shakespeare’s mobile was filmed location in Bristol and Stratford Upon Avon.
The trailer to Shakespeare’s Mobile can be viewed on the Integrate Bristol YouTube channel here.
The idea for this film came from a competition that involved writing a film proposal. Some children chose adaptations of well know fairy tales and cultural stories. Probably as a result of a school project on Tudor England, several children put forward ideas based on William Shakespeare. The children, all of whom are linguists, were enthralled by the language of the original plays, and particularly enjoyed the simplified versions of Othello and Romeo and Juliet. ‘Shakespeare’s Mobile’ was originally put forward by an Asian boy in year 5 and was selected by popular vote from all those submitted as the one to develop into script.
For primary school children to choose a project about Shakespeare is unusual to say the least. When these children are from another country, this choice is both unexpected and extremely courageous. Bearing in mind the fact that these children do not have the same cultural traditions and background, it is fascinating to see how they have translated their perceptions of Tudor England and the life of William Shakespeare into film.
The project provided a framework on which to build 6 months of English language learning. Throughout the project, EAL learners from Whitehall Primary School completed a series of written tasks based on the film project. As well as writing a film script, they had to write a persuasive letter, a character description, a press release, a narrative and many other tasks based on literacy targets. They also learned many other skills, including how to use camera and sound, how to direct and edit and how to design posters and tickets.
