Transforming the Bard through Digital Media: Modern Design Approaches for Shakespeare Education

Abstract

Original Shakespeare texts can be difficult to teach to the current generation of students in secondary and tertiary education. Although the universal themes in Shakespeare still resonate with young audiences of today, the antiquated language complicates access. A possible way forward is to design engaging texts to reinvigorate traditional curriculum with multimodal forms of mediation that increase the accessibility of the Bard’s classical canon. Therefore, the authors are investigating a model to adapt the Bard’s texts for fully immersive digital media: ShakesVR “mashes up” three major Shakespeare texts-Macbeth, The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream-for an animated virtual reality (VR) experience. This experience allows the user to discover three different story-worlds on their own. While the animated adaptation needs to employ abridged and altered versions of the plays, it uses only unaltered Shakespeare dialogue. Its lyrical beauty remains intact, yet becomes more accessible to contemporary audiences through its modern mode of delivery. The adaptation for VR posed the challenge to direct the user’s attention towards the story, requiring inventive approaches in storytelling, design and animation. The design process was used to iteratively test the efficacy of style and suitability for the requirements in visual storytelling. Designs were developed according to the script, evaluated and redeveloped in response to feedback from the directors. In summary, the authors will offer insight into their creative design process and propose a designerly approach to Shakespeare education.