The Shakespeare video-game that Bloom is working on, alongside various colleagues from UC Davis, engages players in a cognitive and physically way — by immersing them in the performances’ actions. In theater-making games, players can inhabit the roles of stage designer, wardrobe manager, dramatist, etc., and therefore learn about “theatrical enskillment.” By teaching gamers about the process of theater production, players’ critical engagement skills will be enhanced when they attend an actual Shakespeare performance. Bloom argues that theater-themed games are pedagogically effective when the materials portrayed in the game resemble the materials used in actual theater production. The author also thinks that it is important to have the players physically engage with the game; this means that if a player moves his/her own body, that should control their on-screen character body movements as well. Davis’s ModLab is developing a game known as “Play the Knave”, which allows players to stage a scene from Shakespeare. In this game, the players gestures and voice maps onto/animates their on-screen avatars. The scene that the players created is recorded, and they are therefore able to post it on public sharing sites or with other users. Unlike other games out there, “Play the Knave” allows players to embody all the roles in the theater-making process. Thus, “Play the Knave” is a good example of how theatrical performance and technological games can be infused. In Bloom’s forthcoming article, she describes in detail how to navigate through the game. She mentions that players have the ability to select one from among hundreds of scenes from Shakespeare dramas. She also explains that the game targets a wide range of student audiences — including elementary schoolers, high schoolers, and beyond. For example, the “Play the Knave” platform was used in an elementary school classroom to teach student about how punctuation marks are used to highlight certain key words. Finally, Bloom provides tips for educators that teaches them how to incorporate “Play the Knave” in their curriculum. For instance, she states that teachers should only use the game to support their lesson plan; in other words, the game should not be used as a full lesson plan.
I really enjoyed reading these two articles and I was able to make personal connections to the readings. In my high-school English classes, I was asked to act out a Shakespeare scene with a few of my peers. The teacher assigned every group the same scene to act out because he wanted us to learn the variations in which one scene can be interpreted. Although I am not such a big fan of reading Shakespeare, I actually had a lot of fun conducting this activity because I love theater. After reading Bloom’s articles, I wonder how different my experience would have been if my group members and I played a game similar to “Play the Knave.” Because the players’ body movements animate the on-screen avatar, players still get a feel for what it feels like to perform live, which I think is great. I definitely think this is a unique and creative game — one that English educators should implement into their curriculums.
Questions:
- Do you think that games can be used to understand performance?
- What if the student is an avid gamer, but not a fan of theater or Shakespeare? Do you think he/she would still be interested in playing?
UWP 104D 