The Seven Ages of Man

Katherine Noble KS3/4

KS3/4

Introduction Katherine Noble took up teaching in

a secondary school after spending
This scheme of work explores the monologue ‘The Seven Ages of Man’ spoken time practising drama and acquiring
her actor’s Equity card. Her focus
by Jaques in the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare (Act 2, scene 7, lines
over the last ten years has been the
139–166). responsibility of creating and delivering
The purpose of the scheme is for students to understand the monologue and drama to KS3 and KS4.
learn drama strategies to explore it, and demonstrate understanding of it to an
audience.
It is intended to be delivered to KS3. Students will devise and perform their own The film The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button presents a good example of the
play inspired by the monologue using the skills taught in the scheme of work.
cycle of life which can help students
to understand elements of Jaques’
Learning objectives
monologue.
By the end of this scheme students will have learnt:
f f To explore the monologue ‘The Seven Ages of Man’ spoken by Jaques in the
play As You Like It by William Shakespeare (Act 2, scene 7, lines 139–166)
f f To demonstrate an understanding of the monologue
f f To demonstrate skills through a devised play inspired by the monologue
f f To understand and demonstrate how to develop own and others’ work
f f To assess own work and work of others.

The resources
Resource 1 is a student booklet that can be used:
f f To consolidate learning
f f To check what the student understands of the work covered
f f To set homework tasks
f f For teacher assessment of the student
Resource 1 can be used as part of the
f f For student self- and peer-assessment.
plenary at the end of a lesson.

Lesson 1: Monologue Key words:

ff The Seven Ages of Man
Learning objectives ff As You Like It
By the end of the lesson students will have learnt: ff William Shakespeare
f f To understand what a monologue is ff Freeze frame
ff Mime
f f To understand what is meant by ‘The Seven Ages of Man’
ff Monologue.
f f To understand how the use of space and levels can demonstrate character and
relationships.
f f To use freeze frame to highlight key statements in the monologue ‘The Seven Resources:
Ages of Man’ f f The monologue ‘The Seven Ages of
f f To explain a mime and demonstrate communication of character through Man’ from As You Like It
f f Resource 1, pp. 4 to 7
movement, gesture and expression.
f f Resource 2, slides 1 to 4.
Starter activity
Objectives
Discuss with students Resource 2, slide 1. Check their understanding of
monologue – see Resource 2, slide 2, freeze frame and mime. Explain to
students that by the end of the lesson they will have created a freeze frame
that demonstrates one of the seven ages and will have improvised a mime that
demonstrates the age being portrayed in the freeze frame.
Task
Resource 1, pp. 4 and 5 and Resource 2, slide 3.
Read ‘The Seven Ages of Man’. Discuss with students what they think the
monologue is about. Explain any words with which they may be unfamiliar.
Resource 2, slide 4. Demonstrate to students how the deliberate use of space
and levels can show the status of a character and the relationship they have to
other characters. Ask three students to model the following:

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f f One student stood at a distance from the other two who are standing close
together.
f f One student standing, the other two sitting on chairs; all fairly close together.
f f Two students standing, one kneeling.
f f All students far apart.
For each position each student should say ‘Hello’ in a neutral way to the others in
the demonstration.
For each position ask the watching students to comment on the impression
of the characters that they have from the picture created. Are they all very good
friends? Do some appear to be closer friends than others? Does anyone appear to
be in charge?
Discuss with students each age in the speech and ask them how they could
show that in the physicality of a character.
Students should then walk around the room while the teacher indicates which
age they are to show in their movement. Every aspect of a character’s age should
be seen in gesture, expression and movement.
In groups of 4/5, students then create a freeze frame that clearly shows one of
the ages. They could either create a central character in a typical scene for the age
that they are showing, with other group members creating characters that are not
the focal point, or, alternatively, all members of the group display the same age.
They should carefully consider the use of space and levels in creating their freeze
frame.
Students should then show their freeze frames to the rest of the class with
feedback being invited from the observers. Observers should comment on the
clarity of the freeze frame. Does it clearly show the age intended? How could the
freeze frame be improved?

Main activity: Mime

In the same groups as before, students should devise a mimed play that includes
the freeze frame that was previously created. The mimed play should be about the
age that they chose to show in their freeze frame. They should ensure that they
include in their actions the details given about the age from the monologue ‘The
Seven Ages of Man’.

Plenary
Students should perform their mimes and freeze frames to the rest of the class.
Observing students should pay attention to how actors move to show the age
and the expressions of characters. Students should be asked to comment with
ideas of how the mimes could be improved upon and point out successful use of
space, levels, movement and expressions observed.
Ask the class for a response to the following:
f f What is a monologue?
f f What is the name of the playwright who wrote the monologue ‘The Seven Ages
of Man?’
Students should complete pp. 6 and 7 of Resource 1.

Lesson 2: Speech Key words:

ff Voice and movement
ff Volume
Learning objectives ff Pace
By the end of the lesson students will have learnt: ff Punctuation.
f f To demonstrate voice and movement to express age and character
f f To use the playwright’s punctuation to guide the way the speech is delivered
f f To learn how volume, tone and inflection are used to demonstrate meaning Resources:
f f Resource 1, pp. 4 and 5
f f To explore the use of a narrator
f f Resource 1, pp. 8 to 10
f f To explore and use vocal skills to demonstrate atmosphere and character. f f Resource 2, slides 5 to 7.
Starter activities
Recap Lesson 1 (Resource 2, slide 5, Lesson objectives). Punctuation is deliberate to indicate
meaning and to instruct actors on how
Punctuation
the playwright intended the words to be
The examples given for punctuation on slide 6 of Resource 2 are based on the spoken. Modern versions of this speech
Elizabethan use in Shakespeare’s first folio. differ in punctuation. Therefore, the
Students should read aloud through their own copies in Resource 1, pp. 4 and 5. version of the speech that I refer to, is
For this exercise, they should focus on the punctuation: what meaning it indicates the nearest to Shakespeare’s lifetime
and how it instructs them about how the text should be delivered. They should and hopefully, the most accurate to his
also highlight the punctuation marks. intentions. It was published in 1623.

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Volume, tone and pace
How can we emphasise something through speech? What about silence? What
happens if a speech is spoken in the same tone all the way through? What
happens if we vary the speed of how we speak?
Resource 2, slide 7: Students will shut their eyes and listen to the same
sentence being spoken five times by the teacher. The teacher should vary each
sentence spoken by making it a question, applying an emotion, applying a
fast pace, applying a slow pace and applying age characteristics to the voice.
Suggested sentences:
f f The door was shut.
f f The glass shattered.
Ask the students to focus on the following questions while listening:
f f Was there a question? How do you know?
f f Was there an emotion? How did you recognise it?
f f Was there an atmosphere?
f f Did you detect a character age?
Students should complete p. 8 of Resource 1 to help them remember how they
think each sentence was spoken.

Main activity
Narration
Discuss with students uses of narration. For example, a character can speak in
the first person to tell their story. A narrator could narrate a story while stopping
to allow action and dialogue between characters, or to narrate a story while also
speaking the character’s dialogue with actors miming the action. The narrator can
be a character involved within the story, or as witness to the story, or as a neutral
character who is just passing the story on, etc.
Discuss with students ideas for how they could create a play with narration
that includes the monologue.
Maybe a group could form a freeze frame for each age, while a narrator
character speaks the monologue as intended by Shakespeare. Or, different
members of a group could speak sections of the monologue and incorporate a
short story that the other group members act out.
In groups of 4/5, students are to devise the use of narration to tell a story.
They must use the words from the monologue in the narration. They should pay
attention to the punctuation of the monologue and apply vocal skills to their
narration and dialogue.

Plenary
Select students to show their narration plays. Students who are observing should
be invited to comment constructively on the plays that are seen.
Discussion
Ask the class for a response to the following:
f f Why is it important to pay attention to punctuation in a play?
Students should complete pp. 9 and 10 of Resource 1.

Lesson 3: Cross-cutting Key words:

ff Cross-cutting
Learning objectives ff Improvising
By the end of the lesson students will have learnt: ff Emotion
f f How cross-cutting influences the drama ff Movement
ff Expression
f f To learn to improvise from stimulus
ff Action.
f f To improvise a role-play from one of the Seven Ages.

Starter activity Resources:

Recap previous lessons (Resource 2, slide 8). f f Resource 1, pp. 4 and 5
f f Resource 1, pp. 11 and 12
Cross-cutting f f Resource 2, slide 8.
Explain to students that cross-cutting is when the order of a play is changed. For
example a play that is linear (beginning, middle, then ending) changes by cross-
cutting with the order of it being middle, ending, then beginning.
A flash back is used to jump back to a place in time; a flash forward is used to
jump forward to a place in time.
To explore cross-cutting students should use the monologue ‘The Seven Ages
of Man’ (Resource 1, pp. 4 and 5). They should first discuss how they could change

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the order by using flash back and flash forward. For example, students could use
the seventh age to flash back to the first age; the second age could flash forward
to the sixth age, and so on.
Working in groups of 4/5 students should explore and apply their ideas.
Role-play
Explain what role-play is. Students should understand that role-play is used as a
tool for people to experience something, understand a point of view or situation,
and/or find a way to resolve a problem. Role-play is usually improvised.

Main activity
In the same groups as before, students should select one of the ages from
the monologue. What does this age do? What kind of problems does this age
experience? Students should role-play a modern situation that shows a typical
problem and a possible solution for the age chosen. It could be about: bullying at
school, having a job or college interview, gangs, being rejected in love, a worried
parent, a pensioner going into a care home, etc.
Select student groups to show their role-plays. Homework
Invite constructive feedback from observing students. Can students suggest All students should complete Resource
other solutions for the problems shown? 1, pp. 11 and 12.
Students could also bring or research
Plenary music that they think is suitable for
f f What is cross cutting? the monologue. Suggest that students
research instrumental music in the style
f f What is a role-play?
of classical or rap.
f f Where might you find role play being used?

Lesson 4: Music Key words:

ff Devising
Learning objectives ff Music
By the end of the lesson students will have learnt: ff Voice
f f To devise a play from stimulus and apply music to the play appropriately for ff Pace
ff Volume
effect
ff Atmosphere.
f f To use voice, pace and music to create atmosphere.

Starter activity Resources:

Resource 2, slide 9. Set objectives; recap previous work. ff Resource 1, pp. 4 and 5.
Play Resource 3, without showing the images: ask the students to listen to it. ff Resource 1, p. 13
Ask them for comments on how the music is used. Is it in the background? How ff Resource 2, slide 9
does it affect the speech? Does the volume of the music change? Does the music ff Resource 3, BBC drama trailer
ff Resource 4, possible music sources
help to create atmosphere/emotion/meaning?
ff Equipment to enable the class to
In Resource 4 there are some suggestions for music that might be appropriate listen to music.
for the speech. Students may have already brought suitable music as part of the
homework task in the last lesson.
In groups, students should listen to and choose a piece of music to work with. I think that the best music is
They should then discuss and plan how they will incorporate the music into a instrumental in either a rap or classical
style with, possibly, some changes of
performance that also uses the speech ‘The Seven Ages of Man’. They should
tempo.
think about changes in tempo or volume of the music to enhance a change of
pace, action, atmosphere or meaning of a part of the monologue. See Resource 1,
pp. 4 and 5.

Main activity
In groups students are to devise a play that uses the whole speech and music as
planned. Students could include mimed action, freeze frame, cross-cutting, etc.
They will be using these plays as their evaluation pieces in the last lesson.
Select student groups to show their plays. Ask students observing to comment
constructively on the successful use of the music.

Plenary Homework
Students should complete Resource 1,
Ask the class for a response to the following:
p.13.
f f How does music affect a drama?

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Lesson 5: Forum theatre Key words:
ff Forum theatre
Learning objectives ff Collaborate
ff Audience
By the end of the lesson students will have learnt:
ff Improvise.
f f To explore forum theatre using plays already created
f f To understand what forum theatre is
f f To improvise and collaborate with others. Resources:
ff Resource 1 pp. 4 and 5.
Starter activity ff Resource 1, pp. 14 and 15.
Improvisation 1 ff Resource 2, slide 10
The objective of this exercise is to listen carefully to what has been said ff Resource 4
ff Music
previously and to continue in a way that makes sense. The whole class should sit
ff Resource 5, a short video from the
in a circle. They are all very old people in a home talking about their early lives. BBC demonstrating forum theatre.
Each student will take it in turns to state a memory or a reason why something
was done years ago. Each student will begin their statement with ‘Yes, and...’.
The teacher should begin the conversation with ‘When I was young …’ and add
something, followed by a student adding, ‘Yes, and... ’ – and so on.
Improvisation 2
In groups, students are old people telling the story of the first age in the speech,
‘The Seven Ages of Man’. They are to use the ‘Yes, and …’ exercise to build a story
about an infant. The infant should be a character they all once knew or heard
about. They could start the opening line with ‘When I was a baby…’ or ‘There was
once a baby who...’, etc.
Discuss
How can improvising with the ‘Yes, and ... ’ exercise be useful in drama?
Recap the work in previous lessons: Resource 2, slide 10.
Explain that students will now be exploring forum theatre. Forum theatre was
introduced by Augusto Boal from the Theatre of the Oppressed. It is a widely used
technique where the audience participates in the drama that is being replayed.
The audience participant shouts ‘Stop’ when they feel that they want to make a
change to the drama. They will declare what they want to change and will touch
the actor on the shoulder whose character they want to take the place of. The
audience participant ‘spectactor’ can change the outcome of the original drama.
The actor who is replaced will join the audience.
Resource 5 demonstrates how forum theatre is used.
In groups, students should work on a scene that shows a short story about
‘first the infant …’ from Shakespeare’s monologue. They should have a lot of ideas
already from the improvisation exercise. When they have a short scene, they
should then use the forum theatre technique to develop the characters and the
scene further. They should limit the scene to a maximum of one minute in length.
They should then decide what features of the explored scene they will keep.
Ask students how forum theatre was used to develop the first scene.

Main activity
Students should continue with improvisation and forum theatre for every age in
the monologue. They should aim to limit the duration of the story of each age to a
maximum of one minute (Resource 1, pp. 4 and 5). Students should be discouraged from
They should then work on the whole play that they have devised, including spending too much time on fight scenes;
the music from the last lesson and Shakespeare’s speech, ‘The Seven Ages of these should last no longer than 10
Man’. Students should focus on demonstrating previous learning through voice, seconds (The Soldier). All fight scenes
should be non-contact and in slow
movement, freeze frame, cross-cutting and narration/narrator.
motion.
Remind students about drama room safety rules.

Plenary
Ask the class for a response to the following:
f f What is improvisation?
f f How might a playwright find improvisation useful?
f f Why is it important to stay in character?
f f What ideas have you applied/intend to apply to enhance the performance of
your play?
f f What is forum theatre?
f f How did forum theatre help you to develop your play?
Students should complete pp. 14 and 15 of Resource 1.

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Lesson 6: Performances and evaluation Key words:
f f Audience
Learning objectives f f Performance
f f Evaluation.
By the end of the lesson students will have learnt:
f f How to show character and story to an audience
f f To demonstrate an understanding of the monologue, ‘The Seven Ages of Man’ Resources:
f f To understand communication through movement, mime and gesture f f Student targets taken from the
f f To evaluate own work and the work of others appropriate Key Stage Drama
f f To set their own targets for learning. objectives
f f Description of effort levels
Main activity f f Resource 1, pp. 4 and 5
f f Resource 1, pp. 16 to 19
Resource 2, slide 11: Using the objectives explain to students that this is a
f f Resource 2, slides 11 and 12.
performance and evaluation lesson.
Allow students time to rehearse and organise their music.
Allot a maximum time of 8 minutes for each group.
Students will present their plays to an audience. Presenting students should
not review their own plays on p. 16 of Resource 1. They can review their own work
on pp. 17, 18 and 19.
Audience
Students should aim to provide a written and oral analysis of the plays, using
appropriate language and theatre vocabulary to suggest improvements.
Students should be respectful audience members.
Resource 2, slide 12: Students should observe each play carefully and decide
on their favourite performance by judging the quality and standard of the
performance by the standards set out in the drama objectives.
Observing students should give constructive feedback at the end of a
performance.
Evaluating
Using Resource 1, p. 16, students are to write a review of the play that impressed
them the most, using appropriate terminology and giving reasons for their
opinions. They should also comment on what they learned from their favourite
performance.
Students should then write about their own work in Resource 1, pp. 17 to 19
and answer the following questions:
f f What have you found the most difficult to do in this topic? Why?
f f What did you do well? Explain.
f f What do you need to focus on to improve/achieve your targets? (Write three
targets one each for creating/making, performing and evaluating/responding).
They should aim to:
f f Make constructive comments about their own work, and other people’s work
f f Use the appropriate terminology when reviewing performances
f f Write about their contribution to the work done in class

Plenary
Evaluating
Choose students to give examples of written comments and performance reviews.
Ask for feedback regarding what students have learnt over the whole scheme.
f f Did they enjoy the work?
f f Would they like anything included in the scheme that wasn’t covered this
time?
f f Would they like to see any other changes to the scheme of work?
f f What did they learn?
f f What was their favourite aspect of the scheme?
Students are to complete Resource 1 neatly, using the expected standard of
grammar and spelling.

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RESOURCES
Needed, but not supplied here:
f f KS3 Drama Objectives

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Link to Student Booklet PDF:
http://www.rhinegold.co.uk/downloads/catalogue_supporting_materials/7%20ages_new.pdf
The Seven Ages of Man
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms:
And then the whining school-boy, with his satch-
el,
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Page 4
What information did you get from the
speech?
1. ______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
2. ______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
3. ______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
4. ______________________________
______________________________
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Scheme of work|
KS3/4
Resource 1: Student Booklet
At the end f the lesson you will be able
At the end f the lesson you will be able
Perform to others and evaluate own and
Collaborate with others to improvise a
Create a mime that demonstrates the
Understand how the use of levels can
Demonstrate an improvised role- play
Give and take instruction from peers.
Devise a play from stimulus and apply
demonstrates one of the seven ages.
Demonstrate voice and movement to
Use the playwright's punctuation to
guide the way the speech is spoken.
Use voice, pace and music to create
Understand what forum theatre is.
music to the play appropriately for
7
aid expression of character.
AGES OF
play through forum theatre.
Create a freeze frame that
express age and character.
Discuss the poem content.
Explain how cross-cutting
other work experienced.
from one of the 7 ages.
influenced the drama.
age being portrayed.
Jaques (Act II, Scene VII, lines 139-166)
Year 8
atmosphere.
The monologue on the next page is from
effect.
Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
to:
to:
How to apply suitable music
To learn to improvise from
About The 7 Ages of Man
To learn how volume, tone
and inflection are used to
improvised work through
skills to demonstrate at-
mosphere and character.
To explore and use vocal
To convey character and
To explore the use of a
To communicate to the
How cross-cutting can
demonstrate meaning.
story to an audience.
influence a story.
and the content.
forum theatre.
You will learn:
You will learn:
To develop
for effect
narrator.
stimulus.
audience.
William Shakespeare
Voice and movement
The 7 ages of man
Levels and space.
Performance and
Forum theatre
As You Like It
Freeze frame.
starting point.
Cross-cutting
Stimulus as a
Audience and
Lesson topic
Lesson topic
Punctuation
Monologue
rehearsals
evaluation
Role- play
Devising
Volume
Music
Mime
Pace
Lesson
Lesson
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
DRAMA Name ……………………………. Page 2 DRAMA Page 3
Even in the cannon's mouth: And then the justice, What is a monologue? Explain how you used levels and space to
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
_________________________________ show the relationship of your character with
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances; _________________________________ other characters.
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
_________________________________ _________________________________
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
What movements, and expressions did you _________________________________
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
use to demonstrate your character?
His youthful hose well sav'd a world too wide _________________________________ _________________________________
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
_________________________________ _________________________________
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, _________________________________ _________________________________
That ends this strange eventful history,
_________________________________ _________________________________
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
_________________________________ _________________________________
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans
everything. _________________________________ ________________________________
Word meanings
_________________________________ What did you discover in the use of this
Pard=panther (big cat).
_________________________________ technique?
DRAMA Page 5
How does Shakespeare's punctuation guide What vocal skills did you use to Explain how cross-cutting was used.
the way the monologue should be spoken? demonstrate atmosphere?
Give examples in your explanation. What did you discover in the use of this
_____________________________
_____________________________ technique?
_____________________________ _________________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________ _________________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________ _________________________________
_____________________________
_________________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_________________________________
What vocal skills did you use to
_____________________________ demonstrate character ? _________________________________
_____________________________ _____________________________ Role-play.
_____________________________ _____________________________ What was the quote from the monologue
that you selected for the role-play?
_____________________________ _____________________________
Page 10
DRAMA Page 11
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 Scheme of work|
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What was the ‘problem’ in your How did you use music to enhance your play? Explain forum theatre. Your play
role-play?
_________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
______________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
______________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
______________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
______________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
______________________________
_________________________________ What did you discover in the use of this _________________________________
______________________________
_________________________________ technique? _________________________________
How did the role-play end?
What was the title and composer of the _________________________________ _________________________________
______________________________
music used? _________________________________ _________________________________
______________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
______________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________

_________________________________ _________________________________
Page 12 DRAMA Page 13

What could you do to improve your own Creating

Write about the most successful Self Assessment
performance?
performance. Look at your personal targets and the level
_________________________________
descriptions.
Performing
_________________________________ Are you on track to achieving your
_________________________________
drama targets?
_________________________________ Yes?
_________________________________ Evaluating
No?
_________________________________ What do you need to focus on in
_________________________________ Effort
improving/reaching your targets?
Level
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
What could you do to improve?
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
What did you do well in the performance? _________________________________
What made this performance stand out?
_________________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________
_________________________________ What did you do well?

Page 18 DRAMA Page 19

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Resource 2: PowerPoint Presentation
Link to PowerPoint presentation:
http://www.rhinegold.co.uk/downloads/catalogue_supporting_materials/7%20ages_new.pdf

Monologue
Lesson 1
Objectives:
• To understand a monologue.
• To know The Seven Ages of Man by
William Shakespeare. A long speech by one actor.
• To understand how the use of space and
levels can demonstrate character and
relationships.
• To devise a freeze frame showing one of
the ages.
• To develop the freeze frame into a
mimed play that tells a story for one of
the ages.

1 2

Word Meanings
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players; mewl = feeble cry; In your freeze frame and your play:
They have their exits and entrances, puke = vomit;
And one man in his time plays many parts, pard = panther; • Demonstrate movement to express character’s age,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms:
capon = castrated cockerel; task and emotion.
saw = well-known saying;
Then, the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail pantaloon = old man comedy • Use levels and space to demonstrate character’s
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, character; status and relationships.
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, pouch = small soft leather
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, bag;
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel, hose = leggings;
Seeking the bubble reputation
shank = leg from knee to
Even in the cannon's mouth: And then the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd, ankle;
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut, mere = only;
Full of wise saws, and modern instances, sans = without
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide, This monologue is from
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, Spoken by the
That ends this strange eventful history, character,Jaques. (Act II,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Scene VII, lines 139-166)
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

3 4

A comma
indicates a
shift in thought A semi-colon explains what has

Lesson 2 All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and entrances,
been previously stated.

And one man in his time plays many parts, A full stop ends a thought
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,

Objectives: Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms:

Then, the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
• To demonstrate voice and movement to Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad A colon

express age and character.

Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, starts a new
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, thought
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,

• To use the playwright's punctuation to Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth: And then the justice

guide the way the monologue is spoken.

In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,

• To explore the use of a narrator. And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
• To explore and use vocal skills to His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide,
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,

demonstrate atmosphere and character. Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, This monologue is from
That ends this strange eventful history, Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Spoken by the character,Jaques. (Act II,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. Scene VII, lines 139-166)

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Shut your eyes and listen.
• Was there a question? How do you
know?
• Was there an emotion? How did you
recognise it?
• Was there an atmosphere?
• Did you detect a character age?
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Lesson 4
Explore the use of music in a
play about The 7 Ages of Man.
You can include;
Narration, Cross cutting, Freeze
Frame, voice, mime.
You must show through
movement and expression;
Age, Character, Emotion
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7 Ages of Man
Use your complete plays to show
a clear story to an audience.
You can include;
Narration, Cross cutting, Freeze
Frame.
You must show through
movement and voice;
Age, Character, Emotion
11
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Scheme of work|
KS3/4
Lesson 3
Objectives:
• To explore Cross-cutting.
1.Infant. 2. school person. 3. Lover. 4.Soldier. 5. Over
fed wise person. 6. Thinner retired person. 7.Person who
has lost teeth, hair, etc.
• To improvise a role play using The Seven
Ages of Man as inspiration.
Forum Theatre
• To explore Forum Theatre using plays
already created.
• To understand what forum theatre is.
Performance targets
• I can concentrate and control my body
• I can use my skills to take part in short extracts
(including Shakespeare)
• I can show awareness of audience
• I can communicate a convincing character using words,
movement and gesture
• I can think of and apply different ideas to enhance a
performance
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 Scheme of work|
KS3/4
Resource 3: A Lifetime of Original British Drama on the BBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtEUySDDg-I
Benedict Cumberbatch delivers the monologue ‘The Seven Ages of Man’ in this BBC trailer.

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 Scheme of work|
KS3/4
Resource 4: Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c3aroYhR_Q
Xzibit – ‘Paparazzi’ (Instrumental)

http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Symphony/
Creative commons music in a classical style.

Aaron Mist “Through the ages” “Unnecessary City” Soundtrack, Ins

‘Through the Ages’ by Aaron Mist

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 Scheme of work|
KS3/4
Resource 5: Forum Theatre
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/drama/activities/forum_theatre/forum_theatre.shtml
A short video from BBC Bitesize explaining and demonstrating forum theatre.

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