PHOTO: Previous winners of the Great Shakespeare Debate

The English Speaking Union Centre for Speech and Debate http://www.britishdebate.com/ seems to have hit on an excellent combination of the Bard and Debate. Their GREAT SHAKESPEARE DEBATE WEBSITE is at http://www.britishdebate.com/schools/shakespeare/ and they seek mentors to make the upcoming program happen.

Here is some excellent information for what seems like an exciting and academically rigorous contest that comes from that website.

The Great Shakespeare Debate is a unique project which combines the debating know-how of the English-Speaking Union with the Shakespearian expertise of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Teachers don’t need to coach their students in debating before arrival in Stratford as a comprehensive set of workshops will introduce them to the necessary skills; none of the speakers on last year’s winning team had debated before. Students will also get to listen to several series of ‘lecture nuggets’ which will give them references to plays and historical information that they may not be familiar with and which are directly relevant to the motions to be debated.

Topics for debate are arranged as follows:

•Round 1: Debates on a set-text studied by at least one of the team members. The text but not the motion will be confirmed several weeks before the debate. (Examples from 2006: “This House believes that in Antony and Cleopatra love comes before duty”, “This House believes that Prospero was an unjust ruler”)

•Round 2: Debate focussing on the RSC’s production of Coriolanus (free tickets included for all participants on the Tuesday night). This round will also require students to watch a DVD in the weeks leading up to the competition.

•Round 3: Debates on general themes pertaining to all or most of Shakespeare’s plays (Examples from 2006: “This House believes that weakness is more dangerous than evil”, “This House believes that in Shakespeare all is always well that ends well”, “This House believes that Shakespeare would have wanted women to rule the world”, “This House believes that Shakespeare would have wanted all his plays to be performed in modern dress”)

•Grand Final: Debate on a general theme similar to that in Round 3. The Grand Final this year will include Alastair Macaulay (chief theatre critic of the Financial Times) on the judging panel. Sir Donald Sinden (one of the country's foremost Shakespearian actors) will award the prizes.

The format for the debates is basically that used in the ESU’s Schools Mace competition (see pages 26-30 of the handbook at www.britishdebate.com/schools/mace), except that it is adapted for a three-person rather than two-person team by having a separate speaker deliver the summary speech. All speeches are the same length at 5 minutes (shorter than in the Mace). 

The deadline for applications for the Great Shakespeare Debate 2007 has now passed. To register an interest in participating in the Great Shakespeare Debate 2008, please contact harold_raitt@esu.org.

Mentors

If you are a university student debater (either undergraduate or postgraduate) with some knowledge of, and interest in, Shakespeare, we would be delighted to receive an application from you to join us as one of our debate mentors in Stratford. You will assist us with delivering debate workshops to the participants and judging the debates and may also act out some scenes from Shakespeare or deliver a short presentation as part of one of our 'lecture nuggets'. Your travel costs and accommodation will be paid, you will receive a per diem for food and be taken out for a meal on the Monday night before the competition starts. You will also receive a ticket to see Coriolanus with the debaters. Last year's mentors thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and gained almost as much as they gave.

To apply, please fill in the application form below and return it by Wednesday 20 December, 2006 to harold_raitt@esu.org.

This is a great example of how the ESU is leading the way in a global sense in the integration of the excitement of debating with the broader intellectual prospect. Congratulations to James Probert and Harold Raitt and everyone at the ESU.