Shakespeare's Heartbeat: Drama Games for Autistic People [Hardcover]

This updated and revised edition of?Shakespeares Heartbeat?offers a step-by-step guide detailing how to demonstrate, play and perform sensory games based on two of Shakespeares most popular plays with autistic people of all ages.

Kelly Hunter is an award-winning actor, director, and educator. She is the creator of the Hunter Heartbeat Method. Kelly has worked in the theatre for over forty years, acting notably with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the highly acclaimed Vesturport. She founded Flute Theatre in 2014 in order to create original and unique productions of Shakespeare. She has adapted and directed ten productions of Shakespeare for the company, including four unique shows for autistic audiences. In 2019 she was awarded an MBE for her services to theatre and in 2024 she received an honorary degree from the University of Birmingham, UK.

This updated and revised edition of Shakespeares Heartbeat offers a step-by-step guide detailing how to demonstrate, play and perform sensory games based on two of Shakespeares most popular plays designed for autistic people of all ages.

The original games of heartbeats, eye contact and spatial awareness were created at the Glebe School, Beckenham, with a group of twelve autistic teenagers who met and played with Kelly Hunter once a week over three years, 2002-2005. This second edition brings the book up to date with the additional knowledge Kelly Hunter has gained since then as the founding artistic director of Flute Theatre, the worlds only Shakespearean troupe to focus on the needs of autistic audiences. The book includes the following:

• A new chapter dedicated to performing A Midsummer Nights Dream and The Tempest with autistic audiences, including Hunters adapted, interactive performance texts of both plays.
• AlC