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Shakespeare Comes to Life in Ninth Grade Workshops
From Upper School English Fellow Tom Owen:
Shakespeare recently came to life for St. Luke’s ninth graders as students worked with trained Shakespearean actors in two different workshops: scene exploration with Shakespeare & Company and delving into Shakespearean text with actor Sara Bakker.
The ninth grade English curriculum focuses on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as the final text of the year. With themes including true love, deadly conflict, and the adolescent search for self, the play has plenty of ideas for students to explore—and there is was no better way to help students understand these concepts than acting it out.
On April 18, a team of trained performers from Shakespeare & Company facilitated a performance workshop for every ninth grade English class. Shakespeare & Company has a unique dual mission of performance and education that aids them in their work with students. During their visit, the Shakespeare & Company team introduced students to the language in Romeo and Juliet through a variety of entertaining, hands-on methods. In a series of playful exercises, the actors explored movement, vocal techniques, and creative ways to read lines. For the workshop’s finale, students in small groups performed brief scenes for their peers (with the class teacher participating too).
“The workshop really helped us understand what was happening in the book,” said Allie Vogel ’20. “The way Shakespeare writes can be confusing, but the instructor helped us understand the words and experiment with how to perform it ourselves.”
On April 20, students in Jenn Sproule’s class worked with Sara Bakker, a professionally-trained actor with extensive experience in Shakespearean performance. During her time with students, Bakker explained how her preparation process revolves around meticulous analysis of Shakespeare's language. Without fully understanding the complexities of the text, Bakker argued, an actor cannot give the lines the proper emotional resonance.
Wielding a hefty stack of specialized dictionaries and critical essays, she showed the students how she teases out the meaning hidden under layers of ambiguity and wordplay. Bakker then led the students through a variety of exercises in order to illuminate how subtle clues in the text provide direction for an actor’s performative decisions.
“Ms. Bakker brought a new energy to the class and helped us explore the deeper meaning of the text,” said Sam Boston ’20. “She brought Shakespeare back from the dead.”
Click to view the 9th Grade Shakespeare 4/20 Workshop photo gallery.
Click to view the 9th Grade Shakespeare 4/20 Workshop photo gallery.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 40 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Leading with Humanity curriculum builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
