Shakespearean - Enrichment Experience Opportunities

This academic year the HYSA Middle Year theatre students have had the opportunity to explore Shakespeare from various angles.  They have been introduced to inventive vocal and physical actions, to the relevance of William Shakespeare's art to the human experience, and to the basic elements of Elizabethan performance and production. Various works have been considered to generate an appreciation of the significance of the Bard to reveal human motivation and consequence.

Exploring Shakespeare's Language

In Richard II Shakespeare wrote a single-sentence monologue that many scholars have noted as one of "the most stirring paeans to England ever written".

"This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi-paradise,

This fortress built by Nature for herself

Against infection and the hand of war,

This happy breed of men, this little world,

This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves it in the office of a wall,

Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands,

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm this England...."

During World War II Churchill quoted the monologue on his radio broadcast to spark the English people to "never surrender "and to hold fast against overwhelming actions. In class the students explored this speech and others in preparation for performing the World War II based production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. 

Shakespeare - Live Theatre Fieldtrip 

A recent National Endowment of the Arts and the US Department of Education article highlighted an Arts and Education Partnership study that demonstrated "there can be lasting and sustainable outcomes, educational outcomes that are produced through students participating in these one-time, culturally enriching experiences. These kinds of enriching experiences actually connect students and the school to the community in very meaningful ways.”

In February a school-wide fieldtrip afforded HYSA students the chance to expand their understanding of Shakespeare’s language at a live performance of the comedy "As You Like It". The production was staged by the Southwest Shakespeare Company at the Mesa Arts Center. This is annual live theatre event has introduced the HYSA scholars to Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice.

Courtyard Shakespeare - Public Space Experience

Courtyard theatre was all about throwing open your shop windows and being drawn into the performance experience as you glimpsed a traveling troupe come into the village on a cart.

Using an open air space reflects facets of both the early English public playhouses as well as the courtyards of inns that had been temporarily converted into theaters. These are some of the roots of The Bard. Roots that might have inspired his deep commitment to his workshop-style of writing and his love of the theatre.

Middle Year theatre students offered just such an experience complete with food, Facepaint, music, and snippets from Shakespeare's works to a warm and welcoming audience. Public Space and early Shakespearean theater performance relied heavily on the relationship between the people onstage and off. As the backdrop for this experience is the audience, the presence of the audience is critical to a successful outcome. To see additional pictures from the aforementioned events go the HYSA Thespian Society Events and Photo Gallery Webpage.