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Students Make the World Their Stage

by Kathleen T. Breen

   Since 1992, over 1,500 students from Kentucky and Indiana have experienced their "hour upon the stage" by performing in the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival's Student Scene Festival.

   Now in its sixth year, the annual festival commemorates Shakespeare's birthday by giving students from 4th through 12th grade the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned while studying Shakespeare through performance.

   Each year, all the teachers who have participated in FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE: Teaching Shakespeare in the Classroom (47 to date) are invited to bring their students to the all-day festival. It's a celebration of their achievement and a chance to enjoy the rich possibilities in Shakespeare's stories and language. Sites have included Bellarmine College, the Kentucky Center for the Arts, and the University of Louisville Playhouse.

   Students as young as eight years old have taken the stage to prove that Shakespeare isn't beyond anyone's grasp. Some of the festival's most engaging scenes have been younger students' impassioned renditions of Marc Antony's funeral oration and Romeo and Juliet's first meeting. While the senior high school scenes sometimes reflect better "acting," they rarely exhibit more enthusiasm or sheer enjoyment of performance.

   Over the years, 13 of Shakespeare's 37 plays have been represented, with Romeo and Juliet just edging out A Midsummer Night's Dream as the students' first choice. Hamlet is a close third, and in fact, a fifteen-minute version of the entire play has been staged twice.

   Creative students have also had their way with Shakespeare's plots. Oldham County Middle schoolers once produced a composite tragedy entitled "Megadeath and Helmut," composed of lines from several plays. Ballard High School drama students have frequently compiled their own thematic renderings, such as one entitled "What's Love Got To Do With It?" featuring scenes from comedies and tragedies.

   In addition to the scenes, some festivals have featured special attractions, e.g. a costumed Queen Elizabeth and her consort in attendance, jugglers, fire eaters, and renaissance music. Will Shakespeare himself has appeared to introduce his works. Because these extra features depend upon outside sponsorship, they have varied from year to year, but the Festival is always looking for special patrons for this special event.

   Participating teachers have expressed enthusiasm for approaching Shakespeare through performance.

   "After their being in the scene festival, Shakespeare became more personal and more accessible to my students," said Central High School teacher Anne Rodier, who has brought her students five of the six years. "Seeing everyone's different interpretations and seeing all ages performing made Shakespeare less scholarly, and my students aren't afraid anymore. In fact, preparing for the scene festival made Shakespeare a household commodity. Now Shakespeare's accessible," said Rodier.

And that's what the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival is all about. [ Back to Will On Wheels ]

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