“Shakespeare in Nature” was the theme for 2011 – in addition to our work in the theater, we took to the Great Outdoors, and created movement pieces, based on “storm” scenes from Pericles and The Tempest. We also explored a number of characters from those two plays, through improvisation, voice and movement work, and finally applying our work to Shakespeare’s text.
Our final recitals were held outdoors at the Pan Pacific Park Ampitheater – family and friends enjoyed the performances on two beautiful Saturdays.
The time? Somewhere around 1850, but who knows? Time runs differently, here in the Appalachian Hollows. A long-simmering feud between John and his sister-in-law Constance is about to come to yet another head … think Hatfields and McCoys … and a newly discovered illegitimate nephew doesn’t settle things down one bit. Philip and his son Lewis from over by France, Kentucky are lending a hand, but whose side are they really on? Things get really interesting when that city slicker Pandulph shows up and stirs the pot!
The lights come up, and you’re backstage at a nightclub – think the Copa Room at the Sands Hotel, circa 1955. Shakespeare’s Rat Pack of Hip, Cool Cats run the show. The Boys have a business to run and so they make a serious pact to swear off girlfriends, no matter what! They commit to their higher selves, to building their brain and business power and running their club with no girl-related distractions. They have lounge acts to book and financiers to schmooze! Girls just get in the way!
We’ve always refused to be limited by the expectations of what Shakespeare plays are “appropriate” for young performers, and this season, we really pushed the envelope. “Merchant of Venice” remained true to its tradition, and stirred up a little controversy – we received emails questioning why we would expose young people to the themes of this complex play – but our Players faced those themes with thoughtfulness and insight.
In what has come to be known as our “Rare Gem” series, we took on “Cymbeline” – our older students loved exploring the villains and heroes of this epic romance, and many audience members commented on how exciting it was to discover an unfamiliar play.
Due to the growing number of “Drama Club addicts,” we expanded, once again, to offer a third class. Our two 1st to 4th grade classes tackled the comedy and word play of “Much Ado About Nothing” and the rarely performed “Timon of Athens.” Our new class, made up of 4th through 8th graders performed “The Winter’s Tale” (our first evening performances, and first intermission!!)
The challenges of “The Winter’s Tale” took advantage of our older Players’ experience and maturity – they tackled the challenging emotions and epic scope with grace, and audience members were truly moved. Our “Much Ado” cast, led by a few of our Drama Club veterans, were applauded for the clarity with which they told the story. And our “Timon” cast enhanced what is often said to be an “unfinished” play with their insights into money and friendship, and enchanted the audience with their bacchanalian revels.
The Players in our second summer program worked intensively for two weeks on material that reflected our theme “Shakespeare Goes to Greece.” We explored characters in the plays that were inspired by or taken from Greek and Roman history and mythology, including The Tempest, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, Comedy of Errors and Timon of Athens. We discussed the importance of myth and storytelling in our lives, and developed our own recounting of the myth of Pandora. We learned about various types of theaters, and created our own theaters and sets. 
For our first foray into the rich world of Shakespeare’s History plays, the group enthusiastically leapt into discussions about rebelling when you feel like you’ve been treated unfairly, having a parent who doesn’t understand you, hanging out with friends that your parents don’t like, and what happens (or doesn’t happen) to people who lie to get what they want … and suddenly life in 15th Century England doesn’t seem so far away.
Our productions of Shakespeare’s two most famous gender-bending comedies, “As You Like It” and “Twelfth Night,” were our biggest challenges yet – it’s true what they say about Comedy being harder! But our Players rose to the occasion beautifully!