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Shakespeare In Action has developed a new
program, Artists and Community, which features the “Shakespeare
for Kids Community Festival” to bring together the artists,
the schools and the community. The model for this program
is designed to include the participation of the whole school
and the extended community in the creation and design of a
Shakespeare play for public performance.
“Shakespeare for Kids Community Festival”
Shakespeare In Action company collaborates
with a number of community elementary schools and their respective
outreach communities to create a mini-festival that will culminate
in two evenings of public presentation. The company works,
with diverse multi-cultural populations, as this is representative
of the artist’s communities and of the emerging future
theatre audience. These schools are chosen in consultation
width the principals, the teachers, and the parent council’s.
Each community is highly supportive of the arts, has a strong
background of parent and community volunteers, and is eager
to participate in this exciting new program.
How does it work?
Michael Kelly, Artistic Director, has adapted, abridged versions
of, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Macbeth, and The Comedy of Errors, suitable
for young audiences and families. The school communities involved
will work through, develop and present one of the plays from
this series to be showcased at the public presentation. The
project will take place over an eight-week period.
The community is galvanized through the
efforts of the principal and the school parent councils. A
volunteer committee of parents, friends and community members
is set up to participate on a weekly base. These individuals
commit to devoting one day a week to assist with the project
in the schools. The whole school weekly devotes the entire
day to the study, development and creation of the presentation
of the play. During this day the whole school from kindergarten
to grade eight becomes engaged in the artistic process of
the creating the play for the festival presentation.
The project begins with a series of one-day
workshops in each school conducted by the artistic team. The
community’s volunteers and the teachers are lead through
a series of hands-on workshops in music, visual art &design,
movement, dance and rhythm work, character development, as
well as, approaches to Shakespeare text, play design, theatre
games, speech & word-play exercises. These sessions are
the templates or the point of departure from which all the
classroom study, dramatic interaction and design work will
emanate. Each school then works consistently with the artistic
team for one full day during each subsequent week of the project,
until the last two weeks, when the artistic team will intensify
the time to bring the festival to fruition.
The Artistic Team:
This is an inter-disciplinary team of artists, with an eclectic
background of theatre, dance, music, visual art, and physical
theatre tradition. This is also a very experienced and distinguished
teaching team of senior artists, with a strong commitment
to developing arts in the community. Each artist brings his
or her unique style, art and discipline to the project, with
one clear project goal. Our team is focused on teaching and
imparting to the community the creative process, of designing
& building the set, designing the costumes, creating original
music, fostering dramatic play and finally staging a performance
for friends and families.
Benefits:
There are enormous benefits, to the artists, the school and
the community. The artists and Shakespeare In Action broaden
the audience base for their collective work. We build contacts
in the community through our interaction with the school,
the volunteers, their contacts, and ultimately the large public
audience attending the final presentation. The school builds
a relationship with the professional company and the artists,
garnering new skills for there teachers and volunteers, as
well as, discovering a new model for working with the arts
in the community The community benefits, by providing a center
of activity (the school) for parents, grandparents, seniors
and new volunteers to contribute their support, time and skills
to help create the Shakespeare for Kids Community Festival.
Evaluation:
There will be a formal written evaluation for teachers to
assess the impact of the arts project in the classroom on
both a personal & scholastic development level. There
will also be a formal feedback and evaluation for the community
volunteers to assess future developments with the artists
and community collaboration program.
Promotion:
The production’s marketing and promotion will target
youth and families representing the diverse cultural communities
within the schools surrounding area, as a means of ensuring
that people have the opportunity to attend the festival. This
also assists to raise the profile of Shakespeare In Action
as a theatre company that offers unique and accessible programming
to communities.
Shakespeare for Kids Community Festival
is an important element of our company’s strategic plan.
It not only broadens our company repertoire but also establishes
a potential high quality, innovative, new program, and an
exciting opportunity to expand our audience base through a
public performance showcase (that is, outside the classroom).
For information regarding how to have this program at your
school please contact:
Artistic Director, Michael Kelly
(416) 703-4881
mkelly@shakespeareinaction.org
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