The words of William Shakespeare for centuries have inspired dramatic adaptations of his tragedies and comedies. But reading the 400-year-old written word of Shakespeare can be difficult, to say the least.
The best way to do Shakespeare is live, in the theater, as the juniors and seniors at Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock discovered last week.
As part of its Education Outreach program Team Shakespeare, the professional Shakespeare Repertory of Chicago brought the Bard to McHenry County, presenting “Macbeth.”
The company performed an abridged version of the bloody, violent tale of Macbeth, who, led by prophecies, murders those who stand between him and the Scottish throne. But the prophecies are deceptive and lead to his demise. The performance was abridged by director William Brown.
The students are required to read “Macbeth” in their junior year, and are required to discuss–and turn in an essay–on their response to the play, said Judy Sowinski, English department chairwoman.
“The performance was magnificent,” said 17-year-old senior Kim Hinterlong. “I thought they did a great job, expecially since they had only 75 minutes. The costumes were great. I’d definitely consider (reading) it again, and I would like to see the movie again.”
Sowinski agreed with her students’ praise of the performance.”It’s a wonderful opportunity to get the benefits of a professional production,” she said. “It was very enjoyable. The performance of Lady Macbeth was lovely, very well done, especially the sleepwalking scene.” Sowinski also was impressed with the abridgement of the play, and felt it kept the “sense of the meat” of the play.
The Repertory sends out catalogs to more than 5,000 teachers at the end of each summer informing them about the Team Shakespeare program. The Repertory holds four weeks of performances at the Ruth Page Theatre in Chicago, and then goes out on tour to bring the Bard’s works directly to the students.
“The reason for the education program,” said Marilyn Halperin, director of education at the Repertory, “the primary purpose, is to supplement and enrich the school curriculum. It helps to bring the work to life, rather than reading the text or script, or seeing a video.”
After the one-hour performance, Kirsten Kelly, tour manager and education assistant at the Repertory, leads a 15-minute interaction with the 12 actors and the audience.
Prior to the performance, an actor comes onstage to explain the words of Shakespeare. “The language, being as it is 400 years old, can be difficult on the ear at first,” said Kelly. “We encourage the audience to take about five minutes to adjust to the language, and watch as the scenes unfold.”
Students are requested to respond to the Repertory and Halperin said the responses have been “very, very positive.”