Shakespeare article final

SWITCHING UP THE ROLES WITH SHAKESPEARE

 

All the world’s a stage for teacher Nina Duval’s senior students as they take on William Shakespeare’s famed plays, bringing forward a new level of understanding for the playwright’s complex literature.
           According to Duval, Studying Shakespeare through performance is growing in popularity for high schools students as well as the collegiate level. Duval began incorporating the performing element four years ago, “I don’t believe Shakespeare wrote plays for students and teenagers of the 21st century to sit at a desk with a book in front of them and try to understand,” Duval explains, “Shakespeare would have been horrified.”
            Following their daily writing exercise and a quick tai-chi stretch session, the class is divided up into different acting companies and performs their way through the play. Each company has their own scene in which they contribute to the overall story. “It’s not acting per say,” says Duval, “but I give them little tips as we go along”
           With Duval’s new  black box theatre class-room she has decided to teach a whole year of Shakespeare; focusing on Henry IV part one, Othello, and Midsummer Night’s Dream, covering a history, tragedy, and romantic comedy. “it’s more hands on then just reading from a textbook and answering questions,” says Marielly Sanchez who plays Prince Howe in Henry IV, “you don’t learn something unless you do it.”
              Many students feel overwhelmed by the naked literature. “If you were just to read it you wouldn’t understand what’s going on,” explains Sanchez, “too much is happening, stories are overlapping and characters are changing dramatically.” Duval explains that teaching through performance helps the students learn without the busy desk work, “The way she teaches the class allows us to incorporate our own creativity” says Hanna De Leon, “I’ve read Shakespeare in the past and have completed questions but I didn’t really understand it as well as this time.”

Duval’s students are not solely graded on their stand up performances; they are also required to complete various academic assignments, including analytical and literary essays.

 

Not all students share the same perspective as De Leon and Sanchez. “I have nothing against her as a person,” expresses Darren Richmond, “but I feel that she tends to care more about the acting part of doing it instead of the actual comprehension of the English material.”

 

Duval will continue with her learning through performance method for the remainder of the year, “the more I do it, the more I like it, and the more I learn too,” says Duval.