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Shakespeare

Theater Basics

Greek Theater

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Managing Auditions with Google Schools

Last year, when I directed Romeo and Juliet , I printed off a few dozen audition packets. When I ran out and couldn't make it to the copier, I worried that the kids who came by to get them would meet that obstacle and decide not to turn out again. I worried that if I wasn't in my room at all times, that someone with potential might miss their chance. I worried an awful lot, but you tend to do that when launching an endeavor as big as a full-length Shakespeare play at a new school. Then I got an idea from my colleague, our choir director. He suggested for our musical that we make all of the audition tracks available in a Google Drive folded. The benefits? We don't have to individually share the link with students who are interested People who aren't part of our school Google network can't access it We can leave a URL on the call board and we won't miss anyone who isn't in one of our classes Since then, my school has gone to Google Drive for all Perf...

Why Teach Shakespeare?

When I first started teaching theater, as I excitedly told my friends and coworkers what I was planning to do for my fall production, I was met with doubt. Romeo & Juliet? Why would anyone want to direct Shakespeare? Why would anyone want to direct Shakespeare with teenagers ? My decision was threefold. I love Shakespeare. I want to spread my love of Shakespeare. I needed a royalty-free play that I could perform that fall because we were left with $100 in the drama club budget. I had already written a plan for a college directing class, so I had an idea of how to tackle R&J. I also knew that we could put up a Shakespeare play with one minimalist set (set build shown right). I knew that directing epic fight scenes would draw some of the boys back into the theater program, and if there's anything high school theater directors can agree on, it's that it's hard to get boys to audition. But as I was met with incredulous looks, scoffs, and questions, I sta...

The Personal Monologue Project

A young girl stands on a tiny platform under a spotlight and tearfully tells her classmates about the night that she held hands with her siblings in the bathroom of their home in Syria while the Russians bombed their street. A fourteen year old boy admits a vulnerability hiding under his swagger. A sometimes combative teen with a lot of talent recounts the sensation of her father's car flipping in an accident that took his life on the way to the birth of her sister. Two girls who previously had little interaction connect over similar stories about drug-addicted parents and coming to live with their grandmothers. There are days when my classroom is pretty factual and practical. We learn to make scaled set drawings. We study the differences between Greek and Roman theater. We memorize lines by rote. And then there are the days when my class gets pretty emotional and almost therapeutic. We journal. We build box forts. We reveal something about ourselves like we did that day when we ...

Merry Wanderer Teaching

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