Local students prepare to present Shakespeare

Banner Graphic/Sabrina Westfall Shakespeare Festival program director Amy Hayes led students from three local schools a common class focused on dance in the Lilly Center this week. The students practiced moving to the music, learned how to curtsy and to bow. ***Look below for a short video from this week's common class!***

DePauw University students are working with students from three local school corporations to present during this year's Shakespeare Festival.

The Spring Spectacle of Shakespeare is set for May 2 at Moore Theatre at DePauw University. Middle and high school students from their respective schools have parts in three Shakespearian plays. Cloverdale students will present "King Lear" at 2 p.m. during the festival. North Putnam students will present "Hamlet" at 4 p.m. and Greencastle students will perform "Twelfth Night" at 7 p.m.

Program director Amy Hayes, who is also the adjunct professor of communication and theater at DePauw, explained this year she has 11 students that visit the three middle and high schools during a semester long residency.

"Our DePauw students become the directors ... They are split up between the three schools and the one serving as lead director has experience with the festival," Hayes explained, noting the students receive credit for their work with the project.

Banner Graphic/Sabrina Westfall Caleb Burns learned how to great a monarch with a bow. The students walked in pairs as couples would in the Elizabethan Era with one hand on top of another's out stretched hand. Some learned to curtsy while others learned to correctly bow to a king or queen.

The students are specially trained through Shakespeare and Company, which the local festival is modeled after. Hayes said the DPU students are trained during a two-week course with the parent company out of Massachusetts.

She added, "This is part class, part internship, part apprenticeship, part community service and part education. The students can put this on their resume. They don't get a salary, but they get academic credit."

Hayes said last year, the program had 180 local middle and high school students participate. This year, the number of students may be lower because South Putnam students will not be participating.

"It's important to note this is not a competition. These students get to know each other in a different way than competing against each other," Hayes said.

She stressed the importance of using William Shakespeare's works with all involved because his writing style, even by Elizabethan Era standards, has multi-layered and complex language.

As part of the preparation during the semester, Hayes hosts common classes to gather the students together. Tuesday evening, the students participated in a dance class.

"This is a way to get them into their bodies and out of their heads," Hayes said about the dance class.

The students also participated in a stage fight by using a broad sword in the style of the play "Macbeth". After the dance class, students will get the chance to learn more about behind the scenes work, with a technology class led by Jack Sutton. The final common class is a performance class, to give the students a chance to learn more about getting up on stage.

Hayes said the program is obviously important for the DePauw students' academic careers, but it also has a positive impact on the middle and high school students that participate. She said bonds are formed and the students get to branch out.

This is the fifth year for the Shakespeare Festival, which is free for the students to participate as it is sponsored by DePauw University and local businesses. She said a quote from "King Lear" is often used when describing the program, which says, "Who is it that can tell me who I am?"

"This is more about helping them get in touch with who they are. These students go through so much," Hayes said.