It’s certainly different working with OSHER participants than kids, but in some ways it’s rather similar. I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of them had an almost childish sort of joy and excitement towards participating in the Jepson Shakespeare Project. There was a variety in the reasons why each person chose to participate. Some loved Shakespeare, some just thought it would be interesting and something new to try and one woman actually expressed interest in the leadership portion. I think that brought to light one of the advantages of working with OSHER rather than children. We have the ability to have analytical discussions with them and learn from their thoughts and views. We have the chance to sit down and talk about the play more fully and relate it to our leadership studies.

Nonetheless, we still had a lot of fun. After introductions, we ended up watching the little cartoon version of Macbeth (and filling in some holes lol) and we enjoyed a good laugh together. As a theatre major, having fun in the theater is very important to me and I think that the OSHER participants have a sense of humor that’s closer to ours than children. I think it’ll make for a great semester full of laughs and fun.

For next week, we’ve asked the participants to look over the script again and come to rehearsal with an idea of one or two characters they might like to play. We decided to make the casting a group effort so that everyone feels as though they have an input and are valued. I’m looking forward to next week!