Jepson Shakespeare Project Production Blog

Today we met with our group of students for the first time. St. Joseph’s has several different schools on their campus, and the students in our group were pulled from each school. This has made the group a bit challenging to work with because each student has a unique, and sometimes difficult background story. We are going to be working with approximately nine students. Some seem eager to begin and are very attentive, while others can barely sit still and show little interest in the production. We gave a brief background of the play and Shakespeare, and then explained each role. We began to cast roles but it was somewhat preliminary and will probably change going forward.

I look forward to going back next week. Hopefully we can make some better progress.

On a rainy Tuesday night we drove over to Boushall Middle School for the first time to meet our class! After about 15 minutes of getting the children organized with their mentors, the director took us into a private room with our group of 16 kids! The director ensured us that we had been given the best scholars they could offer, and they are usually always on their best behavior. The children listened and were very respectful towards us the first five minutes alone with them, and then they became a little more comfortable and harder to control. Throughout the time we were there counselors would come in and check in on us and would settle the kids down. This was helpful for us because after about 10 minutes the kids would start to become very rambunctious again.

We started off by getting to know the group a little better by playing the name game where they match their name with an animal. Some of the kids were very willing and excited to participate, while others were shy or just didn’t feel like thinking of an animal. After the name game, we briefly discussed Shakespeare and if any of them knew who he was. All of the children had heard of him, but none of them knew who he was. We explained to them that he wrote many famous plays, such as Romeo and Juliet (they all knew that one). We also told them a little bit about how some movies, such as Lion King, are based off of Shakespeare plays. Next, we told them about the Shakespeare project and how they would be preforming act I of Mid Summer. They were all very excited and we were able to assign roles without any difficulty, giving every body their first choice. Overall, our first experience at Higher Achievement was enjoyable. The children seemed to be very excited about preforming and coming to the University. We will not be attending Higher Achievement next week because the children have an outside mentoring group coming in to work with them and we are preparing for midterms. We had a good start at Higher Achievement and I am looking forward to the working with them the rest of the semester!

This week we read through the script several time with our group to make sure that our edits didn’t detract from the integrity of the scene. After the Shakespeare purists among us were satisfied with our edits we assigned roles.  I am very excited to announce that I will be playing moonshine in the play performed for the lovers. Our group read though our scene in character, which was a lot of fun, and made a plan to start blocking next week.  It will be important to make sure that folks with multiple roles have time to switch costumes assume their other persona. During our work day on Tuesday we will most likely start thinking about blocking and props that we will need to obtain, such as a lions costume and a wall… It was great to meet our new participants this weekend and we look forward to having the whole crew present at our next meeting!

Sorry for the late post. On this day we continued cutting the script with a focus on scene two due to how long it is and the long speaking parts of the characters. We also started talking about how we should go about casting and how many people we would need to conduct our act.

Today in class we finished cutting act 3 for now. After class we went to St. Joseph’s Villa for the first time. I was very surprised to find that it was not just one school building where all the classes were like I was expecting. The school is made up of many buildings that have different students in each one. I had never seen a school like this before seeing this one. Many of the students and faculty seem to be really excited about the play and the opportunity to be involved so we will see how it all comes together.

Last week, Molly, Allison and I attempted to meet with the students at John Marshall High School on Monday. However, because of the bike race and random meetings that had to be attended, we were unable to make our first appearance. We did confirm through email with our contact that we would be meeting the following Monday, September 28th, at our usual time.

During the work day on Thursday, our group finished cutting and editing the script for Act 4 and sent it along the finished copy to Dr. Bezio to be printed for Monday. We also brainstormed possible costume and prop ideas.

This Wednesday Rachel, Lindsay, and I had our first meeting with the old folks from OSHER. They met us in Jepson and we were able to get started on our project with three of the five members we will be working with this semester. The other two members were unable to attend and will be in attendance next weekend. It was a great first meeting and we look forward to a fun project throughout the semester.

We started our meeting a little late because of some confusion with the room number and a few old folks waiting in a different section of Jepson. Once we found everybody, we played the game that we played in class by having them come up with emotions and scenes and then acting them out. At first they were hesitant, but by the end they seemed to really enjoy the game and the acting. After we each went through a few times, we stopped in order to go over Midsummer and explain our act to our fellow actors. We gave a brief summary of the other 4 acts then spent some time going over the main characters in our act and what our plan would be for the upcoming meetings. We will be dividing up lines and assigning roles during our next meeting. It should be exciting.

This past Thursday Lydia and I met with our group and advisor, Corinne. We began the rehearsal with general introductions so Lydia and I could get to know who these kids were and what their interests are. There were 7 kids present out of the total 10 and they all knew each other very well. Considering their age group (11-13), it was clear that they would challenge us with sass and disrespect but I am confident in my abilities to keep them on task. This isn’t to say they aren’t very excited to put on a play — they were already trying to cast themselves!

Another accomplishment from this past week was describing the very confusing plot summary of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Lydia and I harped on the four Athenians and their twisting relationships, as that is the main premise of our Act (II). The girls were very excited at the idea of a love story…the guys not so much. They were careful to maintain a macho attitude by holding a football and talking about their girlfriends from this past summer. That being said, I am sure they will be happy to tap into the personalities of the characters.

Finally, we played an improv game of charades which was very difficult as the boys only wanted to make football references.

Overall, I may be overly optimistic about the abilities of my group but I am looking forward to getting to know each of them better and reading through the Act our next time there.

This week I met with our site advisor Corinne, and Oliver and I conducted our first rehearsal. Corinne showed me around the site during our meeting and told me a little about the kids participating in our elective. We will have a total of 10 kids ages 11-13, however, only 7 could come to our first rehearsal. Corinne told me the Youth Life kids were fighting to get spots in the Thursday theatre elective, so the ones who were chosen are all very excited and happy to be there. She also warned me that they were a sassy group and most likely going to test my authority. She was absolutely right. The kids were fun, but Oliver and I clearly have a challenge ahead of us if we want to maintain control, keep practices on schedule and stay focused on the project. The Youth Life center we are working out of is really nice. We have access to both a small classroom as well as a large performance room with a stage. This week we kept it in the classroom. We began with introductions (asking everyone their name, age and a personal fun fact), did a walk through of the plotline of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (trying to make it as relatable and clear as possible), and then ended with the same acting game we played in class (we asked them to choose characters from TV, media, sports, etc. rather than the play). I think everyone had fun, but two of the kids were very shy and, unwilling to participate. It’s my goal to break them out of their shells by the end of the project. Another challenge Oliver and I will have to confront is reading levels. Corinne told me two kids in particular really struggle with reading. Right now Oliver and I just plan to make everyone feel as comfortable and open as possible about the reading, and we’ll do one on ones if necessary. The kids are very excited about the romance portion of the plot, and they asked if we could choreograph some kissing into the play. I did say maybe, but I’m not sure they are mature enough to handle it. Overall I’m a little nervous about the group staying on task, and I’m not sure we’ll be very prepared come show time. Next rehearsal we are hoping to read through the scripts and cast roles. I’m predicting total chaos.

When arriving at St.Joseph’s Villa, my group mates and I were somewhat shocked about the amount of land the organization had. We then met up with Haley who turned out to be even more upbeat and outgoing in person than over the phone. She was very excited to tell us about every aspect of the organization and then preceded to take us on a tour. Before the tour I imagined there would be a central area where the students would be congregated. In fact, there are four separate schools with different purposes. We toured the three schools that has the students we will more likely be working with. The first school was one for those with diagnosed illnesses. There were only a few kids here that seemed to want and try to branch out. Many of the teachers expressed how most of the students already act in some way or another, therefore they believed that the acting would not be an issue. This idea held constant throughout the three schools that we visited. The next school, the alternative school, saw a few more students who were skeptic about acting. Due to being expelled from other schools, these kids may have some behavioral issues. Yet the teachers all seemed to have a way of getting them to give their attention. I believe they will be able to branch out more than they previous thought they even could. The final school was a private school which consists of students who did not fit in as well at other schools around the city. There was a great number of interested students here. I believe that this group may be the most comfortable with the task that we may ask them to do. All in all, the trip was lengthier than expected. At times it seemed that Haley could be distracted very easily. We left a lot later than intended. I hope that in the future she will help the process stay on time. Overall, I think this will be a learning experience for all involved with the program.