Local students to perform in Shakespeare Festival

With about two months of practice and hard work under their belts, local students are preparing for the fifth annual Shakespeare Festival at DePauw University.

Festival director Amy Hayes said there will be three 90-minute presentations based on William Shakespeare plays, which are set to be performed Saturday, May 2 at DePauw University's Moore Theatre. Cloverdale middle and high school students will perform "King Lear" at 2 p.m., North Putnam middle and high school students will perform "Hamlet" at 4 p.m. and Greencastle middle and high school students will perform "Twelfth Night" at 7 p.m.

DePauw University students have served as directors at each school, with two to three students spending at least three afternoons a week with the middle and high school students preparing for their roles in the Spring Spectacle of Shakespeare performances.

Hayes said the directors that go into the schools to work with the middle and high school students come from a variety of backgrounds.

"The DePauw students that become a part of the festival ... some of them have a lot of experience in theater and some of them just really love Shakespeare. Right now, we have a student from Japan that is a history and French major, and just fell in love with Shakespeare in a class she took. Some of them just have a real passion for working with kids," Hayes explained.

Alison Howard, lead director at North Putnam this year, said the DPU students go through training before they go into the schools to start recruiting.

"Before we even go into the schools, we undergo about two week-long training sessions with Shakespeare and Company co-founder Kevin Coleman. He comes in from Massachusetts and he helps the directors kind of learn what they are getting into, learn how to deal with certain situations that might arise while in the schools and also learn how to manage all of the work coming up in the next few months," Howard explained.

Grace Lazarz, DPU senior, is serving as assistant director for the festival and was a director for the last three years. She said working with the youth includes much more than just becoming familiar with their lines.

"We work with Shakespeare's language, how to involve their bodies and how to connect themselves and their personal experiences to the characters in Shakespeare's text," Lazarz said.

Howard said as the festival quickly approaches, the directors continue to be impressed with the strides the middle and high school students are making.

"They are doing a very good job. The students are extremely dedicated to the work they are doing. I've seen so many students step up their game when something happens. They will just go and learn their lines in a day," Howard said, noting the North Putnam students are currently working on perfecting their fighting scenes.

Howard said a lot of times she sees students using their experiences with the characters and relaying those experiences into their personal lives.

"We see them grow a lot in their characters and their personal development. They grow as a person," Howard said.

Hayes said this is the fifth Shakespeare Festival, and in her time as director she has seen a lot of instances of growth with the middle school, high school and college students.

"I've had parents come up to me after the festival. I had one parent in tears, just thanking us because it had completely changed their son's experience at school. In middle school the bullying was so bad they had pulled him out and then put him back in and he was having a hard time readjusting until Shakespeare. He got cast in a great role and it changed his entire social experience," Hayes said.

The directors stressed when the recruiting process begins for choosing the roles, they do not use the word audition in order to keep from scaring participants away.

"During the recruitment process, we visit various classes at the respective schools and try to get people to come out for our game day or whatever we end up calling it. We specifically ask for kids who are in all areas of interest. We usually throw out 'We need musicians. We need dancers. We need athletes.' We never really say 'We need actors, we need theater kids or we need honors kids'," Lazarz said.

Director Carter Gorman said it is rewarding to give students who would not normally have an opportunity to participate in a theatrical presentation a chance to do so on a large scale at DPU's Moore Theatre. He stressed the students who participate come from all types of backgrounds and households.

Director Laurel O'Rourk added, "I think there is a benefit to being taught by people just a few years older than them."

Tickets for each performance are $3 for students and $6 for the general public. Festival passes are available to see all three shows at the cost of $6 for students and $12 for the general public.

Tickets are available at the Green Center box office or online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1429083.