Visiting Shakespeare’s impact on a group of high school students
It’s Happening Theatre Productions presented the musical Yes! Shakespeare at the River Run Centre from February 18-20.
Written and directed by high school teachers, Aaron Duncan and Heather Walker, the production seemed to promote one goal very clearly: making Shakespeare relevant for teens.
The play followed various students as they read Shakespearean texts. It then showed how a student imagined the scene playing out and then related the story to that student’s life.
Using this structure, the musical touched on topics such as sibling rivalry through King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew, the drama of high school crushes through Romeo and Juliet, and the nuisance of deadbeat stepdads through Hamlet.
For older audiences who are more familiar with Shakespeare, the play’s didacticism was somewhat heavy-handed at times. For younger audiences who are new to Shakespeare, this play is an effective and entertaining introduction to all of the Bard’s best bits.
The production featured an original score that was catchy and upbeat, encouraging the audience to nod and bop throughout the show. By cleverly placing the musicians on stage, the audience was able to witness the tenor sax, trumpet, French horn, trombone, bass, woodwinds, drums, and keyboard all come together to fill up the high-ceilinged space with a big band sound.
Additionally, the scene changes were so efficiently done that the music during them became a mini-concert at your favourite jazz bistro.
While Shannon Kingsbury’s rendition of “Frailty Thy Name Is” was the most enjoyable vocal performance of the evening, the most visually appealing choreography occurred during the song “Bleeding Inside,” which left the stage red through the use of lighting, material, and movement.
Along with Shannon Kingsbury’s hilarious portrayal of Elliot’s mother, the show featured a diverse cast of students and professionals. While grouping actors of all experience levels together can pose the risk of presenting an uneven performance, the cast of Yes! Shakespeare demonstrated quite the opposite—the play’s cohesion proved the young cast’s dedication and hard work.
There were several moments of comedy throughout the play; the satirical use of paternity testing talk shows, projecting Trump and Trudeau’s images to represent Hamlet’s uncle and father, and the ripping off of the male lead character’s pants to reveal Minion boxers all had the audience laughing.
It was clear that Duncan and Walker had spent time making Shakespeare relevant for their younger actors because they were all connected with the text. The actors had not only understood the words, but also felt them, which provided a certain level of understanding and emotion that allowed the actors to smoothly guide their audience from one Shakespearean play to the next.
Performing a play such as this one for a student audience before they begin to learn Shakespeare in high school could only help students realize the relevance of Shakespeare’s works today, and provide them with a basic understanding of what the writer’s most commonly taught plays are actually about. We can only hope that someday Yes! Shakespeare will be required viewing for eighth grade classes across the country.