Martins Creek
Eighth-grader Rae Ledford loves walking into Ronda Phillips’ Shakespeare class.
“It’s just comforting,” she said. “I’m always excited to get here; I love this class.”
Ledford isn’t alone. Classmate Trevor Linke agrees.
“I’ve not read Shakespeare before, and it’s different than what I expected,” he said.
Martins Creek Elementary/Middle School invited the Atlanta Shakespeare Company players up to their school gym on Oct. 28 to teach them more about Shakespeare and acting. Mary Ruth Ralston, the leader of the traveling group, said he hopes her company can “help bridge the gap between the centuries.”
Ralston believes because “Shakespeare writes about universal experiences – joy, grief and fear,” students will identify with him. “He’s got a lot of comedy in his works as well, and that helps the students relate to the universal standards” found in Shakespeare’s work, she said.
Learning the language
Phillips’ students are studying A Midsummer Night’s Dream and, once they get past the language barrier of the early modern English the Bard writes in, they say they are enjoying it.
“The language is the hardest part, but you get used to it,” Fern Crayton said. Classmate Ed Garcia added, “I didn’t understand it at first, but now I’m excited to see what comes next.”
Emma Savagot was thrilled to be cast as Titania, the Fairy Queen. “I’m a lot like the Fairy Queen,” she explained. “She’s a strong character.”
Caeser Campana, a Cherokee County instructional coach, attended Atlanta Shakespeare Company workshop and is excited about what it means for the school system.
“Things like this, visceral learning, these programs are always successful,” he said. Campana watches over the group of 25 or so students as they wave their arms and kick their legs in complete accordance with Ralston’s energetic instructions.
Throughout the hourlong workshop, the students remained on their feet and fully engaged, proving Campana’s theory. “Drama has become a lost art in schools, and Cherokee County wants to bring it back,” he added.
Ralston is happy to help with that agenda. “The words Shakespeare uses are unique and moving,” she said. “We love coming out to the schools to make him more approachable. I just wish we had more time with the students.”
A loud good morning
What time they did have, they used well. From the moment the foursome swept into the gym, they called all the students lurking on the benches to come down the gym floor and form a circle.
Ralston challenged the students to shout “Good morning!” so loudly that someone would run in to see what the noise was about. The students, who were initially shy, accepted her challenge.
“Good morning!” Ralston yelled, and the middle-schoolers responded with a resounding “GOOD MORNING!” loud enough to be heard on the steps of the Cherokee County Courthouse.
That exercise seemed to break the ice, making it easier for the company to challenge the students to speak in Shakespearean phrases, act goofy when delivering lines and use their bodies to convey a meaning. The players kept it fast paced, and the students eagerly matched their vigor. Near the end of the workshop, the students, having been separated into three groups, threw Shakespearean taunts at each other in a showdown, which ended in raucous laughter.
It is that type of personal engagement that Phillips and the Atlanta Shakespeare Company hope to generate among these young learners.
“Shakespeare helps these kids name their emotions and connect to them as well as helping them connect to other’s emotions,” Ralston said.
Real-world applications
This curriculum and workshop were championed by Phillips, who teaches eighth grade at Martins Creek. She believes Shakespeare can enrich their educational experience and that the content of his work “can help them talk about anything.” She sees real-world applications for her students.
“They work as team and this fosters relationships with each other,” Phillips said.
Martins Creek Principal,Paul Wilson loves having the Atlanta players work with his students.
“The school improvement plan,” he said, “is to offer these students unique and exciting events.”
When asked why this was an important feature to an educational program he sighs, “We are just coming off isolation and distance learning from COVID. We want to make it exciting to come to school.”
Wilson himself joins Phillips in her enthusiasm for Shakespeare. “I have a bust of him in my office,” he says proudly and although, “I am more of a Milton man, but I love Shakespeare’s sonnets.” But Ralston is a Shakespeare lover to the end. “I love to bring Shakespeare to these students. She says, “It’s great to see what choices they make” when it’s their turn to perform. Her favorite Shakespeare play is 12th Night “because the heroine is so clever and engaging.”
That’s just what her players brought to Martins Creek’s students.