Fourth Shakespeare Festival

Hamlet, Macbeth, Henry V and Juluis Caesar

Sixth-Eighth grade students, read, studied, researched and re-wrote Shake-speare in their own words to impart the tales of “The Bard” to younger students. The im-mersion began in early September during their Shakespeare Unit in Literature. Along with learning all that is Shakespeare, they learned about themes, foreshadowing, sim-ile, hyperbole, metaphor and many other literary devices to enable them to complete their re-written script. A Theatrical Portfo-lio was created to include costumes, context of scene, detailed character descriptions, their script, three underlying themes and at least one actual quote from the particular scene.

Last year’s re-written performances of: “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Taming of the Shrew,” and “Hamlet,” won an excel-lent rating at The National Performing Arts Festival in Walt Disney World as well as winning a special judges trophy for the re-writes of the scenes and two of the students earned Outstanding Performance medals for their roles as Benedick and Ursula in “Much Ado About Nothing.

This year they will present re-written scenes from: “Henry V,” “Hamlet,” “Macbeth” and “Julius Caesar.” As in years past the festival includes interactive elements for the audience. It is a fun learning experience for all.