Much Ado About Nothing: Student Residency Program

Today, I headed out to Eastlake North High School to shadow Great Lakes Theater's Student Residency Program, which I talked about in my last post. Basically, the purpose of the program is to supplement and augment any school's English curriculum by teaching them classic plays, including Shakespeare, The Glass Menagerie, The Crucible, etc. The program is especially helpful for schools that may not have English classes that aren't particularly strong. This is because the Student Residency Program focuses on bringing the plays alive for the students through rehearsals of key scenes and student-run performances. Because of this, students are immediately more engaged and interested in what they are learning. Usually the program stays at the school for about a week teaching a classic play. At North High School, the students were learning about Much Ado About Nothing with the program, and the focus of today was stage combat. The students learned the basic technique behind stage slaps, fake pulling hair, stage throw, and fake elbowing someone in the stomach. I had a lot of fun, and I got a chance to participate in some of the activities. It was really fun, and I can see how the Student Residency Program is a great educational outreach program not only to introduce students to plays, but also to acting techniques and the theater. All in all, it was a 10/10 day!