Natalie Grove
Actors from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland visited Sweet Home High School last week, giving performances and instructing students in theater arts.
“It’s a rare opportunity for the students, they love it,” said Tomas Rosa, English teacher and wrestling coach for Sweet Home.
After beginning Monday with a performance for the student body, actors Jeremy Johnson and Christiana Clark taught workshops from Monday to Wednesday with students from freshmen to seniors.
Students had the opportunity to dissect some Shakespeare, and learn about acting. Rosa said drama students especially enjoy the opportunity, “especially getting feedback from an actor. We (the teachers) can tell them they are good, but it’s different when it’s an actor.”
Actress Christiana Clark of Minneapolis said she found Sweet Home students to be well-informed about Shakespeare.
“They were knowledgeable,” she said. “They’ve been energetic, smart and thoughtful, in the workshops and with their comments.”
Though she has been a professional actor for over 10 years, the 2013 season is Clark’s first with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She recently played Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Belladonna in “The Taming of the Shrew.”
Johnson is in his seventh season with the OSF.
”I really believe in the arts,” he said. “I think there is real profit in explaining Shakespeare. The stories have deep themes. If these kids are given the time to break it down and dissect slowly, they really understand the richness of it.”
Johnson and Clark started rehearsals in early September for these school workshops and performances. Running from November to December, they will visit 13 different schools.
Johnson and Clark also gave a free performance to the public on Tuesday night Nov. 26 at the Sweet Home High School Auditorium. The night featured scenes on the themes of love and forgiveness from “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and Earnest Thompson’s “On the Golden Pond.”
Student Katie LeBret said the actors’ performance Tuesday night “was really well done. They actually showed what true love is – it’s not some fairytale fantasy where you go find a knight in shining armor. It’s something you have to work at. It’s a teamwork thing.”
After a brief intermission, Clark and Johnson also performed a 40-minute adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Though the play contains at least eight characters, all were represented by the two actors, with minimal props.
Student Molly Fisher said, “I really liked how the girl played men’s roles even though she was a girl. It was really inspirational.”
This is the third and final year of a partnership program between the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Sweet Home High School as covered by a grant.
LeBret said she believes Shakespeare is important for high school students.
“I think it has the role to teach us how to use our language a bit more efficiently, since he (Shakespeare) did create a lot of language that we use today.”
Actor Johnson said, “These are deep stories, a treasure trove of human experience, which is why they have lasted so long.”