Pat Launer's review
ITTY BITTY BARD
(review date April 29, 2009)
The 4th annual San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival, presented by the San Diego Shakespeare Society, was a huge success, with participation from more than 400 local school kids, from 37 public, private and home schools. For two hours, on five stages lined up along the Prado in Balboa Park, there were scads of 15-minute performances. It was wonderful to watch the kids, all costumed and flushed with Shakespearean excitement. Highlights were the 3rd and 4th graders from La Jolla Country Day School in a collage from "Much Ado About Nothing," re-set in India (they already had the costumes from a school study unit). Directed by Angela Rehn, Arielle Algaze and Malik Power were delightful as the dueling Beatrice and Benedick, as was Spencer Camp as the Governor, Leonato. The scene ended on a high note, with a "Slumdog"/Bollywood dance number. The Middle School of La Jolla Country Day set their "Twelfth Night" in the roaring '20s (great costumes!), to the accompaniment of "Pink Panther" music. The fencing coach at school helped provide expert sword-play. The Bishop's School's "Midsummer Night's Dream" (directed by Courtney Flanagan) featured a terrific Titania (Jess Jacobs) and a side-splitting Bottom (Michael Shyman); the Pyramus/Thisbe re-enactment, with its excellent donkey head, was a hoot. Popular local actor Linda Libby, who teaches at High Tech High School and High Tech Media Arts Middle School, entered five scenes, featuring students of various ages. Mara Jacobs (Rosalind in "As You Like It") and Daniel Myers (Proteus in "Twelfth Night") were standouts.
Valhalla High School presented the witches' cauldron scene from "Macbeth" in four alternating languages: English, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. Theater teacher Kirsten Giard chose to spotlight her beginning theater class, in which half the students are non-native speakers of English, and the disabled students include one with cerebral palsy, one who barely speaks and one deaf pupil who uses an electronic communication device. Giard contacted her friend Lynne Jennings, president of the San Diego Puppetry Guild, who spearheaded a puppetry/mask unit for the class, thus involving the non-verbal and non-English-speakers in the Festival, too.
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Pat Launer's review
THE BEST BARD BIRTHDAY EVER
(review date May 5, 2006)
Perfectly scheduled to coincide with Will's 442nd birthday, San Diego's FIRST ANNUAL STUDENT SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL was a huge, unequivocal success. When you think that the letters didn't go out to potential participants till December, it's amazing that director Mike Auer and the San Diego Shakespeare Society were able to work such magic in such a short time. At the final count, there were 23 schools represented, directly involving about 200 kids. It was terrific to see them all parading around the Prado in Elizabethan costumes! It was thrilling to see them, from the very youngest elementary students, mastering the mouthfuls the Bard penned, with apparent understanding, affection and a genuine sense of fun and adventure. The gathering began at the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park, and then a parade, led by the gorgeously costumed Queens, Elizabeth I & Mary Queen of Scots and retinue, proceeded to the two stage areas – dubbed The Rose and The Swan -- one near the reflecting pool, the other near the large fountain. There was lots of comedy and plenty of drama. One group (Mar Vista High School) set their Midsummer in the antebellum South. Another (high schoolers from the SD Civic Dance Company) were dressed as flappers for a whimsical dance collage inspired by two sonnets. A Midsummer Night's Dream definitely won the prize for most popular source material. It showed up in at least eight performances, each of which lasted 15 minutes. Next year, I think there should be some control over the plays or scenes, so there aren't quite so many Piramuses and Thisbes floating around (though the two I saw were pretty hilarious: one from High Tech Middle Media Arts, and the other from United Scholar Academy Middle School). The participants were from Elementary, Middle and High Schools, including private, parochial or charter schools (and, in the case of the talented Hollingsworth family, home-school).
The organization of the event was outstanding. Transitions between performances were fast and efficient. No one blew their lines or lost their cool. The audience – friends, family and passers-by – were rapt and appreciative. And the kids were obviously loving every minute of it, attentively watching other performers, flaunting their fabulous clothes, patiently awaiting the awards ceremony at the end of the day. Twelve statuettes were presented, in the High School, Middle School and elementary School categories, for Best Scene (Drama, Comedy, Collage) or Outstanding Performance. Below, find the total list. Overall, the demonstrable success of this mammoth effort will be invaluable in applying for grants to support next year's event. If you missed it this year, don't you dare do that again. The future of theater is in the hands of young people. To paraphrase the inimitable Craig Noel, if we can turn them on young, we've got 'em for life. Congratulations to all, and all hail the winners!