The Bard

Tonight I hear the barred owls calling and cackling to each other. Perhaps they are talking about the Bard, William Shakespeare. I am with them. I hoot with congratulations to yet another year of elementary school kids at SunFlower School who have made Shakespeare their own. They have produced "Julius Caesar", this year, these kids who are not yet in middle school!

More than twenty years ago, as a teacher, I had the idea that elementary age kids could do Shakespeare (way before it was popular). Our first play was "Macbeth" and we went on to the tragedies and the comedies. We never did the Shakespearean history plays (too bloody!) Some years we had extraordinary child actors, but as every year's production went by, we saw kids stepping up to the plate and letting fly with wonderful performances. Parents volunteered to help with costumes and sets, music and lights. But the entire production was up to the kids!

There have been so many favorites! How could I forget "Romeo and Juliet"? Hey-Soon, limp and dead on the funeral bier, not a dry eye in the audience? Or the Macbeths, Danielle and Stephen who made you believe in their love and collaboration and eventual tragedy? Or so many kids in "The Tempest" who were funny and stellar? And the kids who soldiered on in those awful 'twin' comedies? I loved them all!

Shakespeare helps the brain! These modern kids first look at a Shakespearian script and can barely understand the language. Six weeks later they know their parts and all the language. They have become a team on stage. They began with little, it grew, they worked hard, and they began to appreciate not only the English language in its ancient permutations, but the problems of the plots. (Why was Lady Macbeth so incredibly forceful in making her husband do such dastardly deeds?) They learn about stagecraft and they have many ideas. The process is amazing, and the final product satisfies everyone. While we did this, other Florida kids prepared for fcat. After the play was over we took the standardized tests for two days and with no prep, the kids do famously. Thanks be to Shakespeare!

The Play! It is probably the most important and remembered part of every kid's elementary school years. So, tonight, the first time I have not been a part of producing it, I rejoice that it is going well. This is my legacy. Tomorrow night I will go and see this year's production, "Julius Ceasar". I will see many SunFlower graduates there and we will hug each other and remember their roles in so many other Shakespearean plays.