Shakespeare Comes to Bancroft

As the result of a grant from the Bistline Foundation and Idaho Community Foundation, North Gem was visited by the Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s Touring “Shakespearience” troupe, who presented a performance of “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and led students through a number of workshops on various aspects of professional acting.  High School students first attended the performance itself, after which the students participating in the school’s upcoming production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” remained for the workshop sessions.

The “Shakespearience” Touring group is devoted to providing educational and cultural opportunities to communities throughout Idaho, with an emphasis on attempting to reach smaller and rural communities who otherwise may not have as much access to fine arts instruction. 

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival is one of 40 professional theater companies across the nation selected to perform a Shakespeare play with a professional team of actors for middle- and high-schools and conduct related educational activities for students by The National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest presents Shakespeare in American Communities.  The ISF has been in existence since 1977, when it began as a much smaller affair as an outdoor Shakespeare event in Boise.  Since then, the ISF has expanded to include its touring troop, teaching and residency programs, and outreach of the type that made its way to Bancroft last week.

The performance itself was an adapted version of the well-known Shakespeare play, which cut out a number of the subplots and incidental scenes in the interests of time and clarity.  A standard production of the full text can take around 3 hours, but the compressed version lasted around an hour.  With a limited cast, the troupe rotated through the various parts, using minimal but distinct costuming to identify their various roles.  The overall theme for the production was “The Wedding Party,” and the costumes followed that design
aesthetic.  

The stage elements are designed to be as modular as possible, and the small team of six actors who visited North Gem stated that the school’s facility were much easier than some they had visited in their travels.  The touring company essentially spends a semester with the ISF in the program, and visits schools and other organizations that book them during that time.  This particular cast, composed of actors with a range of backgrounds and experiences all across the country, has visited many locations throughout the state, including Fruitland, which they universally described as the hardest stage to deal with.

A Bistline grant for $1,595 was used to bring the performance and class to North Gem, where “This tremendous opportunity means that our rural students can get an opportunity they might not have had otherwise, to have these experiences and expand their knowledge and exposure to a variety of Art and how it manifests itself in the Theatre setting. The exposure to a Shakespeare theme has tremendous benefits for the students and enhances their art culture as well as expanding on their experiences in Literature,” according to North Gem Education Foundation Treasurer Rhonda Banks.

North Gem drama teacher Candace Rindlisbaker and assistant Raquel Reed were also on hand during the performance and workshop.  (Reed explained that Candace was “too soft” and it was necessary for her to be on hand when someone needed
to shout.)

The workshop was a fun mixture of the different concerns that go into putting on a performance, from loosening up exercises to make the actors more flexible and fluid, to script issues and ways of bringing the best out of fellow castmembers.

One of the exercises had students reading from a script while switching to different emotions at a signal.  The idea was to allow them to feel how different emotional states can create differences in their speaking and their physical movements, and how those can affect a scene and the other actors involved.  As Tristan, one of the ISF actors, explained “Acting is a ensemble sport.  It works best when everyone is fully ‘in’ the scene with
each other.”

David ran the actors through a series of exercises that were designed to get them used to the physical space and interacting with each other in it.  One of them involved a rhythm and response game that had the entire group, including Rindlisbaker and Reed doubled over with laughter.  “It feels silly,” David said.  “But we’re all doing it, so don’t worry about it, right?”

Lydia and Zooey led the groups through exercises designed to get them used to working with acting partners.  In teams, the students decided what they were going to try to “get out of” their opposite player.  One group, for instance, decided to try to make their partners laugh.  During a scene with the partner, the two actors attempted to achieve their unspoken mission, to
great success. 

The workshop allowed students to receive professional training from working actors who have a lot of performance experience.  They also had the chance to ask questions of the group, which they took full advantage of.  Many of the questions had to do with what brought the group into acting in the first place, what some of their experiences had been like, what kinds of theatres they enjoyed performing in, and how they managed some of the practical aspects of the job.  After hearing about the grueling schedule that the touring actors committed to, it likely sunk in that while very entertaining, professional acting is a fulltime job and then some, with countless hours outside of performances spent travelling, preparing, auditioning, and studying.  All in all, it was a unique experience that clearly provided a benefit to the students, and a rare opportunity to meet and learn from extremely talented professionals.

The grant that brought the Idaho Shakespeare Festival to North Gem also helped to provide supplies for the newly acquired pottery kiln at the school.  

“Arsenic and Old Lace” will be performed in April, on the 19th, 20th, and 21st.  The roles have been cast, and rehearsals and set construction have begun.  As the play goes into production, the Enterprise plans to catch back up with Reed and Rindlisbaker for a longer conversation about the play itself and the role of drama and arts education in small schools in the area.  If the workshop experience was anything to go on, the students at North Gem are enthusiastic and ready for anything.  

As Rhonda Banks of the North Gem Education Foundation said, “We hope this educational opportunity will reach beyond the classroom and possibly ignite a passion for the theatre or expression of Art that the students may not even know they have.”