Southport Magazine

A Shakespeare Workshop for teens is returning for it’s second session this year. Brunswick Little Theatre’s “Shakespeare Rocks” workshop is open to youth ages 13-19 regardless of experience and will meet on Wednesdays September 14 to November 16 from 6-7:30 pm at the theatre, 8068 River Road. The cost of the ten week workshop is $90 per student. To register go the http://www.brunswicklittletheatre.com to download form and and send in form with payment. If you need more information, contact instructor Rosina Whitfield at 336-549-2476 or Rosinact@bellsouth.net.

The workshop’s instructor is Rosina Whitfield, who has spent her career as a theatre director, educator and actor, most recently as the Artistic Director at the Drama Center in Greensboro for 16 years, where she instituted a program where teens and adults performed a Shakespeare play each season. She studied in London with The Royal Shakespeare Company.  She is currently the Drama Director at South Brunswick High School.

We spoke to Director Whitfield about her love for The Bard, the appeal to youth of his works and what participants may expect. 

What draws you to teaching Shakespeare to youth? 

I fell in love with Shakespeare in 8th grade when we went on a class field trip to see” Hamlet.” with a drop dead gorgeous guy playing the lead.  We had read the first part of the play.  I was on the edge of my seat because I didn’t know how it was going to turn out.  In college I majored in theatre and studied Shakespeare in London.

Fast forward, I was a director at a theatre summer camp in Pennsylvania, and the kids were complaining about how boring the guy teaching Shakespeare was.  I set out to prove them wrong. I wrote a play combining scenes from Shakespeare simulating a soap opera, called “As The Bard Turns.” After they performed it, they wanted to know what happens to the characters. They encouraged me to get the play published, which I did.  

When I was with The Drama Center in Greensboro, I started with a class of six and wound up doing a teen Shakespeare play each season.  Forty or more kids would show up for auditions.

Is it difficult to overcome the unfamiliar language? Any special techniques for that? 

No, it is not difficult.  The key is that they understand every single word.  Once they get it, they can convey it for everyone to understand.  A lot of Shakespeare is visual, and bawdy, and funny.  Done well, and on its feet, there is nothing an audience can’t understand.  A friend of mine summed it up beautifully.  He said reading Shakespeare is like going to a restaurant and eating the menu.  It is meant to be performed.

What about Shakespeare resonates with young folks?

The themes resonate and the young people identify with the universality of the emotions.  They love the humor and discovering the beauty of the language.

This is your second workshop, what did you learn from the first? What was the experience like for the first group of students? 

We had a blast.  I think the students were surprised to be on their feet in the first 15 minutes. At the end, we put on a showcase of scenes.  I was surprised how many people came and how many children were in the audience. 

What would you say someone on the fence about joining this workshop, maybe someone who may be am little intimidated or nervous?

Do not be nervous or intimidated.  The class is for all levels of experience.  It’s active and fully participatory.  Most of all, it’s fun.