Global Hamlet | Mission Graduates | San Francisco, CA. In August 2018, Founder and Director, Andee Kinzy, of ImprovEd Shakespeare departed Austin, Texas, USA. With an idea in one hand and a carry-on suitcase in the other, she began a journey of discovery. The first stop beyond the original troupe was San Francisco, California, USA. While there, she met with the students and staff of Mission Graduates. Mission Graduates helps to establish college education as an expectation and goal for children in the Mission district of San Francisco.
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HOW DID YOU FIND THE KIDS?
Remember the original plan was to find Global Hamlet participants through my own network of friends and family? Straightaway, it was already working! Accordingly, a family connection introduced me to an after-school program in San Francisco. Although it was the very first weeks of a new school term, Mission Graduates invited me to work with a stellar group of 7-8-year-old students. Consequently, we had a one-hour time slot for eight consecutive after-school days.
THE TEST
I wasn’t nervous about the workshop, certainly. After all, at this point, I had been teaching Shakespeare to youth of all ages for seven years. I was anxious, though. More specifically, I was concerned about my crew. As you can imagine, despite the generous grant from the City of Austin, ImprovEd Arts could not afford to hire a professional film crew in each location. Neither could I afford to pay a videographer to travel with us. However, I had something better, my own family.
In the same fashion of Shakespeare for Kids by Kids, my crew consists of three youth and myself. The Mission Graduate students honored us all with nicknames. As the day ended early in the week, and parents picked up their children, we played a game. In this contest, one person closes their eyes, and they have to guess who is in front of them by touch. Chiefly, the sight-impaired person would feel faces. Occasionally, they would grasp hands. By and large, one of the students traveled from touching my face to my hands. At which point, she exclaimed, “Oh! I know who you are, you’re the Old Lady!!!” Of course, we all cracked up.
Luckily, Camera Girl, aka my daughter, Zia, aims to be a cinematographer and director. I hired her right away. Unlike his sister, my son, The Boy, or Brant, is still young and doesn’t have set goals. But, he is well-versed in Shakespeare games and activities. He became my assistant. Finally, the Blonde One, my niece, who is traveling with us, stepped in as iPhone photographer.
Thus, our motley crew, Camera Girl, Blonde One, The Boy and Old Lady, set about to work.
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THE WORKSHOP
In addition to school teachers, after-school educators have similar challenges. Primarily, the Kids have already had a long day. And the outcome of this strenuous schedule can manifest as frenzied energy or utter exhaustion. Fortunately for Shakespeare enthusiasts, eight-year-old children are still curious. Fortunately for Shakespeare educators, I have a plethora of theatre, drama and improvisation games to share. Subscribe to the blog for regular updates.
Even though the kids already knew each other, they were unfamiliar with us. Therefore, I always begin every Shakespeare workshop with a Name Game. The next priority is learning the story. I’ve discovered the most favorable way to introduce the narrative of a Shakespeare play to elementary ages is through oral storytelling. If any educators find prepared synopses helpful, let me know in the comments below.
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GLOBAL HAMLET EPISODE 2, PART 1: SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA WITH MISSION GRADUATES
Since we had a lovely, colorful carpet at our disposal, we all plopped down to hear the story of Hamlet. It’s important to realize, young Kids love Shakespeare stories. Too often, educators reserve Shakespeare for older teens. However, these students were so excited about the story of ghosts including poison, coupled with sword fights plus family drama, that we had to review the story every single day we met. Many times, it led to the children recounting similar stories of their own. Eventually, they developed the familiarity and courage to tell me the story of Hamlet instead.
Consequently, the epic tale, coupled with Shakespeare-specific theatre games, filled our days until the filming of the Shakespeare scenes.
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GLOBAL HAMLET EPISODE 2, PART 2: SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA WITH MISSION GRADUATES
Although you can throw continuity out the window when you’re filming young Kids, working with them is utterly delightful. Markedly, this was the first introduction to Shakespeare for many of these students. During the filming of the Shakespeare scenes, I asked them to memorize short lines for each take. In this case, one may presume, “That’s not so hard.” Although this may be true, the real challenge, however, is attempting it with Shakespeare’s verse. And finally, trying it through the whole scene. On the whole, we repeated the following sequence; memorize one line, forget it, remember the next… and on and on.
On top of memorization hurdles, we dealt with unexpected absences. However, one learns to adapt when working in theatre, film or with Kids. It is crucially important to ensure that every child has the opportunity to perform Shakespeare verse. Thus, the end result is a charming blend of characters and players.
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GLOBAL HAMLET EPISODE 2, PART 3: SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA WITH MISSION GRADUATES
Shake It Shakespeare is a quick energy boost and focus game. Known by many other names; Shake It Off, Shake Out, or Eight Count Shake. Below, is my adaptation of this game for Shakespeare.
| Type: | Warm Up |
|---|---|
| Purpose: | To raise energy levels, focus on fellow players, and loosen up the body. |
| Procedure: | Stand in a circle. As a group, players count from 1-10, while shaking out each of their limbs. Begin with the right arm, continue with the left, followed by the right leg, and lastly the left leg. Steadily increase the speed. End the exercise by shaking the whole body up, reaching into the air and yelling, “Shaaaaakespeare!” |
| Side Coach: | First, “Look each other in the eyes.” Next, “Connect with your fellow players.” Last, “Everyone should be saying the numbers out loud.” |
| Notes: | Avoid overusing this game. It’s good to introduce this diversion at the start of the session, but only occasionally. That said, it’s an excellent exercise for a performance warm-up. |
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WHERE TO NEXT?
Next we travel to Philadelphia, PA, USA for Global Hamlet Episode 3. Thereafter, Canada, Italy, Germany, South Africa, Israel and India are in the mix. Henceforth, we are looking for Shakespeare, youth director and educator contacts in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Dubai. Please share if you have any connections!
AUGUST 2018 SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA
Enjoy our Gallery of photographs below from Global Hamlet | Mission Graduates | San Francisco, CA.
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SHAKESPEARE FOR ALL
Working with Shakespeare in education frightens many. Because Shakespeare experts, including professionals, surround us. Escaping them is difficult. This can be intimidating. Thus, feelings of dread usually accompany the act of presenting, but moreover be introduced to, the Bard.
For this reason, ImprovEd Shakespeare is here to help. Founder and Director, Andee Kinzy, offers the layman’s approach to Shakespeare.
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SHAKESPEARE FOR TEACHERS AND DIRECTORS
If you’re an English teacher, a theatre director, or a well-trained Shakespeare advocate, here you will find inspiration, as well as techniques, for making our favorite bard fun for Kids. Accordingly, we present old, new and improved ideas for introducing Shakespeare to youth for the non-Shakespeare-academic. Among them, we include theatre games, improvisation, tips, tricks, plus activities for using Shakespeare in education.
SHAKESPEARE FOR KIDS
Since 2011, ImprovEd Shakespeare has been exploring the Bard with youth through theatrical performance. Our signature scripts are a mix of modern narration plus original Shakespeare verse. With a focus on the story, including an abbreviated script length, our productions entertain all ages. Moreover, our catalog goes beyond the oft-used Midsummer Night’s Dream, or Romeo and Juliet. We’ve discovered that young people find much to their delight among many of Shakespeare’s works. Consider subscribing to our YouTube channel for family-friendly Shakespeare videos.
PERFORMANCES
Each fall and spring, ImprovEd Shakespeare develops a new production for live performance. In honor of the traditional Renaissance traveling troupe, during a period of a few weeks, we present Kid-friendly plays at various venues around town. Our Players, between 3rd-11th grade, gear themselves with playful, as well as engaging interpretations of works by the Bard of Avon. Suitable for all ages, each performance runs for about an hour.
Furthermore, these shows are always FREE. However, we gladly accept Donations! Additionally, visit ImprovEd Shakespeare, Shakespeare for Kids by Kids on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter. And don’t forget to click on our BLOG for the stories behind these videos.
