I am still in shock that I love coaching drama as much as I do!  I took drama in junior high and high school, and enjoyed it a great deal, but didn't ever think I would teach it.

This past year I organized a Shakespeare Festival for all of my English classes (7th, 8th, and 10th grades, plus our afterschool Shakespeare Reading Group), and it was an enormous success!  Each of my classes learned several scenes from four of his plays, and did so very well - I was just so proud of what they accomplished in 6 weeks!  This prompted our afterschool group to ask if we could form a drama group and do a production of Much Ado About Nothing, which we were reading at the time.  I said sure, asked the board of directors if it was okay, got their enthusiastic permission, and had auditions.

In a school with only 60 students, grades 1st-12th, I had 30 kids audition, the majority of them high school age.  The interest and enthusiasm blew me away!  I had assumed I wouldn't have enough people to fill parts for the entire play, so I had planned to cut a few minor characters...Nope, it wasn't necessary!  As a matter of fact, I actually had to turn down 7 of the people who auditioned (they are actually getting to be extras in the masked ball scene, which they are very excited about!)!

We've been working on the play since May, and the performances will be in September.  I am so proud of my students - The Highland Players - and the hard work they are putting in this summer.  Their ability to learn Shakespeare never ceases to amaze me - and their desire to learn more about how to get him across to modern audiences is impressive.  They're not worried about looking foolish - they want to make sure they're doing everything they can to get his words across to their audience.

If anyone reads this and wonders about Much Ado About Nothing, or about Shakespeare, I would highly recommend reading that play in particular.  In addition, the 1993 movie version with Ken Brannagh and Emma Thompson is particularly good.  It is very accessible, very fun, and a great read and watch! :)