Well, you know, she could be an Amazonian goddess

A positive post, since I've had such low ones in the recent past.

Yesterday was an energizing day--because I was tired of lecturing to my students of Shakespeare's greatness and complexities in The Tempest, I decided to have my students entertain me for the bulk of class. This turned out to be a fascinating and fun class, so anyone teaching drama (or really any creative, interpretive text) is welcome to adapt this lesson to their own classroom.

My students knew we were doing a group activity for Friday's class, so they were generally prepared. I assigned them to groups (because of the size of my class, I prefer a group count of five). Each group was then assigned a scene to look at closely; then, they were asked to choose a passage of no more than 15 lines, but which also must be an interaction between at least two characters. Two group members were assigned the roles for the two characters, which they would interpret and perform for the class. The non-acting group members would explain the significance of that particular passage to the rest of the class, after the performance of course. I also asked the students to applaud after every performance by each group because it's quite a show of bravery to come up and perform Shakespeare in front of one's classmates (and teacher). I divided the groups this way:

Group One: 3.1
Group Two: 3.2
Group Three: 3.3
Group Four: act 4*
Group Five: act 5*
Me: Prospero's Epilogue

*In The Tempest, acts 4 and 5 have only a single scene. The groups with these acts were capable of handling the size of the act just as easily as the other groups with smaller selections.

I let them discuss their selection for about fifteen minutes, and I also circulated the room to chat with each group about their ideas for their performance. Most groups were shy and did not want to perform in front of everyone, but once I reminded them that we were working with a comedy, they perked up and some decided to really make their selection borderline absurd. I have two examples that won out in my mind for creativity.

Scene: 3.1: Miranda and Ferdinand's clandestine marriage
The group who had this scene used a creative interpretation which really worked. The female student who played Miranda decided to play her like a tomboy, considering Miranda was raised on an island rather than in the court. The male student who played Ferdinand decided to play him like a prissy-pants prince, since that is what he is. Most fascinating, though, is that the group chose to perform a sort of "dumb show": the acting students did not speak the lines; rather, two of their group members read the lines for them while the actors demonstrated the lines. The female student reading for Miranda read her lines in a deep, uncultured voice. The male student reading for Ferdinand read his lines in a higher-pitched, more refined voice. Their classmates appreciated their creativity. When I asked them about their interpretation, they made some very interesting arguments about gender performance, and ended with the statement, "Well, you know, she could be seen as a kind of Amazonian goddess, considering she didn't grow up as civilized as her father." I agreed and thought something of this nature would serve as a fun paper topic (which are due on two weeks).

Scene: 3.2: Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban drink and drink and drink
The group who had this scene utilized a great prop: a water bottle wrapped in a brown lunch bag. The three acting students wandered aimlessly around the front of the classroom, each grabbing greedily for the bottle (or "sack") for one more swig. My student playing Trinculo stole the show: he "forgot" his lines (they had their books in front of them), so the other actors had to prompt him along, and he'd say, "Yes!" and then move on with the rest of his line. He stumbled so much around the front of the room that he ultimately had to sit down and rest his head on the desk to give the impression that the room was spinning. The other two at this point slid down the wall and sat on the ground. My Trinculo even fake vomited in the middle of his speech...the best part was that he continued the speech even after vomiting. The whole class cracked up and thought these three were complete geniuses. The best part, to me, was that I have seen it performed almost exactly this way at the Shakespeare Tavern (which they wouldn't have seen). It was so great.

After the last group performed (and was applauded), I went back up to the front of the classroom to perform the Epilogue (I had been sitting in the back of the classroom as an audience member). The Epilogue to The Tempest, of course, follows the tradition of addressing the audience for a last-ditch appeal for applause. I emoted, I emphasized important words, I made the words have meaning, and I had all 30 pairs of eyes staring attentively at me. It was such a high, and I rode that high for the rest of the day into the evening. Just before dismissing my class, I joked with the students that I should always end class with their applause.

I hope that I made at least one student understand Shakespeare a little better than they had before. I hope I made some sort of difference in their interpretation of such old literature. At the very least, I hope they enjoyed class a little more than they normally do. I sure did.

"Give me your hands, if we be friends."