For two hours each week, the cafeteria and gymnasium at Sharon Elementary School in Sharon, Vt., is transformed into the set for Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," performed by 27 fifth and sixth graders. The play is directed and organized by 11 Dartmouth students as part of the College's Shakespeare in the Schools class, a theater course given by senior lecturer James Rice.
Rice's curriculum is based on the outreach programs of Shakespeare in the Schools, a Boston-based theater company and education group. The program inspired Rice to create a class that allows Dartmouth students to direct a group of Upper Valley elementary students in an abridged version of a Shakespeare play, Rice said.
Although Rice initially held the program at Bernice A. Ray School, an elementary school in Hanover, he decided to transfer the program to a more disadvantaged group of students because he said he believes Hanover's students already have access to ample artistic opportunities.
Of the approximately 80 students at Sharon Elementary, 30 percent receive free or reduced school lunches and 42 percent come from families who qualify for MedicAid, but are "too proud" to apply for free lunch, according to principal Sheila Moran.
"I'd like to see the program continue here for as long as possible," Moran said. "It's great for our students."
Dartmouth students in Rice's class meet weekly to create lessons plans and discuss new teaching techniques. On Wednesday and Friday afternoons, they make the twenty-five minute drive to Sharon to work with the students, Rice said.
Each session at Sharon Elementary begins with a traditional theater warm-up exercise.
"I really like warm up," Nathan Guarino, a sixth grader, said. "The Dartmouth students are all really energetic, and I think Kevin [Pfeiffer '09] is the craziest."
Dartmouth students spent the first two weeks of Spring term practicing dramatic instruction techniques and creating an abridged version of "Julius Caesar. The result, according to Rice, is a talented and enthusiastic group of student-instructors and a greatly shortened version of Julius Caeser that remains true to the play's original plot, themes and language. The Sharon students will perform the adaptation at the end of May.
Moran said that maintaining Shakespeare's language is invaluable to her students' education.
"This is a profound experience for kids if you think about the fact that they're at the age where it's recommended they learn a new language, so helping them understand a new, dense, hard to access language is a gift," Moran said. "So the exciting thing really comes down the road for these kids, when they next meet Shakespeare and are excited instead of intimidated."
Lia Grigg '11, a member of Rice's class, said that learning Shakespeare is an important experience for fifth and sixth graders, and added that there are a lot of themes throughout the play that are relevant to the students' daily lives.
"People should come to see how much pressure can make people do evil things," fifth grader Morgan Merill said.
Different parts of the play are assigned to different groups of students directed by a Dartmouth students, so that the Sharon students can each play lead and supporting characters.
"It really got fun once they split us up into characters and gave us lines," sixth grader Jonathan Spangler said.
"Plus, it's good that they let everyone get a chance to play an important character," he added. "It makes most people care about the play more."
Several of the Dartmouth students said they hoped to create a quality production and support the emotional and academic development of their fledgling actors, but added that the challenge of directing had slightly changed their goals.
"The only really important thing for me is that it's special for these kids," Lauren Rocco '08 said. "I'm okay with whatever happens as long as they're having a good time."
Rice added that he believes that any experience performing Shakespeare can be beneficial.
"Somehow, just to succeed at making your voice heard, to speak passionately, can be very empowering for kids, especially at this age," he said. "I really believe that some kind of transformation can occur through confronting fears, standing up in front of a group and speaking powerful language."