The students’ eyes and ears were completely focused on the performance. Once the actress began her monologue, the room fell silent. “It’s going to be a learning experience.” She could not have been more wrong. “They’re going to make fun of her,” she thought.
Shakespeer on the green omaha full#
One visit, Carlson-Brown recalls, included a talented, first-time actress performing an emotional scene from “Macbeth.” It was in front of a room full of rowdy middle schoolers, and Carlson-Brown thought the actress’ approach was going to be a little “too much” for kids that age. They put up and take down sets at each stop. Actors drive themselves to each community. They build a relationship and trust with Nebraska Shakespeare staff, and by the time they graduate they’re ready to tour. Most UNO Theatre students cut their teeth by performing at Shakespeare on the Green. More than half of the touring actors last year were UNO graduates. “You can’t have a big ego.” She has a reliable pipeline of talent coming from UNO Theatre. “You have to cast the right actors when you’re going into high schools,” Carlson-Brown says. Another challenge in having a successful season is hiring the right people. The troupe also experiments with gender and show students that women can play men’s roles. Sarah Carlson-Brown says some might get nervous about “putting Shakespeare in front of young minds.” But, she adds, “If you do it the right way, and you challenge them and raise the bar, they will match you.” Nebraska Shakespeare regularly makes adaptations to the music and wardrobe so the play is a little more contemporary, but many students are surprised when they hear that none of Shakespeare’s prose has been changed. Last year, it performed for more than 10,000 students across the state. The group often visits the same schools almost every year while also continuing to grow its footprint. However, it often only takes one performance for Nebraska Shakespeare to be asked back. “A lot of students and adults have a bad taste in their mouth from Shakespeare because they think it’s too fancy or they can’t understand it,” she says. Withem admits it can be a tough sell - at first. Past visits have been made to Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney, Valentine, Cozad, O’Neill and Gering. Each year in September and October, Nebraska Shakespeare takes a team of nine actors into middle schools and high schools throughout the state to perform a 75-minute adapted version of a Shakespeare play. Thirteen years ago, Nebraska Shakespeare addressed that issue by launching a travelling program, Shakespeare in American Communities, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Performances are free, but not everyone can make the trip to Omaha. That’s done most notably through its flagship event, Shakespeare on the Green, which takes place in Omaha’s Elmwood Park every summer. Nebraska Shakespeare helps shape the way people across Nebraska think about and experience the Bard of Avon. That includes Vincent Carlson-Brown (artistic director), Sarah Carlson-Brown (director of education) and Wesley Houston (director of production). A UNO theatre graduate and digital learning coordinator at UNO, Withem is part of Nebraska Shakespeare’s leadership team composed almost exclusively of UNO alumni. “Shakespeare shouldn’t exist on a page, it should exist in a performance,” says Suzanne Withem, a company manager with Nebraska Shakespeare. Watching one performance by actors from Nebraska Shakespeare, though, has opened doors to a world of Shakespeare many never knew existed. To some, Shakespeare’s works can be intimidating pieces of literature - difficult to understand hard to connect with out of date.
Shakespeer on the green omaha download#
Read the magazine online as a Flipbook or download a PDF. The following story appeared in the most recent issue of the UNO Magazine, which highlighted many of the ways UNO touches all part of the state of Nebraska. Community Engagement Partnership Initiative.
Volunteer and Civic Engagement Programs.Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center.
0 kommentar(er)
