Could the powerful words of William Shakespeare end violence in schools?
Since 2011, the听听(CSF) and CU-Boulder鈥檚听听(CSPV) have听worked together to present annual school tours, where CSF actors perform a truncated Shakespeare play and lead workshops to discuss bullying, violence and unhealthy relationships in the Bard鈥檚 writing.
鈥淭he actors teach the students about things they can do to prevent bullying in schools and create a healthier climate,鈥� said Laurie Keith, who works for CSPV. 鈥淭hey use theater games and role-playing to help get across some of these really important messages.鈥�
This spring, three actors rehearse and present a Wild West-themed 鈥淭aming of the Shrew,鈥� the classic comedy about a man named Petruchio who persuades a stubborn, irritable Kate to marry him and learns a few things about himself in the process. But Keith, who serves as the show鈥檚 director, wanted to put a unique spin on it.
鈥淚n the past, we鈥檝e always done productions with men and women,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his year, we decided to cast all females. We were excited to look at how a woman playing Petruchio could possibly change the dynamic of the relationship between Petruchio and Kate.鈥�
Keith says the all-female school production aligns well with CSF鈥檚 2016 season, which focuses heavily on women鈥檚 perspective. This summer, two plays in the festival will feature women playing traditionally male lead roles. The gender swap led to near-perfect male-female parity in this season鈥檚 ensemble cast.
鈥淲e鈥檝e realized there were a lot of great parallels between our gender bending and the festival鈥檚 gender swap,鈥� Keith said. 鈥淏ack in Shakespeare鈥檚 time, the plays were performed by men, even when the characters were women. I thought, how interesting it would be if we flipped it so that we gave women the opportunity to play both women and men.鈥�
While it鈥檚 clear that the three actors, each of whom take on a male role at some point in the performance, are indeed playing men, the fact that they鈥檙e female 鈥渄oes help to soften the relationships between genders and change the relationships a little bit,鈥� Keith said. 鈥淚t invites us to look a little more at gender and peer relationships in today鈥檚 world.鈥�
In a traditional 鈥淭aming of the Shrew鈥� performance, audiences will walk away believing Petruchio has 鈥渢amed鈥� Kate. But when Petruchio is played by a woman, Keith said, audiences might start to wonder whether Kate has in turn tamed Petruchio.
鈥淜ate and Petruchio are two people who have behaved badly their whole lives, acting as bullies toward other people, toward siblings,鈥� Keith said. 鈥淎nd yet, by the end, they both have learned how to be nice and have a healthy relationship. So we hope that鈥檒l lead to kids asking, 鈥楬ow can we stop bullying each other and become more of a team?鈥欌��
The violence prevention campaign doesn鈥檛 end after the workshop. CSPV works with an organization called , an anonymous tip line for youth who see or experience violent behavior, to measure the effectiveness of their Shakespearean campaigns.听
Thanks to Safe2Tell, Keith can proudly proclaim their school visits seem to be working.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to see that the schools we visit are the schools whose students have logged more Safe2Tell calls over the course of a school year,鈥� she said.
Since 2011, CSF in the Schools听performed in 220 schools and reached 72,978 students across Colorado. During the 2015-16 school year alone, 5,114 students participated in violence prevention workshops. Nearly 27,000 students have participated over the course of the program's history.
For more information about the program or to request a performance and workshop in your school, visit the .
