The mission of the Shakespeare Alive! educational outreach program is to promote active engagement with the works of William Shakespeare. By doing so, we hope to nurture respect for the power of language, encourage the examination of complex ideas, fire imaginations, and deepen understanding and tolerance for the richness of human experience.
The Illinois Shakespeare Festival was proud to launch our Shakespeare Summer Camps for young thespians in Summer 2009. These day camps offered youths, grades 6 to 12, an exciting environment to explore Shakespeare's text with their peers in one week or two week sessions. Small group activities with trained teaching artists helped students develop skills in acting, voice, movement, character development and technical theatre. Students entering grades 9-12 also learned beginning stage combat. Small group rehearsals lead to a public performance at the end of each session. Tuition also included special workshops with our professional actors, backstage tours, and discounted tickets to a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Bring "Shakespeare Alive" at camp this summer 2010!
Camps are open to students who will enter grades 6-8 and 9-12 in Fall 2010.
All sessions run Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Please check back for more information or email festedu@ilstu.edu with questions.
The Illinois Shakespeare Festival is pleased to offer teachers and students the opportunity to experience the excitement of Shakespeare in performance with scenes from The Rustics of Arden, a 30-minute original adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Using actors from Illinois State University's School of Theatre, this production highlights contemporary themes in this timeless tale of love, ambition, jealousy, and redemption.
Actors and certified teaching artists engage students after the show, answer questions, and guide students to a greater understanding of why Shakespeare and his stories continue to speak to us more than 400 years after they were written.
Grade-appropriate teaching materials are available electronically for teachers wanting further enrichment opportunities. Classroom workshops may also be arranged to help students engage in moving Shakespeare from the page to the stage.
Please contact 309-438-3334 or festedu@ilstu.edu for more information.
For more information on how you can support the Shakespeare Alive! educational outreach program, please contact Vanessa Bamber at 309-438-8974 or shake@ilstu.edu.
