Sharon Elementary Students Try
Their Skills with Shakespeare

What happens when 11 Dartmouth students, 26 Sharon Elementary School students, and The Bard come together? A fantastic production of "Julius Caesar."

This spring, the Dartmouth Shakespeare Project strikes again for the fourth year. Headed by theater professor James Rice, this program allows a group of Dartmouth students to enter the fifth and sixth grade classrooms in Sharon Elementary school to direct the students in a Shakespearean play.

Since the end of March, the Dartmouth students have been meeting three times a week with Rice to prepare. They’ve cut the script to a manageable length, created and practiced theater games, and broken up into directing groups (each in charge of one act of the play).

On April 16, the college students entered the elementary school in full force to meet their actors and begin the process. From silly warm-up tongue twisters to serious plot analysis, the training process is fun and challenging.

For the Dartmouth students, it is a chance to expose a new generation to the pleasure and magic of the theater, the world of William Shakespeare, and their own ability to perform in front of a group.

For the Sharon students, the weekly visits are a chance to work hard, let loose, and truly play.

Both groups will continue meeting Wednesday and Friday afternoons throughout May. The final product will be two performances of "Julius Caesar" at Sharon Elementary School at 1 and 6:30 p.m. on May 28.