THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 26, 1996 TAG: 9602220017
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
On Feb. 2, my students and I were lucky enough to catch a preview of the Virginia Stage Company's production of ``Hamlet.'' As an English and a theater-arts teacher, I offered the trip and discovered that my students were initially reluctant to go. Their experience with Shakespeare, as dictated by most high-school English curriculums, focuses in the dissection and study of the language and characters. Bored with this approach, most students simply decide that the Bard is too dull and difficult to fool with and agree that they just don't like Shakespeare.
Fortunately, the 50 Norview High students I took to ``Hamlet'' now have a drastically different point of view. Not only did they understand the language, but they were enthralled by the living characters and action-packed plot. Considering that some of these students had never before seen live theater and most had never seen live Shakespeare, the experience of seeing, understanding and finding meaning in such an intimidating piece was invaluable to them. My students got more out of those three hours in the Wells Theater than they could have gotten out of three weeks of study in the classroom. Moreover, they were turned on to Shakespeare - not turned off.
We are extremely fortunate to have a professional company as VSC in Norfolk and even more fortunate that it is willing to take the time and expense to reach out to the kids in this area. Bravo, VSC!
CHRISTA WHITTAKER
Norview High School
Norfolk, Feb. 8, 1996 by CNB