Irvington Middle School eighth graders delivered a memorable performance of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on May 31. Assisted by props and costumes, they acted out scenes from the play to bring their performance to life and demonstrate their understanding of the complex text.
“The students worked on blocking, memorizing Shakespearean lines, and using their bodies to convey the story,” English language arts teacher Olivia Evanko said. “We are incredibly proud of their open-mindedness, responsiveness to feedback, and passion for the project. We had an absolute blast watching the evolution during the beginning of the project to the final performance.”
Over the course of six weeks, the students had been preparing for their performance by reading Shakespeare’s play in class, watching various productions of the play and, simultaneously, working with Clocktower Players artists Jocelyn Rosenthal and George Croom. In addition to Evanko, the students worked with teachers Tara Chillemi and Arielle Rodriguez.
“We are so impressed with students’ abilities to grapple with such a complex text in a mature and creative way,” Chillemi said.
The artists’ visit was sponsored by the Irvington Education Foundation through a generous grant.
