Fringe Theater returns the Bard to the blackboards
with Shakespeare in School’s take on ‘Macbeth’
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
By the pricking of my thumbs, something wickedly cool this way comes: the fourth season of Fringe Theater of Key West’s Shakespeare in School (SIS).
This year the traveling ensemble features the acting talents of Bob Bowersox, Melody Moore, Wayne Dapser, Diana Heller, Peggy Montgomery, Alicia Merel, and Tammy Shanley, with direction provided by Shanley and Judy Hadley, and Merel also doing double-duty, as production manager.
The troupe aims to simultaneously educate and entertain students at three area schools each year, and is made possible by funding from the Florida Keys Council of the Arts, the Key West Woman’s Club, and the Dogwood Foundation, and a number of private donors.
During its first three seasons SIS treated the kids at each school to snippets of several of Shakespeare’s most entertaining plays, with a little classroom education thrown in the day before, to put the works in context.
This year, however, the brain-trust decided to focus on just one piece, dazzling the lucky students at Marathon Middle High School, Key West High School, and the Sigsbee Charter School with performances of the classic “Macbeth.”
“There are so many great scenes in ‘Macbeth’ that we thought, ‘why not try a longer version of one piece, instead of a bunch of shorter ones?’” Shanley said. “So, we agreed to change things up this year. We all really love reaching out to the kids, and exposing them to Shakespeare at an early age.”
Another difference this time out is that instead of learning mock battle maneuvers in the classroom portions as they did last year, pupils will be asked to read quotations from cue cards, and guess which is a Shakespeare line, and which comes from a rap tune.
“It’s a wonderful way to show them that both are full of poetry, wordplay, and lyricism,” Shanley said. “It’s also fascinating when they guess incorrectly. Right now I’d say they’re at about 50-50.”
Most of the cast members are veterans, but Key Wester Diana Heller, signed on recently out of love for the material – and the cause.
“I used to act years ago, back in New York City, and I always told myself that when I retired I wanted to do it again,” Heller said. “I’ve also always loved Shakespeare. The students don’t get a lot of opportunities to see something like this, so I thought it would be a good thing to do.”
Theatergoers can’t catch the SIS performances at Key West High School on May 22, or the May 27 show at Sigsbee, but a free public performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. May 27 at the BottleCap bar, 1128 Simonton St.
The SIS gang will also be holding auditions for next year’s shows in the near future – and yes, the actors do receive a paycheck for their efforts.
For more information, call Shanley at 612-386-7426, or visit http://www.keywestfringe.org/
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