Sharing The Stage With Shakespeare

“Whoosh.” “Swish.” “Arrgh.”

As he stood in a circle of students at the historic Masonic Temple Building in Glendale on Wednesday, Sam McCarthy, 13, of Pasadena, belted out various sounds to warm up his vocal chords for a voice lesson.

McCarthy, one of 18 pupils attending A Noise Within’s Summer With Shakespeare acting program, echoed sounds of frustration, joy, anger and surprise with the five other students in his class before they moved on to words and then sentences.

Although he has been acting for six years, this is McCarthy’s first season with A Noise Within. He joined the acting program, which began on July 6 and will run until Aug. 8, because he wanted to try a new style of study to refine his technique.

So far, the program has been much different than others he has taken, McCarthy said.

“It mixes a lot of movement as well as acting,” he said. “It doesn’t focus on one thing, which is good.”

Along with the voice class, Summer With Shakespeare offers a range of technique classes including acting, improvisation, speech, textual analysis and mask technique. Offered to young actors aged 10-18, the program meets for five weeks over the summer and culminates in a presentation of scenes from William Shakespeare’s plays.

The skills the children learn benefit them far beyond the stage, said Director of Education Samantha Starr. Students in the program gain confidence and a sense of self, while learning how to work well within a group – life skills essential for any job or career they will seek in life, she said.

“It’s great preparation for life,” she said. “It’s also a lot of fun. It’s really a hoot.”

Some students have never stepped foot on the stage while others have been acting their whole lives, she continued. But because the program changes from year to year, it is common for many pupils to return to the summer camp.

Last year’s program revolved around the clowns in Shakespeare’s works. This year’s theme, “Sorcerers, Spectres and the Supernatural,” focuses on Shakespeare’s otherworldly characters – ghosts, witches, sprites and sorcerers.

Due to its focus on Shakespearian plays, the program also introduces young minds to classic literature, Starr said. Students are assigned monologues and scenes selected to suit their comfort level and learn how to interpret the text as they act out each line on stage.

Camilla Higgins, 13, of Pasadena, is excited to delve into the world of Shakespeare in the weeks ahead and considers learning how to interpret the text preparation for the upcoming school year.

“I haven’t really read much Shakespeare,” she explained. “It’s tough. But I’ll be studying Romeo and Juliet in school this year, so it will be good to know some Shakespeare.”

Moving as one would in Shakespeare’s time is also hard to master, Higgins continued, but the school’s classes make learning enjoyable. In the program, students make their own masks and lutes, learn how to fight in supervised stage combat classes and even practice Tae Kwon Do to work on their body control, respect and movement.

“We learn regal poses, and we dance how they would do it,” she said. “We learn different styles of how to move your body, which helps you to be more versatile. It’s really cool.”

Currently based in Glendale, A Noise Within, an award-winning classical theatre company, has plans to relocate to Pasadena in Fall 2010. It offers year-round classes, student outreach programs and a professional internship program. For more information on the organization, call 818.265.7961 or visit www.anoisewithin.org.