Couplets. Free verse. Soliloquies. Enjambments. Iambic pentameter. William Shakespeare can be intimidating for young readers who are not familiar with his style and the literary conventions of early modern English. For almost thirty years, Shakespeare LIVE!, the touring division of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, has been bringing the Bard’s plays into schools throughout the mid-Atlantic region, making his words and his world accessible to all. The Pennington School has welcomed the traveling troupe onto its campus for over two decades, and this year, students were treated to both a comedy and a tragedy from Shakespeare’s repertoire.

Samantha Haughton, a member of the ten-actor ensemble, explained that where the Bard’s plays are concerned, live theater makes all the difference. “Shakespeare was always meant to be seen, not read,” she told the students during a “talk back” session following the first play. “Attending this performance means you saw the truest form of Shakespeare.”

Abridged versions of two of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays ran approximately an hour each. Students in Grade 8 and Upper School students enrolled in the School’s Shakespeare arts elective attended the morning performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, while Grade 9 and assorted drama elective students were in the audience for the quintessential love story of Romeo and Juliet. Both performances took place in the Diane T. McLarty Black Box Theater and culminated with an audience Q&A. 

Company members–five men and five women–answered assorted questions from the students who wondered about rehearsals, line memorization, and stage fright. When asked how they stay healthy and motivated with such a grueling tour schedule, the performers shared some of their personal tricks and rituals on the road, emphasizing that it helps to remember who they are doing it for: the audience and their fellow actors. 

With such a small ensemble each playing multiple roles, Nishka V. ’25 wanted to know, “What do you do to help get into character so quickly backstage?” The actors admitted that costumes help a great deal with tapping into the right character. In Midsummer, for instance, the ornate costumes for Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, included walking stilts which elevated these commanding characters above all others onstage. Kristina Hinako, who played Titania, confided that although the stilts added difficulty to the performance–the actors had to learn how to walk and move in them–ultimately it added great power to her character; “And, it’s always fun to see the audience’s reaction when we come out on stage,” she said.