The Cultural Arts Committee brought Texas Shakespeare Festival actors to Greenhill for a performance on March 6.
Member of the Cultural Arts Committee Michelle Garza ’95 says the goal of the Cultural Arts Committee is to provide performance art enrichment for every division from Kindergarten to 12th grade.
Garza was the person who originally contacted the Texas Shakespeare Festival, asking them to come to Greenhill.
“I was doing online research when I came across TSF and liked what I saw,” Garza said. “I reached out to them online and got a response promptly from a TSF contact who was excited to arrange a date.”
TSF is a group of hired actors that perform many different plays by William Shakespeare, Hugh Wheeler, Wayne Barker and other playwrights.
Based in Kilgore, TX, TSF was founded by Raymond Caldwell, who worked at Kilgore College for 42 years. Due to that connection, the festival is supported by Kilgore College and works with schools to help promote theatre.
When the group came to Greenhill, they performed in Rose Hall, acting “As You Like it,” “Twelfth night,” “The Hanging of the Shrew,” “Julius Caesar” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” all of which were written by Shakespeare.
“I really liked the costumes and the set, I also liked that they incorporated some singing,” sophomore Olivia Wiles said.
During the performance, the actors took short intervals in between plays to talk about Shakespeare and his methods of writing.
One of the methods the actors talked about was how Shakespeare wrote his plays using the Iambic pentameter, which contains a rhythm mimicking a heartbeat.
“I felt very entertained,” said Wiles. “It’s not something that you usually see a lot of the time so it was interesting to watch something that is so different and unique.”
Upper School drama and theatre teacher Valerie Hauss-Smith says the purpose of bringing the Texas Shakespeare Festival to Greenhill was not only to educate people about his work, but also to bring awareness to the upcoming play.
“Anything that can sort of raise the knowledge, understanding or interest into Shakespeare, I’m all for it,” said Hauss-Smith.
In the spring, the Greenhill Theater Company is putting on a production of the mid-1800s western style play “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare.
“When I was a student at Greenhill, I had a real passion for the arts, so I remember being super excited whenever performances were brought to campus,” said Garza. “I hope the troupe’s visit created that same type of excitement.”
