Photo courtesy of Ellie Kurttz
Students involved in Standup for Shakespeare perform in the UK.Ohio State will partner with the United Kingdom's Royal Shakespeare Company to work with students, public school teachers and community members to make Shakespeare come alive.
The company currently employs more than 700 people who work in its productions and provides extensive outreach and educational programs to engage more people with Shakespeare's work and live theater.
At an OSU Board of Trustees meeting, President E. Gordon Gee said the partnership is a natural fit with Ohio State's leadership role in arts and culture.
"This collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company is truly exciting," Gee said.
"It builds on the university's tremendous strengths in the arts, brings a new cultural dimension to our community and extends Ohio State's creative work around the world. Sustaining the fine and performing arts and bringing human expression to the [forefront] are among our great callings as a public university."
The partnership will produce a three-year teacher education program expected to begin in the summer of 2009 that will assist Ohio public school teachers in effectively teaching Shakespearean works to a variety of grade levels, according to a university press release.
OSU students will learn from the company's world-renowned actors and will work with public school teachers to create a better understanding of Shakespearean literature and how it is performed.
Anna Hoptry, a senior in theater, has seen the importance of bringing theater and Shakespeare to local schools first-hand.
Through an outreach program called Urban Renaissance, she had the opportunity to travel to local schools and teach students theater.
"There is evidence that we've increased test grades by teaching theater," she said. "Bringing theater to elementary schools, middle schools and high schools is important."
During the 2009-2012 academic years, OSU will support week-long summer workshops in Stratford-upon-Avon, England and in Central Ohio for teacher leaders. These intensive workshops will be led by teaching faculty from Ohio State and education staff and actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
While in the U.K., teachers will be working with professional artists from the company and attending productions. They will bring their knowledge back to Ohio and share it with students, who will also be receiving instruction from graduate acting students in OSU's Department of Theatre.
OSU will also work with the company to create a Young People's Shakespeare Festival which students, community members and central Ohio educators would attend.
The company has already made a mark, reaching more than 65,000 young people in the last two years.
"I know that this partnership will enrich the RSC's already highly successful education program," said Michael Boyd, artistic director for the company. "We look forward to sharing our deep commitment to inspiring and engaging students of all backgrounds and abilities in the work of our house playwright and learning from the innovative practices at The Ohio State University."
The new Office for Arts and Culture at Ohio State is leading the partnership, along with assistance from the College of Education and Human Ecology, several departments in the Colleges of the Arts and Humanities and the Wexner Center for the Arts.
"This incredible partnership will give countless students in Ohio the opportunity to actively experience the timeless work of William Shakespeare in meaningful ways," said Karen Bell, associate vice president for Arts and Culture. "We are unbelievably grateful that our public school teachers, Ohio State students and the community will work with the best of the best when it comes to Shakespeare; the most famous Shakespeare company in the world."
Holly Davis can be reached at davis.2345@osu.edu.
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