Columbia High School's 18th Annual Shakespeare Festival 2020 Goes Virtual

Press release from the School District of South Orange & Maplewood:

April 21, 2020

“Hell is empty And all the devils are here” The Tempest

Virtual Edition- “But now I am cabin’d, cribb’d, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears” Macbeth

The festival has faced many obstacles over the past two decades–budget issues, building repairs, scheduling conflicts–but we’ve never had to deal with a situation like this. But as they say, the show must go on! We are attempting to put together a virtual Shakespeare Festival. Students should create scenes from their homes while observing social distancing rules.

Here are some ideas:

• Create stop motion or claymation scenes
• Do a scene with action figures or stuffed animals.
• Do a scene on FaceTime, Zoom or other video conferencing platform
• Do a narrated comic book or graphic novel version of a scene
• Put a sonnet or soliloquy to music and sing it.
• Do a scene with a neighbor from across the street
• Involve family and pets in a scene.
• An Instagram or SnapChat feed of a character as their play unfolds
• How about a TikTok video?
• Or any other way you can bring Shakespeare’s words to life.

Students can reach out to their English teachers for scene suggestions.

Students should submit their scenes to their teachers (ask about extra credit!) and then we’ll take a couple days to mash it all together, add some emcees, and have a premier.

And since we’re doing things differently this year, we’ve decided to take scenes from alumni and community members as well!

For more information, contact Mr. MacPherson at smacpher@nullsomsd.k12.nj.us

Deadline for submissions: Friday, May 22, 2020

Premier Date: TBD

This press release was produced by the School District of South Orange & Maplewood. The views expressed here are the author’s own.