Countdown to PortFest: HEARTS brings Theater to Port Washington Classrooms

PortFest brought to you by HEARTS (helping enrich the arts in Port Washington) is the biggest fundraiser of the year. All proceeds benefit HEARTS’ mission to support and enrich the arts in the Port Washington School District and the larger community. Recently HEARTS funded two grants bringing theater to the classroom: Knigthorse and Charlotte’s Web.

Joan Lisecki , chair of the English Department at Schreiber High School recounted Knighthorse’s visit to Schreiber. Knighthorse is a husband and wife acting company from Massachusetts that “makes Shakespeare come alive,” according to Schreiber junior, Rianna Stolper. The acting duo, Ty and Amy, draw upon their vast knowledge of Shakespeare that is not limited to the Bard’s most popular plays. Yet, they perform according to the specifications of the school and the needs or interests of the audience. Therefore, when they came to Schreiber on Friday, April 17th, they held two assemblies: one on the plays Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the freshmen, as well as another on the play Macbeth for the sophomores because the two classes have been studying those particular plays.

During first period of that day, Knighthorse visited with Mrs. Valenti’s Comparative World Literature class and the freshman classes of Ms. Lally and Ms. Zarkh’s in order to elucidate the language being used by Shakespeare. According to Mrs. Valenti, “One of the more interesting points that Ty and Amy made was to explain to the students why Shakespeare sometimes chose to break with the iambic pentameter, such as with Hamlet’s famous ‘To be or not to be,’ soliloquy. Ty and Amy explained that Hamlet’s lines are 11 syllables each instead of 10, according to the orderliness of iambic pentameter, because Hamlet’s mind is chaotic at that point, replete with confusion, emotion and indecision.” Lisa Smart, a freshman, said, ““That was amazing and it made me see that the scene was funny and not depressing.” (RE: A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

Later in the day, Knighthorse visited with and worked with Mrs. Schulman’s Theatre Arts class on their scenes for Shakespeare Day. Ty and Amy aren’t just performers; they also make great acting coaches!

The students from the Shakespeare class had many positive comments to make about Knighthorse’s visit to Schreiber. Milan Sani explained that the experience gave students “a new perspective on Shakespeare.” Megan Maley noted that the experience “helped with our understanding” of Shakespeare because Ty and Amy “acted it out.” Mikayla Hyman said that the experience “made us respect actors more.” Mikayla also recognized the importance of “the interplay between the audience and the actors,” which is probably why Reilly Beckstrand summed up the experience simply by stating, “It was really fun.”

Brooke Roberts, 2nd Grade teacher at Guggenheim spoke of bringing Charlote’s Web to the students at Guggenheim. “This experience was wonderful. In second grade one of our Social Studies units is Communities. We read Charlotte’s Web to the children as a read aloud because it ties into our study of the rural community. We learned all about farm life. This Charlotte’s Web show was fabulous! The children loved it. It had beautiful scenery and the actors were fantastic. This show really BROUGHT THE BOOK TO LIFE!!! Theater is extremely important to children because it is not only a sense of enjoyment, but it can really spark children’s imagination and creativity. Later that day I heard children in my class reciting lines from the show! Perhaps it could even give children an idea of that they will go into theater and join plays when they are older.”

To support HEARTS mission to enrich the arts in the Port Washington School district, come to PortFest! PortFest is a community wide Music, Arts and Community Festival. Live music, art exhibits, local musicians, dance performances, interactive hands on exhibits, and performing groups from across the school district are just some of the scheduled events and activities at PortFest. New to PortFest will be the Poetry Café featuring poetry readings and a display of student artwork. Coffee and sweet treats will be available for purchase in the Poetry Cafe. One of the largest exhibitions will be the PortFest Art Exhibit that will boast different local artist’s work on display and available for purchase (a percentage of sales will go directly to HEARTS). The popular Silent Auction tent will be chock full of incredible prizes, baskets, and experiences. Proceeds from PortFest will go towards the grants program established by HEARTS (helping enrich the arts) for Port Washington.

Admission to PortFest is FREE and there will be plenty of free parking at the Schreiber High School Campus 101 Campus Drive Port Washington, NY 11050. For a schedule of events or for a link to make a donation, log onto www.pwportfest.org.

To connect with HEARTS, as a volunteer or to make a donation, log onto www.heartspw.org or www.facebook.com/heartspw or email heartspw@gmail.com A Crowdrise account has been established for PortFest. Below is a link to Crowdrise, which will enable you to set up a fundraising tool that you can share via email or social media.…Come “Join The Team” https://www.crowdrise.com/fundraise-and-volunteer/the-team/portfest2015/heartspw