Duane Lee, a senior at Taconic High School in Pittsfield, Mass., who played Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream , feels the same. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to learn my lines, but I did. It forced me to open up and to see how relevant Shakespeare is to my life. In fact, in Massachusetts' Berkshire County, the Bard is as integral to the landscape as the white birch and rolling hills and as much a part of a teenager's life as baggy jeans and the mall. Actors and directors from the company teach students voice, movement and text for the stage.
Students learn how to build sets, create lighting, mount a play.
It gives you the ability to think outside the box, to embrace a deeper part of others and yourself, to see another point of view, to feel. We already knew they were nationally recognized programs. What we wanted to get at were the mysterious workings of teaching and learning. Students have found it to be a profound learning experience. We asked why.