Shakespeare takes a stand against bullying
The Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s Twelfth Night 2012 Tour
at DCSM to raise awareness about bullying.
Article and photo courtesy of Jodi Anderson
No matter the time in history, bullies and bullying are not to be tolerated. On November 2, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s Twelfth Night 2012 Tour came to DCS Montessori Charter School to perform “Twelfth Night” and help educate students and teachers about Shakespeare’s messages and powerful words that still hold relevance in our contemporary times.
Three actors played the parts of nine different characters in this fast-paced, love-filled and thought-provoking play. The audience enjoyed the nuances and subtle costume changes that were combined with voice changes to transform the actors from one character to another.
Utilizing the universal themes of music, social status, gulling (fooling a gullible person), excessive behavior, misrule, and disguise, Shakespeare and the acting troupe used a shortened version of the play to show the dangers of bullying and not preventing bullying. The production was both entertaining and educational.
After the play, the troupe talked about why they toured schools using “Twelfth Night” to raise awareness about bullying.
Once the students returned to their classrooms, they participated in bully-prevention workshops designed to activate the students’ voices. Students were encouraged to report bullying and to not simply be a bystander if they saw someone being bullied.
While the students had fun during the production, they learned valuable lessons and voiced future actions that could be taken to stop bullying at school and in their community.
