York Town News
The Bard lives again at annual YMS Shakespeare Festival
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Sixth-grade students at York Middle School brought Shakespeare's classic characters to life during the annual Shakespeare Festival on Thursday, July 1. Above. M. Meghan Boria, center, as 14-year-old Juliet, listens as her nurse and mother discuss whether or not she should be married.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
William Shakespeare - also known as York Public Library Director Robert Waldman, and Queen Elizabeth I, portrayed by York resident Gwyneth Wykes, listen intently to a scene from "Romeo and Juliet" at the annual York Middle School Shakespeare Festival, held on Thursday, June 1, on the school grounds.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
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It was the annual York Middle School Shakespeare Festival, held Thursday, June 1, on the school grounds. The event, which is months in the making on the part of sixth-grade teachers and students, traces its origins at the school back some 20 years and has become one of the much-anticipated events of the academic year.
And, according to the teachers and students who thronged to the jousting grounds and outdoor performing arena, this year did not disappoint.
With costumes, props and all the world as their stage, these young Montagues, Capulets, fairies of the forests, nurses, royal families and ladies in waiting brought to life the scenes of Shakespeare's most famous works as part of a day-long celebration of all things Elizabethan.
It all took place under the watchful eye of Queen Elizabeth I herself - York's own Gwyneth Wykes - and William Shakespeare, who bore a striking resemblance to York Public Library Director Robert Waldman.
Wykes has brought Queen Elizabeth to life at the festival for better part of the past decade and this year marked Waldman's second time playing the bard.
"This is really wonderful," Waldman said during a pause between a presentation of scenes from Shakespeare's famous story of tragic love, "Romeo and Juliet," and the lighthearted antics of love-gone-wrong from "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Waldman said he thoroughly enjoys playing Shakespeare for the event, especially given the connection of the library to such great works of literature.
"I love it. I love the opportunity to see the children when it's theirs," he said of the students owning their roles in each of Shakespeare's plays. "It's a great day."
Wykes - or Queen Elizabeth, if you prefer - was all smiles as well, announcing as the York Middle School faculty ushered students in to place for the various events of the day that she wished to see more plays.
For M. Meghan Boria, who portrayed Juliet in several scenes selected from the tragedy, the chance to perform was a favorite part of the day.
"My favorite part of the play was when the mother and the nurse were having a conversation about whether Juliet should marry," she said. "It was very funny because the nurse is such a character."
Meanwhile, the comic characters of the young lovers Helena, Hermia, Demetrius and Lysander from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" were gathering for their scenes of fairy-induced misunderstandings and slapstick humor in a quarrel over who loves whom, due to the misplaced magic of Shakespeare's famous sprite Puck.
"I liked all the physical comedy," said Rachel Barrows, who played Helena in the uproarious scenes that had the crowds laughing and applauding.
Rachel said she enjoyed expressing her character's emotions with both words and actions.
"It was really fun, but it was also really safe," she said of the scenes of twists, turns, kicks and falls for the two feuding couples.
The sixth-grade students at York Middle School have been at work on the festival as part of their study of Shakespeare in Language Arts for the past several weeks with assistance for the preceding 11 days by actors and directors from the New Hampshire Theatre Project.
"We did read the plays so we would understand them, but it's a lot easier to understand them when you act them out," Rachel said.
The plays continued through the afternoon hours - including the comic relief of Connor Banfield as the laborer-turned-actor "Bottom" and his fellow cast members from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," leading up to the spectacular finale of the day: the annual jousting competition to determine who would be Queen Elizabeth's honorary knight for the year ahead. After many matches, the sixth-grade teacher Paula Bogard declared the winner as Kyle Robinson.
And what did Queen Elizabeth have to say about this year's event?
In her words, "It was delightful."
Associate Editor Jennifer L. Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@yorkindependent.net.
