Project Shakespeare

The girls have been participating in Project Shakespeare's Homeschool programs for three terms now.  The first two terms were Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night.  This spring the plan was to do The Secret Garden (one of those magical books from my childhood), but so many younger kids showed up (and kids who arguably wanted to be out of the house more than they wanted to participate in a play) that the older kids weren't being challenged at all.  So the director decided that five of the more advanced kids could also put on a very condensed version of As You Like It, which was fun for them but meant twice as many lines to learn.   But it all worked out pretty well in the end.  Lee played Mary and Clara played Dickon in A Secret Garden.  They played Rosalind and Celia in As You Like It, who were "like sisters."

The Cast of A Secret Garden

Rosalind and Celia                                                     Celia as Aleana and Rosalind as Ganymede

The cool thing about their doing Project Shakespeare is the experience of working with a different director.  Deborah has such a different style from Jody.  The emphasis on performance is different too.  Jody is completely minimalist with regards to costumes, while Deborah has these gorgeous costumes.  Jody focuses more on musicals and singing, while Deborah's expertise is acting.  It's really fun to see the contrasting styles.