In School With Shakespeare

I took a week and half long leave from my voluntary work at PT Foundation to do voluntary work in very different surroundings. Cempaka International School invited us to help our director Christopher Jacobs to finalize four Shakespeare plays with group of 13-year-old students.

Cempaka is an international private school for privileged children. The facilities with their own tennis courts and swimming pool made quite an impression. Also the fact that every single student had their own laptop (usually macbook) to carry around like another school book or a mobile phone.

Tuesday 10th of November was the day of performances. For the students it was a result of 7 days of intensive training and 4 months of not-so-intensive preparation to get to know the world and language of Shakespeare.

In the morning the kids and us, the director/teacher/actor/assistants, gathered up to the dancing studio. Notice the text at the back of the girl's t-shirt: "Acting is the hardest profession in the world." You got that right!

Chris (light blue shirt) gave the pep talk and Kien Lee (dark blue t-shirt) led the warm ups. The girl smiling to the camera is Ilina.

Jump, move, shake, yell...

The warm ups usually made the kids giggle.

More pep talks. This time from Alfonso the teacher-organizer from the school.

Kien Lee came to help us for the last two days of the rehearsal period. Mostly he stayed with Soon Heng's Merchant of Venice -group. He is definitely the master of the dramatic poses.

Nicole was the most carefree considering that Hamlet group had no problems during the whole progress. The kids from the Hamlet were the most hard working from all the four groups and it did show in their performance.

Sandee - with whom we were in charge of the Romeo and Juliet group - looks a bit more worried.

Our kids were not always as organized, as the Hamlet ones, but they were wonderful personalities nevertheless. Here Kosmita, Kevin and Thomas enjoy themselves before the show. They seem carefree enough.

They were team players and that was wonderful to watch.

Last instructions from the head-guru-director Chris...

...and then let the Show begin.

***

ROMEO AND JULIET

(Sandee and me)

The classic love-story-tragedy tells a story of a two families, Capulets and Montagues, that keep on arguing with each other and disturbing everybody's peace. Escalus, the mayor of the city (Thomas in white shirt) have had enough and commands peace and order between the families.

Romeo - a Montague - (played by Zoe) enters party at Capulet's house to forget his affection to girl name Rosaline. In the party Romeo sees Juliet - the daughter of Capulet - (Ilina) and instantly fells in love with this beautiful 14-year-old and forgets Rosaline. Luckily Juliet feels the same.

The problem is that they're families can't stand each other. Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, challenges Romeo to a dual cause he is furious that Romeo has his eyes on Juliet. Romeo declines the battle cause he doesn't want to harm Juliet's relatives. Mercutio (Maneesha), Romeos dear friend and a proud Montague is ashamed of Romeo walking away from the battle. He steals his gun and attacks Tybalt. Tybalt kills Mercutio and then sad and angry Romeo attacks and kills Tybalt.

Juliet is devastated. Not so much because of the death of his cousin but because his loved one, Romeo, has to run away and hide. How will they find a way to be together?

Juliet turns to friar for help. He is the same man who secretly married the couple. Friar gives Juliet medicine that makes her look dead for 24 hours. Friar sends Romeo a message of the plan: they can run away together after the funeral. Nurse (Ee Min) and Lady Capulet - Juliet's mother - (Kosmita) are in shock to find Juliet (seemingly) dead from her bed.

Romeo never gets Friar's message. Instead he hears that Juliet - the love of his life - has died. Depressed Romeo goes to Pharmacy (Kevin) to buy poison to kill himself.

When Juliet wakes up from her 24h sleep in her tomb she finds Romeo dead by her side.

Mournful Juliet takes Romeo's dagger and kills herself.

***

OTHELLO

(Chris)

The plot of this play is way too complicated to describe in short notes. Let me just tell you that everybody dies in the end. Look for the synopsis here.

Iago plotting his evil plans.

Cassio, Desdemona and Emilia.

MERCHANT OF VENICE

(Soon Heng & Kien Lee)

This play is a comedy (nobody dies).

Shylock - a Jew - borrows 3 000 ducats to Antonio - a Christian - so that Antonio's friend Bassanio can travel to Belmont to try his luck marrying beautiful heiress Portia.

Soon Heng (the man in grey t-shirt) is watching closely the performance of his young actors.

Shylock agrees to the loan with the agreement that if Antonia does not return the money in time he can cut out piece of his flesh.

In Belmont Bassanio is successful and gets to marry happy Portia.

The play ends in a court room where first things look bad for Antonio but in the end it is Shylock who gets punished. He doesn't get the money back plus he is commanded to leave his religion and turn into Christianity.

***

HAMLET

(Nicole)

The play starts with the wedding.

Hamlet's dad has died and his mother Gertrude re-marries his uncle, her late husband's brother Claudius.

Hamlet and Ophelia are watching carefully this sudden wedding.

Hamlet's late father (in white) comes to haunt. He says he has been killed by his brother and asks Hamlet to revenge his dead.

Hamlet pretends to be mad so he can plan the revenge in peace. He confronts his mother while Polonius (Ophelia's father) is hiding behind the curtain. Hamlet mistakes him to be Claudius and kills him. Hamlet is sent away. Ophelia's father has died and his hopefully-to-be-husband has been sent away and probably killed too. Ophelia fells down to completely madness.

Laertes, Poloniu's son and Ophelia's brother, returns to the castle and is furious by the death of his father and the insanity of his little sister. He want's revenge. There is a dual between Laertes and Hamlet. They both die, so does Gertrude and Claudius. And Ophelia killed herself just little before. So everybody is dead again.

*aplodes*

The show is over.

Last minutes with the kids. Emilia from Othello is writing down her email so that I can send her the photographs I've taken. Ee Min waits her turn. They were also eager to send friend request in facebook... We live funny times!

Thank you (from the up left) Zoe, Ilina, Thomas, Kosmita, Maneesha, Amelia, Kevin, Ee Min and Sandee! Despite the drama ;) I shall miss your Shakespearian company.