Text Alive! Celebrates it’s
20th Anniversary!
Text Alive! invites public school students and teachers in grades 8-12 from
DC, Maryland and Virginia to explore the themes, complex characters and language
in William Shakespeare’s plays. Text Alive! supports each district’s
standards of learning in teaching Shakespeare, making his work come alive through
a performance-based teaching strategy that enables students to become enthusiastic
participants in their learning process. Through a dynamic collaboration between
students, classroom teachers and teaching artists Text Alive! culminates in
three successive events:
- Students from each participating school come together to perform the play
onstage at the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
- Students attend a professional performance of the play at the Shakespeare
Theatre Company.
- Teaching artists return to the classroom to provide students the opportunity
to give feedback on the production and the entire program.
The performance process is an essential element of Text Alive! The Company
believes that students and their teachers need to both experience these plays
by viewing fully-realized performances and have opportunities to investigate
the plays through their own performances.
Text Alive! also includes Professional Development Workshops which
introduce teachers to exercises, activities and strategies that they can
integrate into the classroom. Teachers are provided with copies of First
Folio: Teacher Curriculum Guides for use in the classroom and
lesson plans through which they can explore key questions within the construct
of the workshops. These workshops build the teacher’s capacity to confidently
lead students through an engaging exploration of Shakespeare’s work.
For the past 20 years Text Alive! has successfully reached 12,000 public high
school students and 500 teachers through this engaging exploration of Shakespeare’s
life, times and works.
What Students say about Text Alive!
“I love the fact that we could take a scene that happened centuries
ago and make it relevant in today's time.”
Jessica, Thomas Wooten High School (MD)
“The story came together and made a lot more sense when we started to
act it out.”
Susanna, Betheda Chevy Chase High School (MD)
“TA! built confidence and appreciation for something that at first I
didn't like or understand.”
Robert, West Potomac High School (VA)
“I can honestly say I no longer hate Shakespeare and I don't think I
could want a better skill than that. I gained such a great understanding about
each of the characters and what each of the technical elements can bring to
the play. I never thought I would be able to understand Shakespeare's language
at such a great depth.”
Maria, Thomas Edison High School (VA)
“[TA!] helped me appreciate Shakespeare more. I've only ever read Shakespeare
in English and that's a drag because no one has any enthusiasm for it. This
has gotten me psyched for Shakespeare.”
Emily, George C. Marshall High School (VA)
For the 2010-2011 season Text Alive! will focus on All’s
Well That Ends Well and The Merchant of Venice
Click
here to apply for Text Alive! Fall 2010.
Click
here to apply for Text Alive! Spring 2011.
View
photos from previous Text Alive! performances.
Leadership support from
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Max and Heidi Berry/The Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation
The Mark and Carol Hyman Fund
Mardi Gras Fund
Exxon Mobil
National Endowment for the Arts
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