After much hard work and preparation, “I Hate Shakespeare!”, a CIP Berkshire student production, was a big success. The audience was captivated during the play and laughed a lot, throughly enjoying the dialogs and jokes and not knowing what was coming next. The actors moved smoothly from scene to scene performing at a pleasantly surprising level of professionalism and confidence in themselves. It was apparent that they were enjoying their own acting as much as the viewers enjoyed them; making everybody feel like part of the show. The costumes and props were carefully prepared and make-up work was nicely done – all actors had several roles in the play and had to change quickly behind the scenes. The sound and stage operators did a remarkable job of dressing up all 13 scenes of “I Hate Shakespeare!” with solid music and lights effects.
The Director of the play, Kyle Goldman, and the student cast hailing from the College Internship Program (CIP), worked very hard for several months to make the show a success. The audience did not notice for one moment that the actors might have autism, Asperger’s or other learning differences, which the students continually learn to accept, embrace and use to their advantage through there participation in CIP classes. They were able to create a wonderful experience through “I Hate Shakespeare!” for seven total performances, proving that great theater can come from unexpected places.
“This, our second annual student production, has been our most ambitious project to date and I must say, we are very proud”, commented Kyle Goldman – production director and CIP Berkshire Creative Arts Coordinator. She and students also expressed their thanks to Shakespeare & Company and Bard College at Simon’s Rock for providing some of the costumes, College Internship Program staff, especially Marc Larrivee, Lucy Allaire-Gosselin and Joanne Murphy for their help and support.
In the Director’s Notes Goldman writes: “One of the great things about theater, in all its various forms, is that it creates a family where before there were only acquaintances. This production has been no exception. I have watched our students grow in to a cohesive unit where the success of one is success for all. I have watched them encourage and support each other as each rose to the daunting task in front of them. And rise they did. With immense pleasure and pride, I have watched this cast come together in ways I didn’t imagine were possible. What started as a random grouping of 15 students has grown into not only a show, but most importantly, a family.”
The cast:
Carrie Rogers, Danielle Davis, Evan Thomas, James D’Ambrosio, Julian Durbin, Kyle Palmer, Lucy Moore, Olivia Martz, Rachel Fedderly, Rose Adelstein, Sara Cohen, Vasha Specian and Zach Zeller.
The Crew:
Kyle Goldman – Director; Sam Resnick – Stage Manager; Rachel Fedderly – Makeup Designer; Katie Scholz – House Manager; Molly Bresson – Sound Tech.
Learn More About the Visual & Performing Arts Program:
www.cipworldwide.org/cip-blog/cip-berkshire-presents-i-hate-shakespeare
– Article and photography by Alex Lisser