“We know what we are, but not what we may be.” – William Shakespeare
 
There was this wonderful time in 2014 when I taught a H.S. Theater One class for a
homeschool network. They were freshman to senior in age – about 15 of them. Age
made no difference and shouldn’t in theater – it’s one of the more level playing fields.
It was a good year … a very stretching one for all of us. For me, it involved the reusing
of old muscles ,and the building back of new ones as a teacher.  For most of my
students it had been the building of an altogether new strength – a theater muscle.
They were a wonderfully creative bunch. Some were timid and shy, some bold and
outspoken, some were in between those two extremes, and yet all were willing to risk
self to step into character and story. I had the privilege of being a part of catching these
sacred moments of growth in dramatic arts.

Sometimes, I just wanted to say, “FREEZE!” Oh, how I wished I could stop the class
and capture a moment for them. Facial expressions remain one of my favorite ways the
actor communicates on the stage. Some of my treasured facial expressions from that
year remain the surprise of discovery – the “I did it!” or the “Oh, I get it now.”
That April we took all of our theater training to the stage and created a show entitled,
“Shakespeare & The American H.S. Drama Student”. Every student had a solo moment
– a monologue from one of the great theatrical works – Shaw, Twain, Wilder, Hugo,
Miller, Williams and, of course, dear Shakespeare. We combined these excellent pieces
with comedy sketches suited for H.S. students, written by Laurie Allen (Meriwether
Publishing Ltd. [email protected]). We were all secretly hoping the old bard,
Shakespeare would show up for our production. And (wink-wink) he did, looking
incredible in all of his Elizabethan glory, from head to toe (thank you Erik Aasland!).
H. S. students are worth our investment of time … and our sitting on a harder surface so
that we can listen, watch, applaud, and support their best moments in sports, speech &
debate, dance, music, visual art, and theater. 

If you ever have the opportunity, walk across the street (so to speak) and support your
local high school’s efforts in theater arts – do it. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.