Learner Spotlight

My Adventures with Will: LA’s Shakespeare’s Youth Festival

A Presentation of Learning by Kairo P., iLEAD Exploration Learner, Grade 8

Why is it important to learn Shakespeare? Well, have you ever said the word “suspicious”? As in, someone isn’t trustworthy, or they’re kind of shady? What about “puppy-dog”? How about “lonely”? If so, congratulations! You’ve quoted the words of William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare was a man who completely shaped the English language. He invented and/or popularized over two thousand words or phrases, including words like “gloomy” or “submerge.” You see, you don’t have to be spitting out “To be, or not to be” to quote Shakespeare (of course, you still can). You could just say the words bump, road, upstairs, downstairs, bloody, critic, even generous.

As you can see, when you are studying Shakespeare, you are studying English vocabulary. Shakespeare wrote timeless stories that captivated audiences and inspired new stories, revolving around the core plots. Shakespeare produced ancient stories with new twists or created completely new tales brimming with humor, wit, and truth.

Shakespeare changed some things about his loosely historical plays to make them more accessible to his contemporary audience. For example, in the play Troilus and Cressida, which is set in ancient Troy, the Greek gods are referred to by their Roman names, even though those names wouldn’t come into use until hundreds of years later. This is to appeal to his Elizabethan audience, who would have been familiar with the Roman mythologies and not as much the Greek. The historical context of his plays is also important. For instance, he wrote Julius Caesar as a metaphor for the politics of his time, which tells us how uneasy the English transitions of power were. His history works were heavily dramatized for the sake of a good show but still include the rich history of English monarchs.

So, great. Shakespeare did all that, but why perform his works? Well, as all plays are written to be performed, not read, actually being in a play gives you insight into the character’s motivations, and you achieve a much more in-depth understanding of the plot and its functions when you are steeped in a certain play for a long period. Performing also builds confidence in kids (and adults). When you nail a performance, you feel unstoppable! It’s just fun to be onstage (when you know exactly what you’re doing; otherwise it can be terrifying). But if performing isn’t for you, just watching a play is a much better way to grasp the story as opposed to reading it.

If you really want to perform in a Shakespeare play, you should do it with the Shakespeare Youth Festival! SYFLA, previously known as LA Drama Club, is a nonprofit located in Mid-City, Los Angeles, that works with learners from third grade to high school to put on annual Shakespeare plays. (I have done Macbeth and Julius Caesar so far). They also have a summer program for grades 2-8. This teaches not only Shakespearean literature but also history, acting, memorization, and stage behavior, all very important skills and topics to have under your belt.

For me, performing was surprisingly easy and fun. All my life I had heard about stage fright, but all of the real fright for me was the offstage fright right before the performance began. I remember hiding behind a short pillar offstage, freaking out about my lines. But the moment I stepped onstage, all the fear just fell away. I was really surprised. But then again, that is when you know what you’re doing. The tough part is if the play begins to fall apart, and you have to work with your fellow actors to get the play back on its tracks, so to speak.

Shakespeare can honestly seem intimidating with all the thous, arts, and eres, but when you break it down, you can often find that it’s not quite as archaic as it may have originally seemed. A great tool for studying Shakespeare is SparkNotes’ No Fear Shakespeare series, which gives line-by-line “translations” into modern English. Listening to dramatized audiobooks of Shakespeare’s plays with different actors reading the parts also helps. It’s best when you are reading a physical copy while listening to the audiobook. If you want to see a play but don’t want to leave the comfort of your home, you can go online to the Shakespeare’s Globe website and download recordings of their plays. Also, the Independent Shakespeare Co. puts on annual runs of 100 percent free plays at Griffith Park, with outdoor picnic seating. And of course, you can come and watch me and my friends in SYFLA performances that take place in March and April! SYFLA’s 2025 season consists of three plays: As You Like It (grades 3-8); Two Gentlemen of Verona (grades 8-12); and Troilus and Cressida (grades 8-12).

This past summer, I was in an invite-only Shakespeare Youth Festival Ren Week production of Love’s Labour’s Lost. Ren Week is a style of production based on how actors rehearsed in Shakespeare’s day, its main attribute being we had only five days to rehearse, the performances being on the fifth day and again on the next day. It’s also directed by the actors. I had a much smaller role than I usually did since I was with the teen cast, rather than the younger cast, which I had been in previously. We got our parts a month and a half before but did not meet again until the Monday before the performance. This was rather tough, since I was used to having a long time to put the play together, and five days was stressful, to say the least. But it went surprisingly well for the amount of time spent rehearsing.

Participating in a SYF play is an amazing experience. I keep coming back year after year because it is fun and an incredibly multifaceted way to grow and learn!

SYFLA’s 2025 season consists of three plays: As You Like It (grades 3-8); Two Gentlemen of Verona (grades 8-12); and Troilus and Cressida (grades 8-12). SYFLA is not an iLEAD Exploration vendor because rehearsals are on Saturdays, but it believes “finances should never be a barrier to participation” and offers financial aid.

Resources:

Shakespeare Youth Festival

Shakespeare Youth Festival LA 2025

SparkNotes’ No Fear Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s Globe

Independent Shakespeare Co.

How to Teach Your Kids Shakespeare

The Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare

The Usborne Complete Shakespeare

William Shakespeare & The Globe

Will’s Words: How Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk