photo courtesy of the DPS Foundation
The Denver Public Schools community has come together to perform Shakespeare plays for over 32 years.
This year, over 5,000 students, teachers, and parents will perform and celebrate at the Shakespeare Festival on Friday, April 29th. The festival is open to the public, and is one of the oldest and largest student-performing Shakespeare festivals in the country. Once a year, DPS comes together and recreates Shakespeare’s sonnets and scenes through acting, dancing, singing, and music, at the Denver Performing Arts Complex in downtown Denver.
The Shakespeare Festival is a unique opportunity for students to express themselves and learn about theatre through an extracurricular activity. “Simply studying Shakespeare in the classroom is in of itself a rich lesson in literature, culture, language, and politics; having the opportunity to stage or act in a production of Shakespeare’s works at a world-class venue like Denver Performing Arts Complex takes those lessons a step further, giving students a chance to experience the thrill and personal rewards of creative expression, which is such a critical part of a well-rounded education,” said DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg. Students will learn and get closer with all of the schools that are attending at the festival. They learn new ways to perform and how to bring a fun atmosphere into the plays, dances, vocals, and musical performances.
At the festival, students will perform theatrical and musical pieces derived from Shakespeare’s plays. The students have been led by Special Education and English teacher Jennifer Sonheim, who has been attending the festival since she first started at TJ over seven years ago. Sonheim also attended the festival when she was a student in DPS, and as a huge Shakespeare fan, she is always eager for the festival’s return. “The festival is a blast,” Sonheim described. “We have so much fun. The kids get to perform, we get to be part of a parade, and the mayor watches the kids perform; that’s pretty cool!” This year, her crew will be performing two dance routines, including more traditional dances such as step and Irish dances. They are also reenacting the most memorable scenes from Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and more. Sonheim has actors, actresses, directors, and costume designers in charge of each act or scene. Senior David Johnson is an actor for King Lear, and plays the main role as the king. “I’m excited to go because it’ll be bigger and better, because every student is participating and all of DPS schools will be there to watch us perform,” he explained. Sonheim is very proud of her kids and cannot wait to see the students shine on stage.
TJ’s own orchestra class performs their best pieces at the festival. Robin Johnson, who is the band and orchestra teacher at TJ, plans on bringing fourteen students to perform pieces such as Magicals and Dances, which are string songs. Magical was traditionally a voice song and Johnson was very happy to find a version that had strings. “I have three main reasons why we go to the festival: the kids have fun, it’s a DPS function that I love to support, and it’s a great way to have my kids connect with other students from other schools,” commented Johnson. Johnson and her students have been attending the festival for over ten years. She is looking forward to this year because of the combined teamwork between her and Sonheim; additionally, many of her former advanced band students are returning for a second year to play at the festival. Junior Patience Puni-Nimako is a violin player in the strings section. She has played the violin and attended the festival since fifth grade. “I’m so excited to go this year! I love the food and the costumes that people dress in. It’s just a really cool experience,” said Puni-Nimako.
Sonheim and Johnson are very excited to see their students performing on stage. Their hard work over the last couple of months will finally pay off, and each teacher is confident that their performers will excel on stage as they do in the classroom. The performing Spartans are also excited to show off their skills to the district.
