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The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival
Past Press Releases
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival
New Artists-in-Residence Program at Northeast High School
The Philadelphia
Shakespeare Festival launches the second in its series of new
Artists-in-Residence programs at Northeast High School
in Philadelphia, following a highly successful residency at
Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster. A
team of actor-teachers will go into a drama class for a week to create an
exciting program that brings Shakespeare to vivid life in the classroom. The
teaching artists are professional actors with a strong foundation in
Shakespeare's text and performance, and solid experience in teaching. The
residency will take place from Monday, October 4-Friday, October 8, 2004.
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival's Artistic/Executive Director
Carmen Khan and Education Director Jessica Richards
developed a curriculum in collaboration with the actors who will be in the
schools. On Monday October 4th, Stephen Smith (of Sharon Hill,
Pennsylvania) and Rhonda Goldstein (of Wynnewood,
Pennsylvania) will enter Ms. Theresa Bramwell's
classroom at Northeast High School. The actors will work on
scenes from As You Like It with Ms. Bramwell's class
of ninth to twelfth graders. The students will perform the scenes at the
Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire at the end of October.
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival has the only residency program in the
region focusing specifically on Shakespeare's text in the classroom. Our
programming will help students to build aural and visual comprehension skills to
further develop reading comprehension of difficult texts, through exciting
theatre games, acting exercises and performance.
In addition to the residency at Northeast High School,
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival will have residencies at
Archbishop Ryan High School, Episcopal Academy,
Central High School and West Windsor High Schools North and South
in Plainsboro, New Jersey. Teaching artists Heather
Krause (of Center City, Philadelphia), Forrest McClendon (of
Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia), Brian McCann (of South Philadelphia)
and Danielle M. Young (of Fishtown, Philadelphia) will also
facilitate in these residencies.
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival Artistic/ Executive Director
Carmen Khan states, "As artists we believe in the transformational
power of theatre. It changed my life drastically for the good at a young age,
so I know first hand the incredible potential for change that engaging in live
theatre has. It exercises creativity; it opens doors, broadens horizons and
motivates students in astonishing ways."
Not only this but The Governor's Association Report on the Arts
states that "for at-risk youth, that segment of society most likely to suffer
from limited lifetime productivity, the arts contribute to lower recidivism
rates; the acquisition of job skills; and the development of much needed
creative thinking, problem solving and communication skills. Involvement in the
arts is one avenue by which at-risk youth can acquire the various competencies
necessary to become economically self-sufficient over the long term."
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival has had its curriculum endorsed by the
School Board of Philadelphia and by the Moorestown, New
Jersey Board of Education.
For more information on
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival's Artist-in-Residence
Program, please phone Education Director Jessica Richards
at 215-496-9722 or email her at
[email protected].
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Press Room
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival - 2111
Sansom Street - Philadelphia, PA 19103
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