Through the generosity of Chicago Shakespeare Theater

BoarsHead Theater Presents Team Shakespeare’s

WillPower! On Tour

Are your students struggling with Shakespeare? Help them learn to read Shakespeare’s works more easily, effectively, and intelligently with BoarsHead Theater’s WillPower! On Tour. With WillPower! On Tour, BoarsHead’s professional actors will come to you and present an hour’s worth of powerful scenes—scenes that will make it easier for your students to understand the Bard and his plays. 

WillPower! On Tour is an affordable way to bring Shakespeare to your students—just $300 for one classroom; $500 for two or more. Best of all, your students will have fun while they’re learning! 

Here’s what they’ll learn: 

• The Bard’s Bio: Shakespeare’s World. In this playful introduction to Shakespeare’s world and theatre, we’ll act out Shakespeare’s biography with an unusual flair.

• Be a Detective! Searching for Shakespeare’s Word Clues. Shakespeare left his actors—and your students—fascinating clues hidden in his plays that can help to unravel their meaning. They’re easy to find once you’re on the right track!

• Breaking Open the Text: Clues to Shakespeare’s Soliloquies. Did Shakespeare really speak English? What do all those strange words he uses mean, anyway? As one actor portrays a character, another opens up the monologue’s language for your students. (Portia in Julius Caesar, Act II.1, and Hamlet, Act III.1)

• Make a Scene! Our Imaginations at Play. Why are there so many interpretations of the same play? Didn’t Shakespeare mean just one thing? The Bard’s plays are universal and timeless precisely because they mean something personal to each of us—which means they’re open to individual interpretations. We’ll enact the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Despite the language, this pair resembles today’s teenagers more closely than your students might think.

• Dinner at the Capulets…Family Problems. It was no different in Shakespeare’s time than it is today—children and parents just don’t understand each other. We’ll use a contemporary scene to bring the world of Shakespeare’s tragedy close to home for your students. (Romeo and Juliet, Act III.5)

• Prejudice is Nothing New. There are always fresh examples, but intolerance and injustice are ageless. BoarsHead’s actors explore the theme of prejudice in Shakespeare’s works—an eye-opener for your students, and a useful tool for starting a post-performance discussion about this tough topic. (The Merchant of Venice from Act I.3 and Act III.1)

• Shakespeare’s Women: What Makes a Good Wife? The institution of marriage has changed considerably since Shakespeare’s time, making it especially interesting to take a look back at what Shakespeare believed to be the duties of a “good” wife. The shrew Katharina explores the power of surrender on her sister’s wedding day. (The Taming of the Shrew, Act V.2)

• Shakespeare’s Kings: What Makes a Good Leader? What do we expect from our leaders? What do we need? We’ll use Shakespeare’s works to help your students explore contemporary issues of politics and citizenship. (Henry V, Act IV.3 and Richard III, Act V.3)

• Looking Death in the Face. Death is scary for most people, in part because there’s no way for us to rehearse our final scene. BoarsHead’s actors use Shakespeare’s rich texts to help your students explore some of the many ways in which people choose to face their own deaths. Some of the most common? Humor, detachment, fear, and submission. (Hamlet, Act V.1)

• Wooing the Unwooable. You see it daily—your students are constantly re-inventing themselves. And while that’s normal, it’s not always healthy. In this scene, a young girl loves at all cost—and loses an essential love for herself at the same time. Classroom discussion following can explore how we balance our love for ourselves with our love for others. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act II.1)

To book a performance of WillPower! On Tour for your school or group—or for further information about WillPower! On Tour—please call BoarsHead Theater Associate Director Jonathan Courtemanche at (517) 484-7800 ext. 101 or e-mail him at jcourtemanche@boarshead.org. 

We look forward to hearing from you!