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| Students like Diego Vasquez and Abisai Hernandez get to brandish swords and practice pratfalls in a sheltered theater production class at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara. Philip Levien helps them learn not to fear their new language. |
Lately there’s been much ado about a unique theater class in Santa Barbara, where English language learners perform Shakespeare.
Santa Barbara Teachers Association member Philip Levien has taught a sheltered theater production class for four years at San Marcos High School. Nearly all of the students are English language learners. Some have learning disabilities including autism. Some are considered at-risk students. A few are mainstream students who enroll as mentors and assistants.
During a recent rehearsal for an upcoming performance of Twelfth Night, students clearly enjoyed brandishing swords and falling down after dramatically proclaiming phrases such as “God save me!”
The class helps students learn English, improve pronunciation and increase comprehension, says Levien, who starts with middle school adaptations of plays and then further abridges them. But the class offers students much more than just an opportunity to improve their English.
“Many of the English learners are shy and afraid to share their voices,” says Levien. “However, by the time of the show most of them are just out there and unafraid. You could say this class gives these kids a voice.”
“The students do a great job in mastering the texts for performance, in part because we work hard at building community,” says Levien. Many of his English learners have said they felt left out of campus life or invisible before joining the class. After performing, however, they are recognized by other students, featured in the school newspaper and become a definite “presence” on campus.
The class, he says, has improved student attendance and behavior. “They come in even when they are sick. They really are here for each other.”
Students agree that the class offers them benefits that would be difficult to find elsewhere on the diverse high school campus.
“I like it because I like to meet other people and I like to act and I learn more English,” says Abisai Hernandez, who plays Sir Andrew. “I work with other people and I talk to them. I study my character and figure out what his feelings are.”
“It’s exciting and fun,” relates Erick Vasquez. “I like to act and I like to express myself as an actor.”
To prepare for the performances, students work hard at reading, understanding and memorizing the material. They sometimes adapt a script for fellow students at lunchtime performances or for families and community members at evening performances.
“Sometimes we’ll say, ‘Let’s do this part in Spanish,’ if a lot of the audience doesn’t understand English,” says Levien. “We’ll make up lines or paraphrase things in Spanish if it works in the spirit of the play. Shakespeare was a showman. He wouldn’t want dry productions. His comedies were a lot of fun.”
Levien is often asked why he chooses Shakespeare for classroom productions like The Comedy of Errors (2002), The Tempest (2003), Much Ado About Nothing (2004) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2005).
“Shakespeare is a ‘gatekeeper’ author, and not knowing Shakespeare can keep some students from continuing on to college,” replies Levien. “This class demystifies him.”
“When some of these kids go on to higher-level English classes here at San Marcos, they do better with Shakespeare than many native English speakers,” he says proudly. “The reason is that they are not afraid of it.”
