Mississippi College students will present scenes from William Shakespeare’s plays in a production titled “Shakespeare’s Follies” on April 23 at the Jean Pittman Williams Recital Hall in the Aven Fine Arts Building. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. and include a reception with birthday cake after the performance.
The performance coincides with what is believed to be Shakespeare’s 462nd birthday. Jamie Ertle, assistant professor of music at Mississippi College, is overseeing the production. She said that the evening will feature scenes, sonnets, and songs as a celebration of Shakespeare’s work.
“There’s value in studying Shakespeare,” Ertle said. “Performing it is a lot of work. In Shakespeare’s day, they would say, ‘I’m going to hear a play.’ The clues in the acting and the emotion of his work are really in the words he wrote.”
“If you perform Shakespeare well – if you can understand what you’re saying and why you’re saying it and communicate that effectively – then you can perform almost anything,” Ertle said.
Students will act out scenes from several plays including “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “King Lear,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Tempest,” “Julius Caesar,” “Twelfth Night” and “As You Like It.” The event is part of Mississippi College English Department’s George and Alicia Pittman Shakespeare Festival.
“Shakespeare’s Follies” is directed by students Charity Johnston and Slade Haney. Johnston selected many comedic scenes for this year’s show but included some serious moments as well.
“Mostly, I chose scenes that I was particularly in love with,” said Johnston. “Most are from Shakespeare’s comedies, and we’re focusing on the more silly ideas from the others… We will have a few serious moments… but in all, we want the audience to enjoy the show and have some good laughs.”
Ertle believes audiences will relate to both classic themes and modern interpretations brought by student performers: “The subject material is very real and human – grief, humor, little moments of life… Those who come to the performance will discover that Shakespeare is still relevant.”