Shakespeare for Kids

On Saturday I saw The Merchant of Venice performed by the theatre for young audiences. It was done in a theatre-in-the-round in the basement of the hfac. All the little kids, and anyone who wanted, could sit in taped-off trapezoids around the center, as they witnessed the actors walking right in front of them and between them. I thought it was very effective in getting the children involved in the story, as some of the language was simplified and they used child volunteers to play some of the minor characters. The production was based on the idea that this same story could happen anywhere, to anyone, which is why it was set in andalaysia and stratford between culins and codmims (I think). I was impressed by a sort of prelude they set up for the kids: they acted out a playground scene in which various of the characters were teased, and addressed the audience with ghe idea that they could see this anywhere, in any place - the same way they could see a scene similar to this play occuring at school, at home, on the street, or in andalaysia. I wish I'd had the opportunity to be exposed to something like this when I was a kid. Looking around at the audience, I noticed attentive children's faces, fixed on the action in front of them. A valuable experience for them, even if they couldn't understand everything. My expectations before seeing this production, of course not really considering the fact that it would be geared towards children, were that the themes of race and intolerance and murder would be the main themes. But of course, the morphing of those ideas into a modern relation - bullying - certainly made the play more accessible for children. It almost made a kissing scene and the whole 'pound of flesh' thing seem out of place...

BYU Arts - The Merchant of Venice (11:00 AM)