Troupe's tricks thrill Rio youngsters

As Adeline Mendez stared out at her fifth-grade students, she couldn't believe her eyes.

Not only were several shy, non-English-speaking boys participating in the class, but they were also shouting Shakespearean terms like "Huzzah" and "Good morrow" with gusto.

"To see them so engaged and speaking aloud in English for the first time was very exciting," she said. "Bringing in the arts really made them come alive."

About 160 migrant students in Oxnard's Rio Learning Academy were buzzing with newfound appreciation for the Bard after a Shakespearean workshop and play on Saturday.

The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, the professional theater company of California Lutheran University, performed for the children and held the workshops as part of its annual educational tour.

This is the 12th year that the performers have introduced the language, characters and stories of Shakespeare to elementary school students in Ventura County. This year, they visited 19 schools and two libraries on a five-week tour, funded through a combination of arts, educational and corporate grants.

"It's so cool to be making something that everybody thinks is so intimidating fun and accessible," said Marc Antonio Pritchett, an actor/instructor in the Kingsmen Shakespeare Educational Tour. "People hear we're performing Shakespeare and think it's going to be so complicated, but it's really just soap opera stories."

And if the Bard's dialogue itself is not enough to capture the kids' attention, the actors captivate them with animated voices, acrobatics, audience participation, crazy costumes and cross-dressing characters.

On Saturday, the migrant students curtsied, bowed and shouted 400-year-old expressions during a 45-minute interactive workshop, where they learned about prose, poetry and iambic pentameter from the actors. Afterward, they sat glued and giggling on the cafeteria floor for nearly an hour, watching the six actors ham it up on stage in an abbreviated performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"It was pretty easy and they made it fun," said fifth-grader Maria Castillo. "It makes me think about my grandmas and grandpas in Mexico because they dress like that."
The Rio Learning Academy is a four-hour program held every Saturday in Oxnard for students in the Rio School District's Migrant Education Program. Paid for by federal grant money, the program helps students of migrant farm workers get specialized instruction in English, science and technology. Ultimately, the program's goal is to encourage them to go on to college.

"I think the arts reach the minds and the hearts of the children," said Wanda Kelly, the principal of Rio Learning Academy and coordinator of the Rio School District's Migrant Education Program. "It develops language, vocabulary, writing, and awakens them to make connections they don't normally make in the classroom."

Actors in the educational tour audition and undergo three weeks of rehearsals and training to help them tailor Shakespeare to the elementary school mindset.

After the Kingsmen wrap up their educational tour this week, they'll get ready to put on summer productions of "The Taming of the Shrew" and "The Merchant of Venice" for adult audiences.

"As a professional actor, it's great to be in an environment where you can experiment without worrying about critical reviews," said Pritchett, an actor for 25 years.

But there's an even better bonus, he admitted.

"We had two shows in a row where kids literally laughed so hard, they peed themselves," Pritchett said. "We take that as a compliment."

--- Published in the Ventura County Star on April 7, 2011