Eleanor Polak photo
At Monday's Shakespeare-in-the-schools rehearsal.
Nineteen middle-schoolers, all dressed in black, filed into the band room of Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet School. They were preparing for the dress rehearsal of their production of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Before they took the stage, however, they partook in a light refreshment of fruit snacks, Cheez-Its, juice boxes — and grapes. When the students dangled bunches of the purple fruit from their hands, they looked for all the world like the Roman citizens they were about to embody.
Snack before the dress rehearsal.
This week’s performance is the 14th year of Mauro-Sheridan’s Shakespeare series, and part of a seven-year collaboration with Elm Shakespeare Company. Sarah Bowles, Elm Shakespeare’s director of education, selected Julius Caesar because she believes that it is a play that children can connect to — even if they have to tone down the violence of the subject matter.
“Kids really relate to the story in terms of fairness,” she said on Monday afternoon. “They know that if someone has more than someone else, that’s not fair.”
At the opening of the play, the titular Caesar certainly has more than the people around him. He is angling toward being crowned emperor, and his fellow Romans must decide how to rectify the power imbalance that Caesar has created. The kids “all get it, that one guy shouldn’t get all the power,” said Bowles. They can relate to a structural disparity that aligns, in its simplest terms, with a lesson that all middle-schoolers know: the importance of sharing. No one child should hoard the toys, and Caesar has them all.
Semaj Battle-Reed, a 13-year-old and an eighth grader at the 191 Fountain St. public school, said that fairness isn’t the only lesson he’s learned from the production. Battle-Reed, who plays Metallus Cimber, has wanted to act since he started watching Law & Order. Performing in Julius Caesar has taught him confidence and overcoming the stomach-churning pangs of stage fright (he recommends three deep breaths). “I’m growing out of my shell,” Battle-Reed said. Mauro-Sheridan Shakespeare, he said, “encourages people not to be nervous.”
Isabelle Capuras as Cassius.
Isabelle Capuras, a 12-year-old seventh-grader who plays Cassius, also emphasized the value of deep breathing to combat nerves. She has channeled her confidence to fit into the role of an antagonist, a part she says fits her well. Her spirited and defiant portrayal of Cassius owns the stage, as she hones her anxiety to make for a pithy and sympathetic instigator. “Playing an antagonist makes me feel important,” she said.
Mama Karmara (Calpurnia, Lepidus) and Marwa Nakhi (Marullus, Octavius) get into costume.
At rehearsal on Monday, Bowles got the students’ attention with a theatrical call — “Friends, Romans, countrymen!” — and response — a chorus of “lend me your ears.” The students filed up to put on their costumes, professional pieces borrowed from Southern Connecticut State University’s theater department. The room was abuzz with energy and morale as the students rushed to don togas and swords.
“We’re not doing autographs today, sorry,” quipped one student as she pulled out the clothes rack.
“I need an autograph, though!” mock-whined another.
Mauro-Sheridan students enact the final battle of Julius Caesar.
The dress rehearsal commenced with a rigorous commitment to the underlying beat of political urgency that consumes the play, emphasized by a steady drum beat from Justin Pasce, a co-director alongside Aleeki Shortridge.
Each part was performed with a gusto that made six actors feel like a hoard of enraged citizens. Political intrigue built into violent altercations, as the students performed a choreographed battle dance to mark the play’s concluding battle.
The set, designed by New Haven artists David Sepulveda and Amie Ziner, was put to good use as the students pranced, stomped, and stormed on and off the stage.
Nadia Bellamy as Julius Caesar and Edith "Edie" Stoehr as Marc Antony.
The titular Caesar was played with pomp and self-righteous assurance by Nadia Bellamy, a 12-year-old in the sixth grade. She enjoys being the lead, she said, because it offers her an opportunity to express confidence and dignity. “I like feeling powerful when I do all my lines,” she said. “It’s taught me not to be too cocky … and not to betray your friends.”
Marc Antony was by turns incensed and calculating as played by Edith Stoehr, an 11-year-old sixth grader. The students were cast in part based on preference, and Stoehr felt well-suited to her role of loyal friend and silver-tongued tactician. “I wish I had even more lines,” she laughed.
Stoehr’s eagerness to participate was echoed in the rest of the cast. When, during her post-run through notes, Bowles asked if anyone wanted a new job (moving a pillow at the end of a scene), all hands went up. The students committed to every aspect of the production with enthusiasm. Everyone wanted to do the most that they could to make Julius Caesar come to life.
The directors weren’t afraid to push the students to commit even further. “The only thing that looks stupid is if you take yourself out of the world of Rome and become your Mauro-Sheridan self again,” said Bowles.
As Bowles wrapped up rehearsal, she had a final comment: “Tomorrow is the show, can you believe it?” A battle cry of cheers went up from the students. They prepared to go home, ready and excited to return and put on the performance they had all been preparing for. Exeunt Romans — for now.
Julius Caesar will be performed at Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet School, 191 Fountain St., at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 6 and Thursday, June 8.
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Awesome way to develop students familiarity with classical theater and yo build students confidence while giving them an opportunity to share their talent with the audience! I wish there was a theater program at Sheridan when I was a middle school student there in the 1970’s, I would have enjoyed it very much.