UTSA to host Shakespeare colloquium for NISD students

(Feb. 1, 2002)--The UTSA Department of English, Classics and Philosophy will host a colloquium for gifted and talented students Feb. 6 on the 1604 Campus. The all-day event, "William Shakespeare's Life, Language and History," will bring to campus 225 students from the Northside Independent School District and other area schools.

Organized by Associate Professor Bridget Drinka and Assistant Professor Mark Womack, the goal of the event is to make Shakespeare's plays accessible to students and to help them see the beauty of the language. The students will participate in workshops of their choice to learn how Shakespeare's language helped shape today's language and to get a glimpse of life in 16th century England.

"We all had a wonderful time last year, but this year promises to be even better with lots of costumes and many more participants," said Drinka.

Students will choose from play workshops on "Macbeth,""A Midsummer Night's Dream,""Much Ado About Nothing," "Romeo and Juliet," "Hamlet" and "Twelfth Night." Other workshops will include "Shakespeare Jeopardy" with questions about his life, plays, and sonnets; "Shakespeare's Insults" with crafty words to stun an enemy; "Crossdressing in Shakespearean Costumes" to understand how it feels to be someone else (since men played all the roles in his day); Shakespeare's life; and history and sources of Shakespeare's language.

"Graduate students are the most important element of the event," added Drinka. "They will be doing the teaching, interacting and directing of these young students." UTSA undergraduate students will help staff information and registration tables.

Alan Craven, dean of the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts and organizer of UTSA's annual Actors from the London Stage Shakespeare performances, will officially welcome the students at 9:30 a.m. in the Multidisciplinary Studies Building Kiva. Sarah Jorgensen, a UT Austin freshman who was an original organizer of the colloquium, a Beacon program for gifted and talented students, will accompany him.

For more information about the Shakespeare colloquium contact Bridget Drinka at (210) 458-7720.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The popular London actors ordinarily visit once each year, but following last fall's sold-out performances of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" they will return to UTSA Mar. 27-28 with "Macbeth." "Macbeth" is a similarly mounted touring production using uncut scripts and with five actors playing all the roles. For information about the Actors from the London Stage presentation of "Macbeth" call (210) 458-4350.)

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