Every year, the Hillsdale College theatre department takes a group of students to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario.
Twenty students and faculty made the trek this year to see five shows in four days. The trip cost $300 per student.
George Angell, chair of the theater department, said groups have been going on this trip for at least 25 years –– the largest trip to date had 30 students and faculty.
Students arrived in Canada on Sept. 6, and returned to campus Sept. 9.
The festival takes place at four performance venues and involvs 108 actors, all Canadian citizens. The event has been running since 1953 when they performed “Richard III” and “All’s Well That Ends Well.”
Today, the festival not only offers quality performances, but also workshops for teachers, students, and average playgoers.
Angell said the “enthusiasm and excitement of the students” made the trip worthwhile.
“[Students] gain an understanding of what it takes to make great, wonderful, compelling theatre, and they are given an insight into how repertory theatre works by seeing the same actors in different theatres doing wildly different roles only hours apart,” Angell said.
Junior Katie Rose Pynes went on the trip this year for the first time.
“I went because I really enjoy working with the theater faculty and students,” Pynes said.
She and senior Mark Keller agreed that “Electra” was by far the best of the five plays, which included “Henry IV,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Cymbeline,” and the only musical of the bunch, “42nd Street.”
“[“Electra”] was surprising. It had an unusual aesthetic to it,” Keller said.
Keller and Pynes described the chanting of the chorus in “Electra” as reminiscent of how Homer may have performed his works. The style of the play was that of an authentic Greek epic. The Hillsdale College theater department is planning a year of Greek plays, and Pynes said it was interesting to see how other theater troupes handled Grecian content.
Angell disagreed with Keller and Pynes, saying even though he loved “Electra,” his favorite show was “Cymbeline.”
Both students agreed that the trip was a success –– a welcome break filled with culture and entertainment.
“It’s really just a time to relax with friends before getting into classes and rehearsal stress,” Keller said.
kdrapkin@hillsdale.edu