Summer Shakespeare (Two Weeks)

​​Summer Shakespeare examines the three major genres of the playwright's plays: tragedy, comedy, and history. In class, students will gain essential skills for interpreting Shakespeare by bringing his text to life through performance, direction, and design — just as the Bard intended. No prior experience studying or performing Shakespeare will be required. Students will practice various kinds of writing, including their own attempts at playwriting. Students will see productions of the plays on film and in-person at CU's Colorado Summer Shakespeare Festival. They will also examine other movies and musicals inspired by Shakespeare's work. More broadly, students will explore contemporary theater as it is represented at Kent Denver and in the Denver Metropolitan Area. In this way, they will view Shakespeare’s unique and extraordinary achievement in the context of theater today. This course fulfills one semester of English for the Kent Denver graduation requirement. Students who pass it will have the grade appear on the KDS transcript and count as part of KDS GPA. Because this course satisfies a full semester of English study, the attendance requirement is strict: students must attend all class days and evening events. They cannot come late or leave early for any reason. Please note for the first week, there is no class on Friday due to the national holiday; however, there will be a full day of class Saturday, June 20th. For the second week, the class days will run at our normal 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Teacher Bios: Dr. Eric Chandler has taught “Summer Shakespeare” three previous summers at Kent Denver. He has a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. He has been in English education for over 30 years and has taught at both the university and high-school levels. During the school year, Dr. Chandler is the upper school division head at Kent Denver and has taught English 11. He works with students to develop their voice in writing and teaches “how to write anything.”

Alex Ates is the Director of Arts at Kent Denver School. For a decade, he was a repertory actor at the classical theater, the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane University. He’s directed at universities around the country and leads the Arts and Leadership Workshop at Teachers College, Columbia University. His writing on theater has been published widely in magazines and journals. Alex has degrees in Acting and Directing from Emerson College, the University of Alabama, and New York University.

Room: Duncan Center Subject: Language arts/theater Time: 8:45 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Materials Fee: $220

Lunch can be purchased through Kent Denver for all classes below 50 in number. Students may bring their own lunch.