Shakespeare production transforms honors students

Pirates, brothels, treachery and a riddle -- Lindsay Jordan has experienced them all in her first year at UC Davis. On stage, that is, while playing the lead part in Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre as part of the course "Playing Shakespeare."

Jordan is part of the Integrated Studies Honors Program, which encourages students to step beyond the boundaries of their major and try new things. "Playing Shakespeare" was among the special courses offered to program participants this spring, and the class will present free performances of Pericles on June 6 and 7.

"I was so excited to hear about this opportunity, I planned all of my other courses around it," Jordan says.

While the six-unit course is one of her most demanding classes, Jordan says being caught up in the production is still a nice break from chemistry, math and viticulture studies. As the lead character, Pericles, she is on stage for most of the four-hour rehearsals held twice a week.

"I definitely need a nap after those days, but since I’m unlikely to have an opportunity like this again in college, I’m enjoying it now," says Jordan, who is considering a major in the life sciences with an emphasis in marine biology.

For Eric Schroeder, who has been teaching for Integrated Studies since the mid-1980s, the experience of pulling off an entire Shakespeare production in 10 weeks is always a bit daunting. But he’s never disappointed at the way his students manage to create sets and costumes, manage publicity, memorize lines and pull it all together.

"The students always hit home runs," says Schroeder, who is a lecturer in the University Writing Program. "They’ve never had a bad show, despite all my worries in week nine of how the show will go off."

Integrated Studies

Integrated Studies is a University Honors Program for Regents Scholars and others among the top 3 percent of entering students. The residential program integrates learning in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences and engineering. It also prepares students to pursue individual research projects as upper division students. Each year, Integrated Studies invites about 110 to 175 first-year students into the program.

When he was teaching another Integrated Studies course, Schroeder says, he was impressed by the large number of those students who were musically talented. He called on his background in Shakespeare performance and began using plays with music so students would have a chance to put their talents to use. Thus, “Playing Shakespeare” was born.

At first, students were surprised to discover they would be creating a modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s work, set in Davis. A few were disappointed that they wouldn’t be wearing big, ruffled Elizabethan collars, Schroeder says. However, learning that one collar would consume the whole production budget, students were soon convinced to mix it up and create their own version of a Shakespeare play.

Out of 27 students this quarter, 25 auditioned for a role in the play, which illustrates the students’ enthusiasm, Schroeder says. There is part for everyone who wants to be on stage, and everyone pitches in behind the scenes.

‘Transformation’

For Jordan, the chance to play the lead in Pericles brought back memories of her high school years in Carmel, where she did a lot of theater work. She was drawn to the character of Pericles because he goes through a lot of transformation, and Jordan could sympathize with that.

She says "Playing Shakespeare" has taught her so much more than a regular academic course could: "This experience is rounding out my education, teaching me a different set of life skills, like organization and time management," she says.

In addition to producing the play, students write a paper and a take-home exam in which they assess their role and the production as a whole.

Attending the play

Pericles will be presented in two performances at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7, in the Wyatt Pavilion Theatre on campus. The Saturday night show is always a full house, Schroeder says, because many Integrated Studies students come back to see the latest production. He anticipates the line will start forming at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

"If you didn’t like Shakespeare before, you will now," Schroeder says of the upcoming shows, "and if you already did, you’ll love this!"