PHS students brush up —and mash up— their Shakespeare, online

Bursting out of quarantine and onto your streaming screen, the young actors of Peninsula High School Drama will present a mashup of Shakespeare scenes streaming online at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9th.

The program is called “Shake It Up Shakespeare,” and it’s a collection of scenes the students recorded for a competition sponsored by the Utah Shakespeare Festival, interspersed with comedy skits the students wrote themselves.

It will steam live on YouTube https://youtube.com/channel/UCjZmi8ljC_PIvaVMFPGwV2w.

“With the sudden closure of our school back in March we had to cancel our spring musical, The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” said Bryan Bullock, the PHS drama coach. “The show was cast and rehearsals had been in full swing, the costumes partially made, the set halfway built. All that came to a screeching halt and it devastated some of our students.”

The Shakespeare mashup was a way to allow students an outlet for their pent-up enthusiasm, he said.

“The vast majority of rehearsals and preparation have been remote and on-line,” Bullock said. “Prior to recording the scenes the students will only have had two in-person rehearsals. Scenes were kept under five students so in-person rehearsals would have a maximum off five students in the theater.”

“The resilience and ingenuity of the students in preparing themselves in this unprecedented way amazes me, and they have wowed me in what they are capable of,” Bullock said.

This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 5:30 AM.