Drew Smith

This week I interviewed Drew Smith, one of my partners in directing the Shakespeare play The Tempest at the local middle and high schools in Greencastle. We reflected on our experience together as we just finished the program earlier this week.

 

Her Campus: Hi, Drew! Can you briefly explain what you did as a director in “Shakespeare in the Schools”?

 

Drew Smith: As a director for “Shakespeare in the Schools” I was responsible for managing the middle and high school students during rehearsals, facilitating acting games, running scenes and explaining Shakespearean language, and helping to design the world of the show.

 

HC: What a huge job! That encompasses so many responsibilities, and that’s if they all behave…What is it that makes the Shakespeare Company so cool, being that its goals are centered on personal development?

 

D: I think what makes the company/program so cool is that it’s a lot about teamwork and lifting people up. One of the biggest lessons we learned is that no one ever gets up alone, so when someone reaches a low point, you should help them get back up again—physically, mentally, emotionally. I think the Shakespeare program really does save people, directors and students alike. 

 

 

HC: Awesome. But there were definitely low points. Can you talk about the hard parts?

 

D: I honestly struggled quite a bit at the beginning of the program trying to find schedules that worked with our actors, scheduling my own rehearsals, balancing school, work, and the program and finding time to myself. I also struggled with some of the technical aspects as I am an actor first, a writer second and a director third. Some of the harder parts of the program to cope with were when students wouldn’t cooperate with us when trying to facilitate rehearsals. Students forgot they were rehearsing, students skipped rehearsals and without them there it was very difficult to move forward in the process. 

 

HC: I agree that there was a lot of struggle without much fulfillment at the beginning. It was tough. For you, what made the struggling worth it?

 

D: I think what made it all worth the long days and longer nights, the struggling, the balancing act was seeing the kids flourish and grow in their understanding of Shakespeare. After we got into the groove of things, our kids seemed to absorb so much information about Shakespeare and became very engaged in the program. After their curtain call, their faces were all lit up and they were so filled with pride, joy and excitement that they had accomplished such a huge task. Seeing their joy gave me such a sense of pride and I was so excited to see that they felt the magic that is theatre.

 

HC: I agree. It was so moving afterwards when certain kids told us how much they were changed by the program. It wasn’t even about learning English literature, but them finding friends and being happy. Awesome. Thanks so much for meeting with me to give people a little more insight into this program!