Over the last few years, one of Encore’s favorite traditions has been taking a group of Young Artists up to Cedar City for a day full of learning and theater appreciation at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. This summer we had the wonderful opportunity to take a group up and enjoy two fantastic shows.
The first was a musical — She Loves Me. Charming and heartwarming, it sparkles with witty dialogue, endearing characters, and a beautiful score by Harnick and Bock, the pair behind Fiddler on the Roof. It’s a delightful feel-good story of second chances and love discovered in surprising ways.
The viewing of that musical got us all ready for an educational workshop led by the Festival’s own teaching artists. The workshop focused on character connections and relationships, and helped our Young Artists develop skills in building relationships on stage — while also building understanding of how we can view and improve our own connections in daily life.
After our workshop we watched the Greenshow, which told the story of the different styles of writing William Shakespeare’s plays delve into. That got our Young Artists’ ears ready to listen to Shakespeare as we witnessed the Festival’s beautifully tragic take on Hamlet.
This was such a great experience. Our Young Artists were able to use story analysis skills they have developed in rehearsals over the years to really pick apart the play, gain understanding for design and actors’ choices on stage, and fully appreciate how the intention behind everything we were seeing brought about a masterclass in storytelling.
Thank you to the Utah Shakespeare Festival for hosting us for the day, and for providing such wonderful opportunities to the community for great storytelling.
— Adam and the Encore Team