Bard On The Beach Launches Free Education Video To Transform The Shakespeare Experience

Bard on the Beach today released A Shakesperience, an innovative new video presentation designed to transform how students and the general public engage with William Shakespeare in today's world. Viewers are taken on a lively 60-minute journey through many words and worlds, as five talented young performers dive into Shakespeare's language and revel in the art of asking questions. Written by Bard Director of Education Mary Hartman and directed by Dean Paul Gibson, A Shakesperience is now available to stream on demand at no cost after advance registration on the Bard website.

Notes Mary Hartman, "Students and teachers alike have long been intimidated by Shakespeare, under pressure to somehow 'get it right'. Too often Shakespeare is introduced as the epitome of learning and academic worth. This creates an ideal that's impossible to live up to, for both teachers and students. A Shakesperience takes an alternative approach to Shakespeare's plays and poems, introducing a sense of playfulness and possibility to the material instead of focusing on traditional understanding or 'correct' approaches."

The piece intercuts short passages of text with ideas, insights, and brief anecdotes - all presented in a relaxed, accessible style. Earlier onstage versions had been created with summer program participants in past Festival years, but when the pandemic forced a two-year shutdown of Bard's in-person season, Hartman and others were prompted to think about how A Shakesperience could be reimagined as an on-screen production, allowing it to reach and influence new audiences throughout BC and around the world. Watch a short excerpt here.

The featured performers are Agnes Tong, Alexandra Lainfiesta, Andy Kalirai, Arggi Jenati and Isaac George-Hotchkiss. Full artistic and production team details are here. The production was filmed at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby, BC, with full COVID-related health and safety protocols in place.

A Shakesperience and its companion curriculum materials are available to schools, independent learners and the general public thanks to the generous contributions of Production Sponsor Lawson Lundell LLP, Project Supporter the Y.P. Heung Foundation and support for free access from the Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation.