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♪ MUSIC ♪
♪ MUSIC ♪
VINCENT: I am the artistic director of Nebraska Shakespeare
and the director of this production of Twelfth Night.
And while we're on the road I serve as the road manager.
VINCENT: "We're going to talk all small things for the truck
up this staircase right here."
♪ MUSIC ♪
DAN CHEVALIER: I first got involved with
Nebraska Shakespeare three summers ago.
I was part of their two-minute Shakespeare production.
I was actually a high school Spanish teacher
which it doesn't exactly seem like it would go
hand-in-hand with theater.
I kind of took the scenic route to the acting profession.
♪ MUSIC ♪
"One, two, three, lift." "You guys okay there?"
(Bottle rolling)
"That's perfect."
SARAH: I've been working with the tour, this is the
eighth annual tour that we've done to go throughout Nebraska.
VINCENT: "Good, there's just a bit of anticipation
before Ben hits you in the belly."
SARAH: I've been a part of, as Vince has as well,
been a part of every single one of those tours.
We met in college and we have worked together since then,
so that's 15 years, oh my gosh.
And I think we found a really great shorthand to
be able to work with one another and a really good
relationship in the rehearsal halls.
We've worked together so much that we found
a really quick way to communicate with each other
and a really respectful way
to communicate with each other.
So there's really not another person
I would rather work with.
VINCENT: Ready? Sarah quiet for a minute please. Thank you.
(Fencing)
CASEY: Vince called to offer me the role in July.
I had to move out of an apartment in Chicago,
put all my stuff in storage, and then drove
eight hours out to Omaha for the first time in Nebraska.
This is my first time out in the country.
Every time I see a horse or a cow, I freak out.
And everyone else is like it's not that exciting, Casey.
(Fencing)
VINCENT: Good job. I think we're good.
♪ MUSIC ♪
(Chatter with students)
DAN: I think a lot of people their first encounter
with Shakespeare was being forced to read
it in a high school English classroom.
And even myself, my first experience with
Shakespeare was I think we read Romeo and Juliet
my freshman year of high school.
To be perfectly honest, reading Shakespeare out of a
textbook-being forced to read Shakespeare
is not the most pleasant experience.
(Performance)
DAN: But the thing that I love about performing Shakespeare
is so many students ask us after we're done with the show
so how much of this did you re-write?
How much of it did you translate?
And everything that we perform on stage
is Shakespeare's text.
And I think they're surprised to hear that.
They just assume that if it's Shakespeare,
they're not gonna be able to understand it.
ACTOR: By my life, this is my lady's hand.
To yon beloved, this and my good wishes.
DAN: But when Shakespeare is performed,
there it's so much more understandable.
SARAH: We have an amazing response from the students.
A lot of the schools that we go back to year after year,
they remember us.
They remember productions we've brought to them
in previous years.
I have teachers that write me letters that say
it's 2 months later and they're still talking
about the production that you brought.
STUDENT: I read this play,
I was wondering, did you come into this play wanting to be
certain characters or were you just randomly chosen?
CASEY: I actually sent in video audition for part...
SARAH: I really like getting the teaching artist experience
as well as the acting.
DAN: That's one of the things that I really like
about this tour is that it's not we're not just actors.
We're actor educators.
♪ MUSIC ♪
DAN: "You have a Shakespearean insult sheet."
STUDENT: "Thou saucy onion-eyed maltworm."
STUDENT: "Thou greasy-eyed dogfish."
SARAH: "So, when he hits you, you go back. Try that again.
'Super slow.
'Yeah, perfect and make sure that the target is away from
'your face and make sure you hit that target and not his face.
'Okay. Try it again. Ready. Super slow motion.
'Yes, awesome. Very good. Very good."
DAN: Getting that opportunity in the workshops
we work with Shakespeare's text
I think they realize that it doesn't
have to be so scary.
as strange as it may seem to say to a high schooler,
Shakespeare can be fun.
STUDENT: "Thou heavy-headed rabbit-sucker." (laughter)
CASEY: Getting to work with what I think is
really a fantastic curriculum that Vince and Sarah
have put together for these kids,
these kids are really excited to work with us.
CASEY: "We have to use both our voices and our bodies..."
CASEY: ...and maybe haven't had as many
opportunities in drama and theater classes as other
kids that I've worked with.
(Students trying insults and laughter)
CASEY: So giving them the opportunity feels awesome.
VINCENT: I think we kind of perfected the
75-minute Shakespeare adaptation and I'm really proud
of the last few years how we were able to
bring Shakespeare to communities and to schools
that don't otherwise have access to it.
SARAH: No space is the same.
No show is the same.
We're always kind of adjusting and it keeps
the show really fresh for the actors,
which I think keeps it fresh for the audience.
♪ MUSIC ♪
(Applause)