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English and Drama Departments Embark on Shakespeare Trip to Virginia
From October 2 to October 5, The Hopkins English and Drama departments teamed up to bring students on a three-day field trip to Staunton, Virginia for an immersive experience centered on the works of William Shakespeare at the American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Playhouse.
During the trip, the group took in performances of two plays set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Students observed the company's production style, which emphasizes acting and live music over modern theatrical effects like specialized lighting and recorded sound. For both performances, students were seated in the "gallant stools" on stage which would be choice seats in Shakespeare's Day at the Blackfriars Theater.
The educational focus extended beyond the plays. Students took part in a "Cue Scripts" workshop, where they rehearsed and performed scenes using scripts formatted as they would have been in Shakespeare's time, containing only an actor's lines and their cues. A second workshop focused on stagecraft, teaching students how to create and use stage blood packets, or "squibs.”
The itinerary also included a tour of the Blackfriars' Playhouse, a replica of Shakespeare's indoor theater, where students learned about its history and viewed backstage operations.
Additionally, a visit to the Frontier Museum connected the historical period to Shakespeare's work. According to drama teacher Mike Calderone, a tour of a reassembled English Tudor-style house, built from salvaged ship timbers, provided context for the potential inspiration for Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
This marks the English and Drama Departments’ second trip to Staunton, the first being in the fall of 2023. They hope to plan a similar trip in the future.
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