The play's the thing for Denver's students

Katie Kerwin Mccrimmon, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 13, 2006 at midnight

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The 5-year-old boy arrived in Denver from Bosnia in September, not speaking a word of English.

On Friday, Predrag Stanislic spotted a poster with a portrait of the father of English literature and announced: "There's Shakespeare!"

And so began the 22nd Annual Denver Public Schools Shakespeare Festival.

Predrag and his classmates from Steele Elementary School in south Denver were among more than 4,000 sword- and wand-wielding students donning wings, robes and witches' hats, to turn the Denver Performing Arts Complex into a bustling Elizabethan theater district.

The younger children recited famous Shakespeare quotes, while the older ones performed complex scenes.

Hands down, the Steele children had a favorite line: "Out Damn'd spot," from Macbeth. Thanks to the Bard, they had permission to utter a naughty word. Over and over again.

For their teacher, the Shakespeare festival offered a world of opportunity.

"It's got self-presence, vocabulary, cultural enrichment, the challenge of doing something difficult," said Predrag's teacher, Mary Lee Rouse, as she guided a half-dozen half-pints through the festival.

At a nearby stage, a quartet of young fairies in pastel dresses awaited their turn to perform a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Fresh as summer sorbet, the fairies from Barnum Elementary in west Denver performed Shakespeare's words with hula moves and a rap beat.

For the fairy queen, the trip downtown was the culmination of months of rehearsal.

"It's really fun acting," said Julie Herrera, an 11-year-old fifth grader from Barnum. She conceded, however, that Shakespeare can be confounding.

"But once you get the hang of it, it's not so hard. You need to know what they're saying," she said, explaining her scene: "There's something that makes me fall in love with a donkey. It's funny."

Her teacher beamed.

"They don't get this opportunity every day to be with other kids who love to learn," said Trudy Jagger, an art teacher at Barnum. "They get the opportunity to be something, to be an achiever."

While the acting on stage was remarkable, so were the rapt faces in the audience. Children as young as 8 were mouthing the lines as they were performed.

In the Challenge Bowl, star students competed over who knew more Shakespeare trivia and who had read Measure for Measure most thoroughly.

Damien Douglas, a 10-year-old fifth grader from Palmer Elementary School in east Denver, commanded the stage in a regal robe in the title role of Macbeth.

This is his fourth year in the Shakespeare Festival. Acting, he said, has taught him a valuable lesson: "Be your character," he said. "Be yourself."

Jan MacKenzie, a former teacher, has volunteered as a judge at the festival for the past seven years.

"This is one of the highlights of the Denver Public Schools," she said. "It's going to make them receptive to Shakespeare all their lives."

Shakespeare trivia

Here are some questions from the Denver Public Schools Shakespeare Challenge Bowl. Answers appear below.

1. What was the age difference between Shakespeare and his wife?

2. At what age did Shakespeare die?

3. What four types of plays did Shakespeare write?

4. Where is Shakespeare buried?

5. Why were London's theaters closed from 1593-1594?

6. Shakespeare's histories were based on the history of what nation?

7. How many children did Shakespeare have?

8. What was the name of the first theater company that Shakespeare joined?

9. In what year was Measure for Measure written?

10. What celebrated Spanish writer died on the same day as William Shakespeare?

• ANSWERS

1. She was eight years older. 2. 52 3. Romance, comedy, history and tragedy 4. Holy Trinity Church cemetery in Stratford 5. The Plague 6. England 7. Three 8. Lord Chamberlain's Men 9. 1604 10. Miguel de Cervantes. They both died on April 23, 1616.

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