Before I got a chance to even teach Shakespeare again in school, I was asked to be a dramaturge and acting coach as Maeser prepared to go down to Cedar City for the annual high school Shakespeare Competition. The Competition ran during the first weekend of October and involved the high school students giving different renditions of monologues, duo- and trio-scenes, and an ensemble. The drama teacher, Cam Cahoon, always asked Justin for additional insights and help to get the students ready for the Competition. This year, I was asked to help. I had heard about the Competition before; my in-laws had gone to see Merchant of Venice the year before and had mentioned it. The idea of going down to see a play and help the students was exciting for me, and, since my wife could go down with me, I decided to start helping out. The two or so weeks before we left, I spent hours after school working with one of the students on her speech as Hermione from The Winter's Tale . We discussed pr...
Personal musings of Steven Dowdle