Introduction to Shakespeare Students Performed the Twelfth Night

Last week, students in Principal Lecturer Lezlie Christensen Branum’s course, ENGL 2300: Introduction to Shakespeare, held two performances of the playwright’s comedy, Twelfth Night, or What You Will at USU’s Black Box Theatre.

As a general education course, students came from a variety of disciplines, including English, theater, engineering, political science, environmental studies, and other majors. “This kind of interdisciplinary cohort expands learning, as each student lens contributes unique perspectives that deepen our understanding of the themes recurring throughout the plays,” Lezlie says.

Students were tasked with abridging Twelfth Night as two different production companies, assigning roles for the performance, and designing the production during the final three weeks of the course. “Students were excited to shift their learning into action, and their creativity and collective skill are beyond impressive,” Lezlie reflects. “Performance approaches for enhanced reading comprehension—and connecting to early modern cultures in which the plays were written—are two learning outcomes for the course; the performances facilitate deep learning and appreciation of both the Bard's plays and their peers' skills.”

Jocelyn Flammer, engineering student, played Feste/the Fool in one of the productions. “I’m so happy that the final was a performance because plays aren’t meant to be enjoyed just by reading them. Shakespeare was an amazing wordsmith and playwright, but his works aren’t novels! They’re meant to be seen and can be understood much more deeply by seeing than reading them,” she comments. “I’ve definitely grown in my appreciation for Shakespeare during this class. In the past, when I’ve had to read his works for an English class, I found his works boring and confusing. Lezlie really helped contextualize the works, and let me tell you, they’re so much more enjoyable when you actually get the jokes!”

English Teaching student Reesa Hobbs was the producer for one of the casts. She said was nervous about the final project being a performance at first, especially since she hasn’t always had positive experiences with group projects. “I can honestly say that this project has been the most fun I have ever had in pursuit of a grade. The individuals that I worked with I can now call friends. Nobody expected anyone to put in more effort than they were willing to themselves. Everyone was invested in the end result,” she reflects. “Performing the play itself helped solidify themes and ideas that are harder to interpret in just reading the text. There's so much that comes to life on a stage between intonation, body language, sets, staging and costumes. While this was an abridged version of that, the ideas transferred.”

Elizabeth Trout decided to take the class because of her love of Shakespeare, which started in third grade. She comments, “This course was my favorite course I have ever taken at USU. It allowed for our class to laugh and learn the works of Shakespeare. I looked forward to coming to class every day for more deep insights on why these plays were written the way they are. Specifically, our lovely professor Lezlie Christensen-Branum gave me feedback that sparked me to push myself. I will never forget that her passion for this subject truly does impact the wonderful way she teaches.”

As the producer of her group’s production, Elizabeth noted their take on Twelfth Night was unique, engaging, and successful: “Our production was transitioned to a middle school and we had two doors representing the two courts Orsino's and Olivia's in the Twelfth Night play. The two classrooms were theoretically across the hall from each other and the different middle schoolers interacted during lunch and recess. We had hilarious jump rope scenes, flirtatious acts, and an intense dodgeball scene. The performance went spectacularly.”

Kaito Davis, one of the directors, said taking the class was a worthwhile experience as a theater major. He comments, “Personally, I hate writing, but I love nerding out on stuff, and I was able to contribute and be present in the discussions, which isn't always easy in an English class.  I've enjoyed putting together the intellectual aspect and the creative aspect. Studying Shakespeare is one thing—understanding or reading or performing is something else entirely.  The actual performance ended up being a fun, collaborative experience. I, as a director, always try to invite my cast members to get excited about a project so I loved when people had ideas and seeing them light up.”

English major Lauren Morrill, who played Malvolio in her group’s performance, reflects, “This class has been formative to my college career. Because Shakespeare has influenced literature in the most profound ways, studying his works is possibly one of the best ways to study English history. Many common threads in all our favorite TV shows, movies, and books all lead back to Shakespeare. To anyone considering taking Shakespeare, I would highly recommend. You’ll leave the class with knowledge you’ll take with you the rest of your life!”