The Shakespearience of a lifetime — Hamilton youngsters wow audience at Dundas Little Theatre

The lines flew from their mouths - not just their mouths but up from the core of who they are, those 16 young actors - and they flew like lightning, in bolts of iambic pentameter, illuminating the stage, illuminating the actors themselves.

Were they really saying these lines? These 16 teens, different backgrounds, some under-resourced," some from difficult circumstances?

Had they really mastered these words from the brain of Shakespeare, in all their complex and beautiful antiquity, yet never more potently relevant?

Yes they had, who short weeks ago knew blink about Elizabethan theatre but now commanded the resources to own a piece of it and, in the process, a piece of themselves.

There they were, at the Dundas Little Theatre, 16 of them, in their teens, playing their parts, from Lady Macbeth to Julius Caesar, conquering nerves, taking turns.

They had come this far - the capping performance of their four weeks in the Shakespearience Summer Program, based this year at St. Lawrence School. The show, called Tyrant Fever," featured speeches and scenes from Shakespeare that reflect on the theme of tyranny, still very much with us, in geopolitics, in life, as Shakespearience director Marvin Karon pointed out (Key Straughan, assistant director).

There was no set, just some chairs and deft lighting, and these young actors stepping forth in character and ably rodeo-riding huge mouthfuls. Lines like:

But screw your courage to the sticking-place/ And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep-/ Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey/Soundly invite him-his two chamberlains/ Will I with wine and wassail so convince/ That memory, the warder of the brain,/ Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason ..."

This is the intensified summer version of Shakespearience, a 24-year-old literacy/skill-building/ problem-solving drama program that uses Shakespeare to liberate confidence, curiosity, self-esteem and forwardness in young people. It was started by Hamiltonian Marvin Karon in Toronto as a one-off experiment. It went so well it turned into his full-time job. It spread to Hamilton.

I came in to improve my vocal and speaking skills but it really opened so many other new doors for me," says Mia Kosmin, who has performed in high school musicals at Glendale Secondary.

When we started," says Jack Stearns-Ley, the language (Shakespeare's) was something to get past but then it became the value."

I had just moved to Hamilton from Montreal two months ago and I joined to do something new," says Omoghene Akelemor - they call her Anu. I almost dropped out right away." She was very shy when she started, says Marvin. That changed.

It gave me such confidence." That was apparent at the Dundas Little Theatre as she did a wonderful turn as Juliet.

I got to see a lot of things I've never seen," says Anu.

One of those things she'd never seen was the Shaw Festival, where the Shakespearience Summer youth spent a day, at the festival's invitation, getting toured backstage, through various departments such as costume and taking in a performance of the Shaw production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest."

I accompanied them on the bus (sponsored by the Hamilton Catholic board) to Niagara-on-the-Lake for that visit. I was invited by Marvin, whose Shakespearience in-class workshop session has been presented at 150 schools in more than 30 school boards across Ontario (it has also been presented in England, the Middle East, the U.S.)

The feeling in the bus, the morning after their triumphant Tyrant Fever" show, was - well, to stay on theme - a bit Henry V we happy few." Celebratory, victorious, proud. The Dundas Little Theatre was their Agincourt.

Laughter and conversation abounded. The camaraderie and teamwork were inspiring to see. Marvin from time to time broke out into his encyclopedic Shakespeare repertoire. No matter the subject of conversation he was able to produce, reflexively, from a memory saturated in the works, the most apt passages, verbatim, in perfect inflection.

At Shaw I watched the group, some holding hands, observe the inner workings of a grand theatre company. They saw, from under the stage, the great geared steel wheel that enables a stage to revolve. They saw costumes being made and were coached by one of the actors in movement and voice.

I heard and watched them shake in their seats to the wit of Oscar Wilde, sparklingly performed.

Sixteen young people. They represent so much more. As Shakespeare himself counselled his audience, because he could not produce whole cavalries on stage, imagine! Think when we talk of horses, that you see them/ Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth."

Think of the 16 and the others Shakespearience has touched. Is there not room for this civilizing impulse? More and more, Shakespeare is being drained out of our curricula. There may be much bilge in our history but let's not throw out the bard with the bathwater.

Shakespearience has made such an impression. The Shaw festival invited them. Actors of the stature of Colm Feore and Fiona Reid have spoken at and acted in Shakespearience classes.

No less a figure than Kenneth Branagh counts himself a supporter. In a testimonial he has written:

... Shakespearience ... has a history of making the language of the Bard's plays accessible and meaningful, believing that Shakespeare has a vital role to play in the classroom and in the emotional and intellectual development of young people."

It's a struggle every year, especially in the shadow of COVID, for Shakespearience to win commitments from potential users, such as school boards.

But a night and day spent witness to its marvellous effects would convince anyone and everyone how crucially needed it truly is.

Jeff Mahoney is a Hamilton-based reporter and columnist covering culture and lifestyle stories, commentary and humour for The Spectator.jmahoney@thespec.com