Much Ado About the Shakespeare Festival

Since the early 2000s, the Shakespeare Festival has been a highlight of the year for sophomores, who come together to perform and watch each other act out one of its namesake’s works. This year, the grade performed Much Ado About Nothing. As students anxiously dramatize Don John’s dastardly deeds or portray the main characters deceiving Benedick, they are honing their public speaking skills and participating in a decades-long tradition of artistic excellence. 

Started by former English teachers Michael Himelfarb ‘94 and James Spragins ‘73, the Shakespeare Festival was originally held in the junior common room, with the stage in front of the door to Ms. Hammer’s Office. According to former English department chair Patrick Hastings, “It was tight, but the energy and camaraderie were great.” In 2014, for the first and only time, Gilman partnered with RPCS to rehearse and perform the scenes, and it was held in the Old Gym to accommodate the large audience. Since then, the festival’s home has been in Centennial Hall.

In addition to the location, the format of the Shakespeare Festival has changed significantly throughout the years, originally being a two-day event held during lunch and assembly time. Furthermore, the play used to follow a major humanities paper in December, which required students to write about Shakespeare through the lens of a 16th- or early 17th-century historical, political, or philosophical text. According to Mr. Hastings, the festival was a way to engage with the play in a more creative way while closing out the end of the calendar year on a positive note. Good riddens, philosophy paper! 

At this time, exams were still held in late January, so after the festival, students would complete a short satire unit before their English midterm. It was not until many years later that the Shakespeare Festival became the replacement for the midterm. In certain years, musical performances were included alongside scenes performed by students in other grades who were also studying Shakespeare. Students have also accompanied some performances with interesting framings, such as portraying Dogberry as a country hillbilly or setting characters in the Star Wars universe. This is one of the event’s best aspects, students can orient their scene however they think will be most entertaining and engaging for the audience. 

The Shakespeare play that is performed continues to change, too, reflecting what teachers want out of their classes. In past years, the festival has featured titles such as The Tempest, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer's Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night. Plays are often changed because teachers are “teaching the same plays several years in a row, they might want something new or fresh,” according to Ms. Knapp. In her opinion, it is more productive to study Shakespeare’s tragedies in class and better to act out his comedies, which work better for an audience of mostly students.

Both Ms. Knapp and Mr. Malkus have taught and been spectators of the festival. “It differs in the level of investment with your students because you watch them, read the play, talk about it for weeks leading up to the performance,” commented Mr. Malkus. Seeing students go from not picturing themselves onstage to “really getting into the spirit and realizing you can feed off the energy from the audience and get through it,” makes it a truly special experience, he continued. Because every sophomore in the audience has to participate, he described the experience as “the epitome of empathy.” The shared experience of the grade inspires courage in students to take a risk and put themselves in front of their classmates in a way they may have never done before. James Hobelmann ‘26, an alum of the festival, recollected fondly of his experience, sharing, “It really forced me to step out of my comfort zone and face my fear of public speaking…the festival as a whole influenced me to take more risks outside of the classroom.” James Zink ‘26, another graduate, added, “The Shakespeare Festival made me feel like a baby eagle leaving his nest for the first time. I think that is when I first began to soar.”

The Shakespeare Festival remains a highlight of the school year, representing some of the best of the Gilman community. Mr. Hastings described it as his “favorite day of the school year” because it was “Such a pleasure to see Gilman boys push beyond their comfort zones, show their talent, harness the nervous energy of the room, feel the supportive spirit of their classmates, and let their hard work and preparation pay off.”