All the world is a stage at Archuleta Elementary School in Denver, where the Shakespeare club is one of the most popular extracurricular activities. Nearly 60 kids are participating this year, from first through fifth grades.
Archuleta fifth grader Ismael Grado will join hundreds of other students in Denver Public Schools for the district’s 41st annual Shakespeare festival on April 25.
“I usually put my own spin on things, I want to entertain the crowd,” Grado said.
Archuleta reading interventionist Sarah Flohr said the festival is more than just a chance to perform. It helps build the students confidence, make friends and appreciate language.
“It gives them a greater understanding of their own language, where our language evolved from the themes that Shakespeare wrote about are universal, and that's why they've are still around hundreds of years later,” Flohr said.
Flohr participated in the Shakespeare Festival when she was a DPS student, and said she is proud that the tradition has continued for over four decades.
The Shakespeare Festival is April 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Denver Center for Performing Arts with opening ceremonies in Skyline Park. Students will perform on 17 stages. This year’s theme is a quote from Shakespeare’s The Tempest , “I long to hear the story of your life, which must captivate the ear strangely.”
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