Ohio University’s Division of Theater is presenting a matinee of its production of Much Ado About Nothing to students in local high schools.
Ohio University’s Division of Theater plans to expand its high school outreach with a matinee of mainstage production Much Ado About Nothing.
The matinee, presented exclusively to local high schools, will take place Tuesday in the Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater in Kantner Hall at 9:30 a.m.
The event follows a continuing tradition of inviting young Southeast Ohio students to CoFA’s William Shakespeare productions. When the spring season was announced in January, a press release was sent to the schools, and invitations were extended. The event will host students from Athens, Logan, Alexander, Warren, Federal Hocking and Meigs school districts.
“We want to give the opportunity to see and experience theater,” Matthew Cornish, assistant professor of theater history, said.
The college includes Shakespeare productions in the series because of the playwright’s presence in the common core Ohio’s Learning Standards.
Staff and graduate students developed a study guide to further the educational aspects of the event. Summary, analysis and activities allow for the students to “interact (with the play) more deeply across time,” Cornish said.
With an introduction of young people to the world of theater comes the potential for audience building.
“Like anything else, you start developing that interest in theater at a young age,” Dennis Delaney, the director of Much Ado About Nothing, said.
With the advent of new technologies, Delaney said distraction can become a force that pulls audiences away from live performance. The matinees are a way of engaging young people again.
“When you read a piece of literature — when you read a play specifically — you have a very small sense of what it is about,” Cornish said. “It is easy to forget literature is incomplete.”
Live performance brings the art alive, Cornish said, allowing for both intellectual and emotional engagement.
The performance also offers a unique experience for the actors.
“They are delighted to be able to (perform),” Cornish said. “A lot are from the area and some remember these performances.”
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The event also provides an avenue to display the work of the theater department to prospective students, Cornish said. Exposing those young people to the arts can foster a lasting connection to theater.
Though inviting local high schools is a continuation of past efforts of outreach, Cornish said he hopes to further expansion in the future.
He believes this performance is the “first step in a series of steps.”
Plans to expand include developing a more interactive study guide and increasing the number of matinees from one to two.
The matinee will be a chance for the Division of Theater to enter into a dialogue with the community, Cornish said.
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