The Bard — Shakespeare Festival boosts students' self-confidence, self-discipline, ambition

For the past 11 years, the late William Shakespeare has been an important figure for sixth-grade students at Longview Elementary.

Each year the Murray school puts on its own Shakespeare Festival, complete with performances of one of his plays, costumes and a Renaissance royalty processional.

Dale Johnson has been teaching sixth grade at the school for 10 of the 11 years the festival has been going on. She says participating in it is a highlight for many of her students.

"I've had kids come up to me and say they've been waiting their whole life to do this," she said.

Students at Longview now have an opportunity for a broader audience to see their hard work, at a new event Murray is sponsoring. In collaboration with the Murray School District, Murray Cultural Arts will sponsor a community Shakespeare Festival Thursday and Friday, March 15 and 16, at Murray High School, 5440 S. State.

The festival will begin with a green show both nights at 5:30 p.m. in the Murray High Commons Area. The show starts with a royalty processional of unique costumes created over the past decade by Longview Elementary teachers. Following the processional, students from several elementary schools will perform dances while roaming musicians, jugglers, mimes, monologues, vignettes and artwork will also be available for public enjoyment.

Mary Ann Kirk, cultural programs manager for Murray, says the festival is an expansion of Shakespeare work already being done by many elementary-school teachers.

"A lot of local schools have done various Shakespeare festivals," she said. "We wanted to acknowledge the work of local teachers and give them more coverage in the community. Their own school knows about (their festival) but nobody else has really seen it. This gives (city residents) a chance to get a sense of what some of the things are that they're doing in a classroom setting."

In addition to the green shows, Murray High School students will perform a condensed version of "As You Like It" Thursday, at 7:30 p.m., in the Little Theater. As part of the Utah Performing Arts Tour, a 10-person touring company from the Utah Shakespearean Festival will perform a condensed 75-minute production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Friday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m., in the auditorium. The play will be followed by a 15-minute "talk-back" with the audience.

All festival events are free of charge and open to the community except "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which requires tickets. Tickets to the production can be purchased at the Murray Parks Office or at the door for $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.