Epic Theatre Ensemble is one of only 36 nonprofit, professional theater companies in the country to receive the Shakespeare for a New Generation grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Part of the NEA's Shakespeare in American Communities initiative, Shakespeare for a New Generation introduces middle and high school students to the power of live theater and the masterpieces of William Shakespeare.
Epic will present a fully-realized production of MACBETH. Each student matinee performance will include both an un-adapted 2 hour performance of Shakespeare's original play and a 30-minute post-show forum with the audience led by the performers.
Directed by Epic Co-Founder Ron Russell and featuring Epic's core company actors, Epic's MACBETH acts as the centerpiece of in-school arts education programs in English and Drama classrooms. Through Shakespeare residencies, students learn communication skills essential to both a citizen and a theatre artist. By learning how to embody Shakespeare's text, students become more facile, sophisticated and potent with language in the public forum.
Participating Schools choose a 4 visit or 10 visit residency to surround the MACBETH production.
- FOUR Pre-show Visits. The 4 in-class workshops are led by one of the members of MACBETH's artistic team- a director or lead actor from the production. In these visits, the teaching artist will focus on using theatre exercises that uncover the meaning of Shakespeare's text. For example, a Teaching Artist might lead students in the exploration of Macbeth's "If It Were Done" soliloquy by asking students to read the speech according to the rhythm of the heartbeat, investigating how iambic pentameter impacts the meaning of text. Each exercise builds toward a deeper understanding of Shakespeare's language.
- TEN VISIT Residencies. An Epic Teaching Artist (also an actor or director from MACBETH) will lead a 10-visit residency that culminates in a student performance of scenes from MACBETH. During these workshops, students will learn actor's techniques to approaching Shakespeare, including the use of subtext, objectives, power words and antithesis. In some residencies, students will write monologues and scenes inspired by the questions raised in the play.
- Education Materials. All participating schools receive a study guide that includes lessons, context and supporting materials for the study of the play.