Potosi’s English department is using a regional resource and taking students to American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI every other school year. This is a professional theater company permanently based in Spring Green.
I asked English teacher Mr. Fry some questions about this trip; what it all means to the students and how it helps the students learn more in class after going. One of the questions was what is the impact you want this to make on these students? Mr.Fry told me he wanted it to be easier for the class to visualize when they are reading the plays in class. This way it will be easier to understand and they will realize how important Shakespeare is and why, after all these years, it is still played today.
He told me that in 2023 they only took the freshman because the show APT was doing happened to be Romeo and Juliet, which is a part of the ninth-grade curriculum, which can really help them see what’s going on and understand it much better. This can also help with assignments on it after seeing the play live. Mr. Fry told me that the inspiration for starting this trip was some of his own experiences with APT. This is cool because he went when he was in high school, so he has experience with going for years. This is what gave him the idea to continue to do it today.
One of the major parts of this show is the audience interactions. The actors come out after the show and let the audience ask questions, and they will answer them. This is nice for the kids because if there was something they were confused about or didn’t understand they are able to ask that and learn from the actors. Another thing this can teach the kids is to not be afraid to be yourself in front of an audience and get out of your comfort zone.
They also do specific plays for schools to help fit their curriculum. Overall this is a very good experience to come to Potosi and will help the students in the future. It may even influence them on what they want to do with their future. They even have plans of taking the incoming freshman next year to the play Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing next fall.
Mr. Fry and Mr. Bohn have plans in place to take the incoming freshmen and sophomores to Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in the fall of 2024.