Hundreds of Kalispell Middle School eighth graders were whisked into a world ruled by comedy, love, fantasy and magic during Montana Shakespeare in the Schools’ production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Friday.

“The students loved it,” eighth-grade English teacher Autumn Gottschlich said. “They laughed at all the right moments. The performance was fabulous.”

Professional actors with Montana Shakespeare in the Schools, an educational outreach program of Shakespeare in the Parks, performed the Shakespearean play. The cast of eight draws actors from around the country to tour Montana and surrounding states performing Shakespeare’s plays followed by question and answer sessions and enrichment workshops with the actors.

When Gottschlich learned Shakespeare in the Schools was touring Western Montana she made sure they stopped at Kalispell Middle School.

“I’ve taught Shakespeare for 17 years and I love it,” Gottschlich said.

The visit from Shakespeare in the Schools is a precursor to the spring when Gottschlich’s students will read “Twelfth Night” and get the opportunity to compare the difference between seeing the play performed on stage versus reading it. She said there is a timeless and boundless appeal to Shakespeare.

“A lot of eighth graders think the language is scary and hard, archaic and old fashioned, but I think they really like the challenge of it. Shakespeare gives us this great background for so many things in our modern world — themes of jealousy, love, power and courage.”

Friday afternoon about 120 of Gottschlich’s students were able to participate in workshops on voice and movement techniques when staging a complex speech or combat scene to make a play dynamic.

“Our focus is on being highly interactive and making Shakespeare accessible to the students,” said actor Cassandra Quinn about Montana Shakespeare in Schools. “This gives them a little taste of what we do as actors. It gives them a little more insight into the world of Shakespeare.” 

In one room a scene was unfolding that looked more like a kickboxing class than Shakespeare. A group of about 26 students were jabbing the air with fists. This was just a warm up for learning the delicate dance of stage combat led by Quinn and fellow actor Kyle Geissler.

“Stage combat is less like a fight and more like a dance,” Geissler told students.

With stage combat fighting it’s all about safety and storytelling Quinn added.

For many students like eighth graders Shane Brault and John Attanasil, this day was their first formal introduction to Shakespeare.

“I haven’t experienced anything like it before,” Brault said. 

The group paired off to play victim and attacker in a combat scenario involving hair pulling and slapping. No students were harmed during the workshop. 

The hair-pulling scenario took several steps. Brault and Attanasil paired up. The victim, Brault, knelt on the floor while the attacker, Attanasil, came up from behind reaching an open palm in the sky and then swinging it down into a fist on Brault’s head. Brault then reached his hands up and placed them on Brault’s arm. Without actually pulling any hair, Attanasil leaned back making a grimace while Brault pulled his arm down, got on his feet and let out a yell. The resistance makes the action believable Quinn said.

“Think about being loud and silly with our voices,” Quinn said. “That’s a tool to make it believable.” 

Quinn watched a room full of students grinning broadly, ready for more combat.

“Shakespeare’s stories are universal and transcend time and space, which is why we can take these words, which are 400 years old, and put them on stage today and students in 2014 can connect with what’s going on, on stage,” Quinn said.

For more information about Montana Shakespeare in the Schools visit www.shakespeareintheparks.org.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].