The learners of Kind David Victory Park (KDVP) High School recently hosted their Minds and Hearts Awoken initiative with the assistance of the Johannesburg Awakening Minds (Jam) for their 2019 Focus Day.
The mission of the day was to give the school’s Grade 9 learners a chance to discover whether or not William Shakespeare is truly relevant in today’s times. After a day of discussions, performances and charitable acts, the learners walked away believing that his works are still relevant. The school’s Ronel Klatzkin said, “The learners were really able to see the value and relevance of Shakespeare in the actors’ lives, especially in the open and honest QnA that followed.”
The school was pleased to collaborate with Jam – a theatre group for homeless people. They perform Shakespeare plays at restaurants, parks, sidewalks and schools. Jam was formed by South African actress Dorothy-Ann Gould when she recruited the people at a soup kitchen in Hillbrow several years ago with the idea of giving them a voice and dignity. Klatzkin said, “The group has been enormously successful and has been featured on Carte Blanche and performed at the Naledi Awards.”
The day before for the initiative, the learners of the school rolled up their sleeves to give back themselves. “Our students spent the morning prior to the performance preparing delicious jam-filled sandwiches for the actors and their counterparts at the shelters. This was a simple act of chesed [compassion], but it was approached so enthusiastically and willingly by the Grade 9s.”
Once the sandwiches were done the learners were then treated to an extraordinary performance by Jam. Classic Shakespearean pieces were performed, as were some with a more modern spin, courtesy of Jam’s interpretation. The members of Jam also performed their own works. A poem entitled Why? by one of the actors explained how he, as a homeless man, is treated by the general public. Klatzkin added, “The poem had many of our learners and teachers in tears.”
After a well-deserved break, they continued on the journey of discovering if Shakespeare is truly relevant today. “We watched She’s The Man, the contemporary adaptation of Twelfth Night. It was a true high school love triangle story, thoroughly enjoyed by our teenagers.”
The Grade 9s went on to spent the rest of the day adapting extracts from Twelfth Night into social media posts. According to Nirvana Rogers campus marketing manager for the school, this was a great way to combine the bard’s words with 21st-century learning. “Our students enjoyed a day of seeing how Shakespeare’s works can affect lives for the better, spread kindness, and be contemporary and relevant in 2019.”
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