Wila Theatre Project Week- Romeo & Juliet

Esther Engeli

In 2017/18, I worked with a dear friend and co-artist Esther Engeli to create a Theatre Project Week for the Secondary School of Wila in the Tösstal region.  Esther, who is the tremendously talented and deeply dedicated visual arts teacher at Wila, and I, worked for over 18 months preparing and planning to bring the theme of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to life.   Our main mission was to gently and safely introduce theatre to a community of students that rarely attend or participate in theatre and/or the performing arts. Working with the local faculty and administrators we designed a week where the students were immersed in exploring R&J within the following theme groups: acting, stage combat, visual arts, celebrations, and sound.  Students also had the chance to explore workshops focused on physical comedy acting, contemporary dance, improv acting, shadow puppetry, Bharatanatyam dance, and developing a Creative Habit.  The results of the week, which was in May of 2018, were beyond our wildest dreams.