By JAY HOWSER
The Blue Key Club is holding its third annual “Shakespeare on the Quad” event Thursday, in an effort to increase appreciation of Shakespeare in the BYU community.
The event features three to four hours of 15-minute performances of Shakespeare’s plays in the Marigold Quad by the Thomas L. Martin Building.
John Bradshaw, a Blue Key Club member and one of the organizers of the event, said everyone is welcome to participate.
“We encourage everything from memorized works in full period regalia to cold readings in school dress,” said Bradshaw, 23, a junior from Elkhart, Ind., majoring in Russian.
“We want to provide a fun, creative outlet for people who enjoy Shakespeare. It’s all amateur, and it’s all for fun,” Bradshaw said.
Most of the performances will be by students in university honors courses, high school students and local theater companies, but anyone else who cares to perform is welcome.
“We’re bringing together different groups in the community and introducing them to the BYU environment through Shakespeare,” said Kathryn Price, 19, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif., majoring in music performance and English. Price is also a Blue Key Club member.
“We hope people will be entertained and that they’ll smile,” she said.
Cherry Silver, a visiting instructor in the English Department at BYU, is one of the honors instructors who is supporting the event.
Her class will be performing imaginary conversations between characters from Shakespearean plays who never interacted in his works. For example, the class will show what Lady MacBeth could teach Richard III about wiping out an aristocracy.
Silver said her students are drawn to Shakespeare because of the way his works have become such an integral part of our culture.
“They love studying ‘King Lear’ to learn about true love and loyalty. They also like ‘Taming of the Shrew’ because it deals with men and women’s relationships,” Silver said.
This wide appreciation of Shakespeare is one of the main reasons the Blue Key Club is sponsoring the event. The purpose of the 30-member club is to promote intellectuality and enrich the culture at BYU, said Matt Squires, 23, a senior from Layton, Davis County, majoring in physics.
“I hope people will walk away with an increased desire to know the literature, to understand it and enjoy it,” he said.
For more information about “Shakespeare On The Quad,” call Matt Squires at 356-9765.
