"William Shakespeare, one of the most famous and respected English playwrights, performed at the WFO Bruneck, a business school?" That is probably the slightly startled reaction one would expect from many when reading this headline.
This may sound like hard work, but David Taylor from VET certainly succeeded in turning the workshop into a memorable experience for all participants. After performing extensively in English theatres, David has been organizing and directing English Theatre Workshops in schools throughout Austria and South Tyrol for many years now. And as an author he has – among many other plays - created his own very unusual version of iconic Shakespeare: Silly Shakespeare!
On 21 February 2014 16 students from the 4th and 5th forms entered the ZIB-Raum and found themselves in a kind of parallel universe where they were asked to laugh, fight, scream, curse and kill each other – things they are not normally allowed to do at school.
In just 5 hours the group managed to perform two plays:
- Macbeth, the tragic story of a Scottish upstart noble who becomes king through murder and deceit, and
- Pyramus and Thisbe, the even more tragic story of two lovers who die because of the impossibility of their love (like Romeo and Juliet).
And this is what David and the students put on stage: a modern Macbeth – killed because he looks at his wrist watch; a doctor taking Lady Macbeth to DM to buy skin care products; Banquo imitating Arnold Schwarzenegger; Macduff answering an important phone call in the middle of a fight; a lion as a running (and roaring) gag; a male student convincingly impersonating lovely, romantic and delicate Thisbe; Michaela's contagious giggling; and altogether 3 dramatic deaths ...
And not to forget: David's ever-present comments, advice and, of course: "SCHNITT!"
To sum up, it can be said that David Taylor was able to bring out hidden talents, encourage spontaneous reactions and – most importantly – everybody had lots of fun.
Many thanks to him for his winning manner and hilarious stories, for the professional advice and group management. We hope to see him again in the near future!!!
M. Aschbacher
English department
