The Shakespearean theatre visited IB Literature and Language classes during the beginning of March to prepare them for their field trip to see Mike Bartlett’s, King Charles III directed by David Muse at the Shakespeare Theatre Company on March 2. 

“King Charles III fit perfectly as a culminating activity to our IB Language and Literature Part || unit: Advertising, Politics and Celebrity,” Leslie Chekin.

A representative, Chelsea Mayo,  from the theatre did activities with each class to get the students minds thinking about their views on celebrities in politics and what to expect in the theatre.  Mayo went over each characters from the play and compared and contrasted them with who they resemble in real life. Mayo was very passionate about the theatre and play; she is an understudy. 

“My favorite part was that I read the play a while ago and now I get to see how these actors and the director made the play work,” Mayo said.

“I love the way the playwright and director wove shakespearean elements into a modern story: The play was on a royal family and country in crises,” Chekin said.

The play is primarily written in Shakespearean blank verse and is a combination of an historical situation and modern innovations. 

“The play imagines what would happen in England in the future once Queen Elizabeth dies and Prince Charles takes over the throne,” Chekin said.

Students left school after first period and made it through Washington D.C. traffic to meet 800 other students at the theatre. 

“I enjoyed the play because I got to see a fictionalized version of how different countries governments work and the comparisons to how our government is being run at the moment,” Junior Kendall McCleary said.

The performance was only for students, ranging from middle schoolers to even college. 

“The play had a very unsatisfying ending because they built a lot of suspense and it amounted to nothing,” junior, Ricardo Perrera said. 

Directly following the performance, classes were invited to a question and answer session with the actors. 

“The after-talk with the actors was the best I’ve ever participated in. And, of course, our students are an amazing audience,” Chekin said.

The actors took off their makeup and costumes then joined a few volunteers on stage. Students were encouraged to write down their questions during intermission and those those questions were handed to the actors on stage. 

“I liked the question and answer part because it gave us the opportunity to get more in-depth with the story and the cast members,” McCleary said.