Riverton High School drama teacher Erin McGuire created a compilation scene of clips from seven different Shakespeare plays to inspire an appreciation of the playwright, who often intimidates students.

“I think that this scene is one of those kinds of things that can show a real appreciation for Shakespeare,” she said. “It's his greatest hits, all those things you go, ‘That's where that came from!?’ There's so much wisdom and art and beautiful lessons that are in it, so I want to be able to show some of that and have students be able to see it.”

The scene is set in a modern classroom in which a teacher begins with the “All the world’s a stage” speech from “As You Like It.” When it mentions the “seven ages of man” she assigns lines to students from seven different plays that illustrate each age. The scene progresses as reluctant students, initially uninterested, begin to understand and become more engaged in the lines. Their performances improve, and they become more animated and emotionally invested, culminating as they reach the final age, in which a student movingly portrays the deep sorrow of death, the final age.

The Shakespeare team performed McGuire’s scene for some of the student body, along with other theater and dance performances, before they headed to the Shakespeare Competition in Cedar City the first weekend in October.

Students who attended the assembly with their language arts classes said the performances were “awesome,” “great” and “so good.” One said, “It was very fun to watch and didn’t leave me bored at all” and another said “I saw the passion.”

“It was very interesting to see their perspective on Shakespeare,” a theater student said. “It made me enjoy it way more than how I've seen it before.”

Cece Heiner, a senior on the Shakespeare team, admitted she didn’t like Shakespeare until she studied his plays in school. She enjoyed being part of the mashup scene.

“I love putting Shakespeare into the modern setting, because it's easy to see that even though it's an older language, it still resonates with people today, and the themes and topics in those shows are still prevalent today,” she said.

Junior Carlos Boscan, who performed the death scene in the ensemble piece, said two friends told him afterward that his performance had changed their opinion of Shakespeare.

“They were like, ‘I don't like Shakespeare at all. I don't like theater, and you made me get into that scene, you made me get into that story,’” he said. “And I just feel so grateful. That makes me know that maybe I am doing a good job.”

Two years ago, Boscan didn’t even know English and now he is a member of the RHS Shakespeare team.

“When I was in Venezuela, and in Panama, I didn't know anything about Shakespeare,” he said. “When I got here, thanks to Mr. Eaton and Miss McGuire, I have been able to learn so much from Shakespeare. He really is the best playwriter of the whole world.”

The modern compilation scene was something McGuire has wanted her team to perform for a couple of years. She knew it was a risky interpretation for a competition piece but she thought it would be a good experience for her students.

“I like to have more creative stuff going on and do things that are unexpected, mostly for my students so they can get a different perspective of Shakespeare,” McGuire said. “I know that some of the judges are going to love it and some are going to hate it—I don't care, because the students think it's cool, and I think it's cool, and other people who see it, who love Shakespeare, will think it's cool.”

Those who saw it at the competition did think it was cool—including the judges. The scene won third place in their division and was selected as an overall favorite.

“The ensemble was asked to perform at a showcase, which means judges believed the scene should be seen by other participants,” McGuire said.