By Kim Voynar Voynar@moviecitynews.com
A Sublime Midsummer Night’s Dream
I took Neve to see the Family Learning Center’s production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream tonight, and it was amazing. Year after year, FLC’s outstanding drama teacher, Jennifer Reif, consistently puts on professional-level theater productions with a group of homeschoolers and a limited budget. I don’t know how she works her particular brand of theatrical magic, but she is one of the most gifted teachers of the dramatic arts that I’ve ever encountered. My kids were fortunate enough to get to work with Jen several years ago in equally impressive productions of Annie and The Box Circus.
Jen led this group of kids in pulling together on a fantastic, professional production: simple but elegant set, astonishing lighting and sound design, and gorgeous costumes, augmented by original live music written and performed by Jen’s husband Rif, a professional musician, and his friend Mark, also a pro.
Somehow, Jen managed to coax these kids in Shakespearean dialogue, in a production which, I have to say, rivaled that of the Bellevue Youth Theater performance of the same play our family participated in several years ago. BYT’s production was also fantastic, but had the benefit of experienced teens and adult actors in the lead roles. Jen was working with a much younger cast, and yet still managed to guide them to a level of professionalism I think anyone would have been impressed by.
There were no wooden recitations of Shakespeare’s language on that stage tonight — these kids acted the roles, delivered their lines as they were meant to be said, and did so incredibly well. The show was funny, as it should be, and included some fantastic ballet choreography of fairy dances to boot. I never cease to be amazed a the level of performance Jen gets out of her young charges. Especial props have to be given to the kids who played the four lovers, Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, as well as the young man who put heart and soul into a great comedic portrayal of Nick Bottom, and Neve’s good friend Sarah, who rocked the house as Puck.
But every kid on that stage, from the dancers to the fairy courts of Oberon and Titania, was so there, so present in the moment of what they were doing — even the smallest of fairies was focused, acting and reacting to what the other performers were doing. The blocking, the staging, the production design, all were top-notch. If I’d paid $20 a ticket instead of the $8 they charged, it would have been money well-spent for the value everyone involved put into it. Just outstanding.
The FLC is one of the programs we have here in Washington that are considered alternative education programs (my kids attend a similar program in the Seattle district). Families can either retain their “homeschooler” status and let their kids take a couple classes, or do what we do, which is enroll “full-time” in the program, which means that I as their mom am responsible for writing up individual learning plans (ILPs) for each of them and checking in monthly with our supervising teacher to make sure the kids are on track with our learning plan. For someone like me, balancing work with homeschooling four kids, these programs are a godsend.
When people ask me how I manage to both homeschool and work? This is how. My kids take classes three days a week at the Homeschool Resource Center, where they get to have interesting classes with a great group of friends, share lunchtime in the Commons, and plan many, many after school playdates. If you’re one of those who think that those poor homeschooled kids grow up not knowing how to socialize, all I can say is, you’ve never been around these kids. Not only do they socialize very well, thankyouverymuch, the kids we know at both FLC and HRC are just great kids — close with their families, but also kind and generous with their friends and siblings. It’s a common thing to see teenagers and little kids sitting playing chess and other board games, working side-by-side on projects, helping each other.
Jen’s drama program, which she runs at two homeschool centers on the Eastside, is a great example of homeschooling kids working together to make something amazing and very special. Congrats to all involved for a lovely, enchanting, and professional production. Homeschoolers rock.