TOWAMENCIN- Taking the North Penn stage Monday morning was The Linny Fowler WillPower Tour performing Shakespeare’s famous comedy, Much Ado About Nothing. Originating from The Pennsylvania Shakespeare’s Festival, these professional actors and actresses brought to life Shakespeare’s play that students read as part of the curriculum in tenth grade. At North Penn, this tour included workshops and a talk back after the show, where it allowed theatrical students to learn more about the techniques of acting, but also the work that goes into productions from a professional point of view.

“North Penn is our biggest high school, almost 1,200 kids. We have never performed in front of a school that big. It’s really interesting because sometimes we have schools that are very familiar with the play and sometimes we have schools that aren’t very familiar with Much Ado About Nothing, but generally the response is the same which I think is a testament to two things: the story telling that is happening with William Shakespeare’s work and also to our group of actors that we have,” said actress Antoinette Robinson who played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. “It’s been wonderful to be able to do this show and to be able to do it for such a variety of audiences. Just to take part in this story and experience with them is really lovely.”

Kenny Fedorko who plays Don John and Friar explains that “We [WillPower Company] love to bring shows to students who have never seen live theater before. We are often the first professional production that kids have seen and we’re very honored to be able to do that as part of this tour.”

After the curtain closed, the actors and actresses answered student’s questions ranging from “What got you into theater?” to “What was your favorite character to play?” When the Q&A was over, the workshops began, allowing students to explore stage combat to the language of Shakespeare to body movement on stage.

Through most of the workshops, the main lesson was “movements speak louder than words.” Although the actor’s words are important, the body language conveys the emotions and shows one’s acting ability. There was very little talking heard in the Stage Combat workshop, along with the Body Movement workshop; our body language spoke instead of our mouths.

Robinson and Fedorko conducted the Body Movement workshop which explored this theme of body language. They instructed students to walk around as themselves, then as a certain character, all without talking. Then, they had to walk around having their knees leading the way and as the activity continued, the body parts changed. When a student lead with their chin, a condescending and arrogant character was created. Through each body part, a certain character was developed hence the theme that without words, emotion and a plot can still be understood.

“This [Body Movement] workshop particularly is how theater relates to life and how you can really transpose a lot of theories that go into theater and preparing a character into helping and learning about how to be a better person in life. There’s such a fine line between the two,” said Fedorko.

Acting and being involved in theatre heavily influences young actor’s lives. The theatre helps with public speaking, socializing/interacting, learning about oneself while developing a character and many other life lessons.

The workshops opened students’ eyes to the fact that theatre is not all about standing on stage and reciting lines. “It brings a certain level of awareness that most of the time we aren’t even aware of how we are in a physical relationship with one another,” said Robinson.

As Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”