Walking into the theatre, you are greeted by a giant circular screen that mimics the shape of an eye. With projections of stars, you find your way to a front-row seat and as you sit down, you overhear your neighbour ‘fangirling’ over the prospect of sitting an arm’s length away from famed actor Sir Kenneth Branagh.
The screen lifts parallel to the stage and Branagh’s fur-coated King Lear character emerges from the fog.
Just over 40 students attended St. Thomas University’s experiential learning trip to New York City during this month’s reading week. The trip was a collaboration between the history, communications and fine arts departments, where students got the opportunity to experience one of the busiest cities in the world.
Fine Arts Professor and trip co-organizer, Tania Breen, likes to spend her free time in the trip’s itinerary to take students to a show that they wouldn’t normally see.
“In order to study theatre, you have to witness it and experience performance at a professional level,” said Breen. “I know they’re all booking their tickets for big shows like Wicked or Harry Potter so I try to bring them to something they wouldn’t normally choose themselves.”
Breen believes this professional immersion teaches her students that theatre is an attainable field and that it is just ordinary people on large stages with professional equipment.
King Lear was the choice for this year’s mandatory show whereas in previous years students immersed themselves in the play City of Rats and the opera Rigoletto. Both of which, like Lear, had unique messages Breen wanted students to take from these performances.
“First of all going to see a legend on stage is a wonderful experience and I want everyone to have that chance,” said Breen. “You got to see live Shakespeare performed by actors who have studied this, trained in this and got the example of top tear theatre.”
Alongside Breen in the prime student seating, fine arts student Alex Dawson shared her excitement after taking her seat at the front of the theatre.
“The show was King Lear with Kenneth Branagh and when I heard that I actually screamed,” she said. “You don’t know what to expect because sometimes on mandatory trips you are in the back of the theatre, but we got in and were in the third row.”
Some of the fine arts students are taking the English seminar course on Shakespeare and for Dawson, who is also part of the course, having the chance to see King Lear on Broadway was an exciting learning opportunity.
“I turned to my friend who is also in the Shakespeare seminar and was like, ‘We are going to have so much fun next week discussing this,’” she said.
Dawson also said there was a controversy in her friend group based on the show’s setting.
Many of her peers call it “Lear on Mars” because of its alien rockwork and visuals of space.
“I find that with these types of experiential learning trips, it complements what you’re doing in classes and I can make those connections that we don’t always make.”
