Child’s play: Using Shakespeare to help kids get in touch with their emotions

Free performance in Brooklyn Heights

November 16, 2017 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The cast of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.” The troupe will be putting on a free performance and workshop designed to help kids get in touch with their feelings on Dec. 2 in Brooklyn Heights. Photo courtesy of Child’s Play NY

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A theater ensemble is using the works of the Great Bard to help kids get in touch with their feelings.

Shakespeare’s plays portray emotions ranging from rage to love and from grief to joy. Using this great art as a springboard, Child’s Play NY has put together workshops built around a 45-minute version of the comedy “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” performed by classically trained actors/teaching artists. The troupe uses the play as a basis for role playing, movement and conversations to help young folks explore their own emotions.

In educational lingo, it’s called Social and Emotional Learning.

To give the public a chance to sample the work the theater company does in New York City schools, the ensemble will perform a free performance of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” on Dec. 2 in Brooklyn Heights at St. Francis College. The performance will be followed by a hands-on workshop for kids and youth ages 6-16 and their families.

Using the play’s plot and characters as a lens, the post-show workshop will explore relationships, conflict, empathy and perspective.

Child Play NY founder and Executive Director Jocelyn Greene lives in Brooklyn with her actor-husband and 5-year-old son.

“I — and the teachers — have an evolved understanding of why studying Shakespeare can make us better people,” she said in a statement. The series combines the talents of the actor/teachers “with the mission of exploring the human condition,” she said.

The performance takes place on Saturday, Dec. 2 from 1-1:45 p.m.; the workshop runs from 2 – 3 p.m. in the Maroney Theater, St Francis College, seventh floor, 182 Remsen St., Brooklyn Heights.

RSVP is required. To register visit: http://www.childsplayny.com/midsummer-residency/.

Child’s Play NY currently partners with more than 20 public and private schools throughout New York, including Avenues the World School, Berkeley Carroll School, Brooklyn Preschool of Science, P.S. 29, P.S. 58, P.S. 133, Williamsburg Northside and others.