B INNEKILL Vol. XXIX No. 12
a monthly publication for students, faculty, staff and friends
April 18, 2012
American Shakespeare Center selects professor, honors dedication to authenticity When Sandy Boynton was directing the SCCC Players in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet a few years back, she wouldn’t let her actors, all SCCC drama majors, rehearse the pivotal balcony scene. They were frustrated and let her know it, but she waited patiently as their anxiousness turned to understanding for the longtime SCCC professor’s plan. In March 2009, she took them on a trip to the American Shakespeare Center (ASC) and they stood on the Black Friars Stage, a replica of the same stage arrangement Shakespeare’s actors used. Now it was time for them to rehearse the balcony scene with a proper balcony. “I truly believe that if you don’t understand the stage conventions of the day, you miss a lot of what was really going on,” Sandy said, a short time after being notified that she was chosen from among 50 nominations as this year’s recipient of the ASC’s Words In Action Award. She will travel to the ASC in Staunton, Va., to accept the award this Sunday and be back at SCCC to teach on Monday. Nominees for the award, presented during the ASC’s Shakespeare birthday event, included primary and secondary teachers and college professors from across the country. Sandy was chosen by ASC actors and staff after the nominations were whittled down to seven individuals. The award recognizes teachers who “create opportunities for experiential learning for their students, by taking them to plays and really getting the students to explore the plays,” said Sarah Enloe, the ASC’s Director of Education. Sandy covers the works of Shakespeare
in her literature classes and rehearsal and production class, engaging students in “original practices” or how Shakespeare’s company performed his works. This makes all the difference in how students study the Bard of Avon. “The transformation in students can be astonishing,” she said. “The idea that this is enormously difficult and that they can’t do it is ingrained in them. When you show them simple things that make them able to study Shakespeare an early modern actor might have, they find their voices.” During Spring Break in March, Sandy and 14 students traveled to the ASC for workshops and to watch the touring company’s rehearsal and the artist’s renaissance season. She’s taken students there since 2005.
Did you know you can crossregister with other colleges?
Their visit culminated with the students themselves stepping onto the Black Friars Stage to deliver a few lines and participate in acting exercises. “I’ve seen students who are afraid to audition open up on the Black Friars Stage,” Sandy said. “They stand their ground; there’s something that empowers them in a way I can’t categorize. I’ve seen the magic happen over and over again.”
Donald Simon, a Business Administration major at SCCC, plans to cross-register this fall, taking two classes at SCCC and two classes at Siena College. He will pay SCCC tuition for all the classes, while getting a jump start on his bachelor’s degree. He plans to transfer to Siena to pursue a B.S. in accounting, after graduating from SCCC. “You get a semester in and you’re paying a lot less. You also get an idea of what the four-year college level work is like,” he said. Siena is just one of several Capital Region colleges where students can cross-register. Find out more about the criteria in the Registrar’s Office, Elston Hall 212/215.
Sandy has also directed a Shakespeare play every fourth semester at SCCC.
Summer Sessions
Shane Sczepankowski traveled to the ASC with Sandy when he was a student at SCCC from 2008 to 2011. He is now a Theatre major at Mary Baldwin College in the B.A./M.Lit. program in Shakespeare and Performance. “She deserves this award,” Shane said. “Sandy was the catalyst that thrust me into the word of early modern Shakespeare and encouraged me to expand myself.”
Need to earn some more credits? Want to get a jump start on fall? Choose from three-week, six-week and eight-week sessions this summer. This year SCCC will offer six summer sessions. It’s a great chance to pick up some more credits during the summer. See page 5 for dates.