Joey Del Santo is Director of Education & Community Programs at the Gamm Theatre in Warwick, and he’s excited about the theater’s newest program.
Del Santo hopes that Gamm on the Go will be an “easier and more accessible way to engage students.”
Until recently, if any school program wanted to see a show at the Gamm, they were invited to a student matinee. While the tickets are free, “the schools still have the cost of transportation.”
With Gamm on the Go, the theater sends out seven teaching artists “who put together a compact abridged Shakespeare play that fits into a 45-minute block.” The artists, according to Del Santo, are a “mix of new artists that haven’t taught before with some long-time teachers and artists.” Del Santo is one of those artists.
This season, the artists are presenting Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors” and in Del Santo’s words, “putting it in reach for the students.”
The teaching artists “work with students to help them understand the text, and help them present their own version,” using their own forms of art, including poetry, visual arts, and performances.
The program runs for four weeks. In the first week, all seven teaching artists present the abridged “Comedy of Errors” for the entire school. In the following three weeks, “we work in classrooms with students doing workshops,” said Del Santo. “How to perform the piece. Performing the text, paraphrasing the text.’
The workshops are handled by two teaching artists each. “These are smaller groups. Assigned by an English teacher or classroom teacher. In some cases, the teacher’s whole class. Or parents can opt into an afterschool program.”
When we spoke, the teaching artists were just wrapping up at Robertson Elementary School in Warwick. “We’re at all differing grade levels,” says Del Santo. They recently completed a residency at a high school in Fall River, and they’re about to start the program at a middle school.
“Right now, we have four schools signed up,” said Del Santo, “and by the end of the school year, we hope to do four more.”
The Gamm just got a grant to cover “Newport and South County and we’re looking for partners there. We’re applying for grants to do some work in northern Rhode Island as well.”
Del Santo points out that they are able to “adapt the curriculum to suit the needs of the schools they’re working with.”
They follow the mantra established by the Gamm’s Artistic Director, Tony Estrella. “Tony always says it’s all about storytelling.”
When selecting the Shakespearean work they’d present, “we looked at his earliest works, and ‘Comedy of Errors’ was one of his earliest comedies,” said Del Santo. It’s an opportunity to look at Shakespeare’s “structure and his approach to comedy.”
Next year, Gamm on the Go will jump into a much better-known work, “Romeo & Juliet.”
In May, the Gamm’s Gala will “celebrate 20 years of Gamm education,” says Del Santo, “and Gamm on the Go will be the highlight.”
Anyone interested in learning more about Gamm on the Go and partnership opportunities can contact Del Santo directly at joey@gammtheatre.org or by phone at 401.723.4266 extension 122. For more information on the Gamm in general, visit www.gammtheatre.org.
