Whitehall High School senior English students, along with juniors taking advanced English courses, had the opportunity to see the Linny Fowler WillPower Tour, from DeSales University, perform “Hamlet” Oct. 24.

According to WHS English teacher Jason Grear, this is the first time the tour has come to WHS. Anelese Rodriguez, education director of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, contacted Grear to set up the visit.

“Hamlet” is a four-hour play, but for the purpose of performing for middle schools and high schools, WillPower adapted it to 85 minutes, though the language remained unchanged. Grear wanted students to have a “live professional theater” experience and hoped students who had read the play would “see how actors breathe life into the lines.”

Grear said senior classes are learning “Hamlet” this year, but he thought it would be a good idea to include advanced English juniors who will be reading the play in the future.

When asked about the relevance of “Hamlet” in today’s classroom, Grear said the play is about relationships.

“Fathers and sons. Stepparents. Friendships. Young lovers. If there is one thing my students are experts in, it’s being part of complicated family dynamics and emerging relationships,” Grear said. “One of the qualities of good literature is universality, and since human beings are similar - despite the technology in front of them at any moment - these plays resonate as much today as they did when they were first performed. One could argue that Shakespeare is among the best writers to document the human condition.”

Grear said the students enjoyed it so much, they ran out of time during the question-and-answer session. In the afternoon, theater students were invited to participate in workshops, which proved to be popular.

DeSales offered four workshops for theater students, but there was only time for two: stage combat and a soliloquy analysis highlighting “to be or not to be.” WHS theater teacher Cara Craft ran the workshops concurrently, and Grear assisted with the soliloquy session, which helped students learn about what happens behind the scenes.

“For example, Arrianna Daniels, the actress who played Ophelia, told the students when she is ripping up paper ‘flowers’ in her madness scene, the paper was actually Ophelia’s suicide note,” Grear said. “This was mind-blowing insight we could have only known by participating in the workshops, and it was a valuable lesson about the work involved in preparing a scene, even if some of that prep work isn’t immediately knowable to the audience.”

English teachers said they enjoyed the play and appreciated the opportunity for students to see the text come to life.

“As English teachers, we know the power of performance, and we know that as hard as we work in the classroom, this is a component we just cannot duplicate,” Grear said.

According to Grear, WHS Principal Dr. Peter Mayes has already told the English department to budget for future performances, with the hope it will become a tradition.