Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T05:22:58.450Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 18 - The Viola Project

Learning to Defy Gender Norms On Stage and Off

from Part V - Reimagining Performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2023

By
Skyler Schrempp
Edited by
Liam E. Semler ,
Claire Hansen  and
Jacqueline Manuel
Liam E. Semler
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Claire Hansen
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
Jacqueline Manuel
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Get access

Summary

This chapter describes The Viola Project, which is a theatre programme based in Chicago. It is an overtly feminist organisation with the specific mission of empowering girls and gender non-conforming youth through the performance of Shakespeare’s text. Amplifying the voices of students is at the heart of all programming. Shakespeare scene work anchors class activities, and texts are explicitly mined for themes of consent, body autonomy, racial and gender bias, and more. In any given year the programme serves between 75 and 100 individual students, many of whom attend multiple programmes. The programme is a charitable organisation and receives funding from state and local grants as well as foundations and individual gifts. Rather than revere and admire Shakespeare, The Viola Project students are encouraged to challenge the plays and make discoveries in the text. The Viola Project may source material from Shakespeare, but the mission has been shaped by our contemporaries. The Viola Project has evolved significantly since 2004 through a willingness to listen to students and learn from the research, experience and expertise of peer organisations.

Type
Chapter
Information
Reimagining Shakespeare Education
Teaching and Learning through Collaboration
 , pp. 281 - 294
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Babes with Blades, n.d. https://babeswithblades.org/.Google Scholar
Barroso, Amanda, 2020. ‘61% of U.S. women say “feminist” describes them well; many see feminism as empowering, polarizing’. Pew Research Center, 7 July. www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/07/61–of-u-s-women-say-feminist-describes-them-well-many-see-feminism-as-empowering-polarizing/.Google Scholar
, Beyoncé, 2013. ‘Flawless’. Beyoncé (Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records).Google Scholar
Council on Foreign Relations, 2020. www.cfr.org/article/womens-power-index.Google Scholar
Golden, Neville H., Schneider, Marcie, and Wood, Christine, 2016. ‘Preventing Obesity and Eating Disorders in Adolescents’, Pediatrics 138.3, e1–10.Google Scholar
Heartland Alliance, n.d. www.heartlandalliance.org/economic-opportunity/.Google Scholar
Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, n.d. www.icah.org/fyi.Google Scholar
Korda, Natasha, 2011. Labors Lost: Women’s Work and the Early Modern English Stage (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauzen, Martha, 2020. It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: Portrayals of Female Characters in the Top Grossing Films of 2019, Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film. https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019_Its_a_Mans_Celluloid_World_Report_REV.pdfGoogle Scholar
McManus, Clare, 2002. Women on the Renaissance Stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court (1590–1619) (Manchester: Manchester University Press).Google Scholar
Meltzer, Marisa, 2014. ‘Who is a Feminist Now?’ New York Times, 21 May. www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/fashion/who-is-a-feminist-now.htmlGoogle Scholar
Mikva Challenge. https://mikvachallenge.org/Google Scholar
Packer, Tina, 2015. Women of Will: Following the Feminine in Shakespeare’s Plays (New York: Alfred A. Knopf).Google Scholar
Pew Research Center, 2019. www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/22/gender-pay-gap-facts/Google Scholar
Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, n.d. https://rivendelltheatre.org/Google Scholar
Shakespeare and Company, n.d. www.shakespeare.org.Google Scholar
Shakespeare, William, 2006. As You Like It, edited by Dusinberre, Juliet (London and New York: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare).Google Scholar
Shakespeare, William, 2017. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, edited by Chaudhuri, Sukanta (London and New York: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare).Google Scholar
Simmons, Rachel, 2009. The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence (New York: Penguin Press).Google Scholar
Smith, S. G., Zhang, X., Basile, K. C., Merrick, M. T., Wang, J., Kresnow, M., and Chen, J., 2018. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NIPSV): 2015 Data Brief – Updated Release (Atlanta, Georgia: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).Google Scholar
Williams, Deanne, 2014. Shakespeare and the Performance of Girlhood (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×