The Hobart Shakespeareans
Encyclopedia
The Hobart Shakespeareans of Hobart Boulevard Elementary School is a 2005 documentary film
that tells the story of the inspirational inner-city Los Angeles school teacher Rafe Esquith
whose rigorous fifth-grade curriculum includes English, mathematics, geography, and literature. The pinnacle of student achievement each year is the performance of a play by William Shakespeare
; in the year of filming, that play was Hamlet
.
The Hobart Shakespeareans drew the attention of renowned Shakespearean actors Ian McKellen
and Michael York
, who pay a visit to the class to watch their performance of Hamlet. Delighted with the students, York calls the Hobart Shakespeareans "one of the great Shakespeare troupes" in Los Angeles.
Rafe and the Hobart Shakespeareans work hard every year to achieve a beautiful shakespeare play. The recent one they have done were As You Like It and Merchant of Venice.
The Hobart Shakespeareans aired on PBS
' P.O.V.
series in 2005. It was produced and directed by Mel Stuart
.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
that tells the story of the inspirational inner-city Los Angeles school teacher Rafe Esquith
Rafe Esquith
Rafe Esquith is an innovative, multiple-award-winning American teacher at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School, in Los Angeles, California, where he has taught since 1984. Many of his students, who are all from a community of poor and immigrant families, start class very early, leave late, and...
whose rigorous fifth-grade curriculum includes English, mathematics, geography, and literature. The pinnacle of student achievement each year is the performance of a play by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
; in the year of filming, that play was Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
.
The Hobart Shakespeareans drew the attention of renowned Shakespearean actors Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
and Michael York
Michael York (actor)
Michael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...
, who pay a visit to the class to watch their performance of Hamlet. Delighted with the students, York calls the Hobart Shakespeareans "one of the great Shakespeare troupes" in Los Angeles.
Rafe and the Hobart Shakespeareans work hard every year to achieve a beautiful shakespeare play. The recent one they have done were As You Like It and Merchant of Venice.
The Hobart Shakespeareans aired on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
' P.O.V.
P.O.V.
POV is a Public Broadcasting Service Public television series which features independent nonfiction films. POV is a cinema term for "point of view"....
series in 2005. It was produced and directed by Mel Stuart
Mel Stuart
Mel Stuart is an American film director and producer.Stuart directed the fantasy-musical Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory...
.
External links
- Rafe Esquith and the Hobart Shakespeareans Official Site
- P.O.V. The Hobart Shakespeareans - PBS website dedicated to the film