The group performed at an Upper School assembly to considerable acclaim by the audience of students and faculty members. Designed to involve the audience, a number of the pieces were presented in a competition format, with five Shipley students appointed as judges. Audience members were encouraged to clap for parts of the performance that they liked and the judges gave the performers marks. Clearly, the performers touched many situations and  feelings that are very familiar to Shipley students—real life issues and responses to them, including love, race, sex, gender attitudes, higher education, pain, and joy.

After the performance, the group spent the rest of the day at Shipley talking with students and conducting workshops. Word’s visit was one in a series of programs supported by the Richard Critchlow Brewer Performing Arts Fund, named for a long-time and much-beloved theater director at Shipley.

Posted March 22, 2006