Robinson youth combine Shakespeare, handwashing amid coronavirus crisis | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Robinson youth combine Shakespeare, handwashing amid coronavirus crisis Robinson youth combine Shakespeare, handwashing amid coronavirus crisis Published: March 25, 2020 Author: Erin Blasko The Robinson Shakespeare Company members take a workshop with Glynn McDonald, Master of Movement on the Globe Stage in London, England. Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame. Out, damned virus! Out, I say! Members of the Robinson Shakespeare Company, the award-winning youth Shakespeare company at the University of Notre Dame, are using the bard to both practice and spread the word about handwashing and its importance during the covid-19 crisis. Health experts have promoted hand washing as an effective way to prevent the spread of covid-19, with 20 seconds the recommended length of time to kill the virus. To pass that 20 seconds, some have recommended singing “Happy Birthday” (twice) or other tunes. An app will even suggest celebrities for people to sing happy birthday to. But members of the Robinson Shakespeare Company, part of the Robinson Community Learning Center at Notre Dame, have adopted a different method: Reciting monologues from the bard’s many famous plays and sonnets. The members, ranging in age from 8 to 18, record videos of themselves washing their hands while reciting monologues of at least 20 seconds in length, then invite others to do the same with the hashtag #ShakespeareChallenge. The monologues range from the pitying (Ophelia in “Hamlet”) to the self-pitying (Romeo in “Romeo in Juliet”), and from the love stricken (the narrator in “Sonnet 85”) to the lovelorn (Adriana in “The Comedy of Errors”). As of Wednesday (March 24) the videos had amassed more than 1,000 views, likes and shares on the Robinson Shakespeare Company’s Instagram and Facebook feeds. Members continue to make new videos and have even invited staff of Shakespeare at Notre Dame, the University’s summer Shakespeare program, to join in the fun. Christy Burgess, Shakespeare outreach director at the RCLC, came up with the idea after travel and other restrictions related to covid-19 halted rehearsals for the company’s annual spring production. Monica Caponigro and Joshua Crudup, longtime members of the Robinson Shakespeare Company, helped. “Theater is community, and this is a wonderful way to keep the community together,” said Burgess. “Plus, it provides a wonderful (public service announcement) about washing your hands.” “If you’re in the Robinson Shakespeare Company you have a love of Shakespeare, and this is one way of expressing that love,” Said Caponigro, a junior at John Adams High School in South Bend and winner of the 2020 Indiana state Shakespeare monologue competition, which took place in February, before covid-19 shut down most travel and public events in the U.S. For her video, Caponigro recited “the bastard monologue” from “King Lear,” in which Edmund, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester, resolves to kill his older brother Edgar, the earl’s legitimate son, and take his lands. It’s the same monologue that she recited for the state competition, and that she plans to recite for the national competition, which will take place remotely this year, with recorded monologues, because of covid-19. Two bright spots: Caponigro knows how to record a monologue now, and the new format will allow for two winners this year — one selected by a panel of judges and another by online voters ­— and thus two chances for her to win. Established in 2008, the Robinson Shakespeare Company offers high-quality theater instruction to South Bend-area youth. Members compete in monologue competition in the fall and perform full plays in the spring and summer. The company engages with local schools, as well, hosting weekly after-school programs and in-class workshops. For more information, visit rclc.nd.edu/shakespeare. Contact: Erin Blasko, assistant director of media relations, 574-631-4127, eblasko@nd.edu Posted In: Community News Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related September 30, 2022 New prison education initiative joins Center for Social Concerns September 19, 2022 Notre Dame Stories: Helping the Last of the Instrument Makers September 15, 2022 South Bend offers free, pre-approved house plans with input from Notre Dame September 12, 2022 Notre Dame dedicates new hydro facility along St. Joseph River in South Bend August 30, 2022 School of Architecture’s community regeneration efforts lead to $2.4M development grant for South Bend For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn