Students bring Shakespeare to senior center
Published 1:30 am Thursday, April 9, 2026
As William Shakespeare once wrote, all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women — or, in this case, girls and boys — merely players. Students from West Homer Elementary School’s After School Shakespeare Club brought the stage to the Homer Senior Center last month in their fourth annual program tour.
Program director Sarah Brewer wrote in an email to Homer News recently that the After School Shakespeare Club features students in grades 3-6 and is a collaboration between West Homer Elementary and the Mud Bay Bards, Pier One Theatre’s Shakespeare branch. Brewer is also the founder and chair of the Mud Bay Bards, whose mission is to foster community and self-discovery through the lens of William Shakespeare.
Begun in 2023, the after-school program sees participating West Homer Elementary students meeting twice a week for six weeks as they practice a compilation of scenes and monologues, “as well as a smattering of Shakespearean insults,” Brewer wrote, in preparation for the annual West Homer Elementary Talent Show. During the last week of the program, students tour to the Homer Senior Center as their final dress rehearsal before the talent show.
“There are two students who perform a dozen insults towards each other before getting pulled apart by two comrades as the tension builds,” Brewer wrote. “The club focuses on speaking and performing with confidence, being generous with scene partners, encouraging castmates, and understanding and comprehending the language.”
This year, students practiced scenes from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “Macbeth,” and monologues from “The Merchant of Venice,” “Henry V” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
According to Brewer, students in the program walk to the senior center in costume before performing for and visiting with seniors. The students also serve Shakespeare cookies and talk with the center’s residents about Shakespeare and theater.
“The collaboration between West Homer and the senior center is one of my favorite partnerships, as someone who loves Shakespeare and will share it with anyone who will listen!” Brewer wrote.
“This collaboration in particular, however, is near and dear to my heart because it brings together two very special demographics — young students and seniors.
“It is really heartwarming to see students visiting with seniors, some who live away from (their) grandparents.
“And to see the gratitude and delight that the seniors have, to listen to them give such praise and gratitude to the students for their effort and hard work; it is mutually special.
“Many of the students live in different towns from their grandparents, and to see that attention and affection come their way is wonderful.
“And then there are students whose grandparents are residents, and they are so proud to see them!”
Brewer also credited part of the after-school program’s success to West Homer Elementary principal Eric Waltenbaugh.
She said Waltenbaugh “has such a wonderful focus on creating connections and experiences for the students of WHE through partnerships with community organizations and local experts throughout Homer.”
“I am very grateful for this intentionality, both as the director of this program and as a parent who has had two children come through West Homer Elementary who have (also) participated in the Shakespeare Afterschool club, among many other programs WHE offers,” she wrote.
Brewer also passed along some comments from students in the program after they completed their tour to the senior center.
Cassidy Allmendinger, a third-grade student at West Homer, played Flute in a scene performed from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
She was also one of the Shakespearean insulters.
Allmendinger said that she enjoyed going to the Homer Senior Center “because the elders liked it and it was fun to walk there.”
She also enjoyed playing the theater games, and encouraged other kids to join “because it is fun.”
Fifth grader Oliver Brewer played Banquo in “Macbeth,” and said that knowing his best friend would go on to murder him in the play was “sad, but okay, because you know it’s not real.”
He added that knowing how far Macbeth would take his jealousy towards Banquo “made him not want to be jealous of other people.”
Jameson Knoll is a fifth grader who played the titular character Macbeth.
He thought the role was “a good part, very medieval,” adding that he liked being able to hang out with his friends while acting out Shakespeare.
He looks forward to joining the program again next year.
Learn more about the Mud Bay Bards and their various programs online at pieronetheatre.org/mud-bay-bards.
