Testimonials

Ms. Roche is a highly skilled teacher. She is able to bring together key elements of this rich literary experience in an accessible way without losing any of the profound complexities inherent in these bedrock works of art. In a typical class we cover elements of the play’s powerful language, its historical moment, the politics of the time and the social history that is always suggestive in Shakespeare’s work.

Just to have the opportunity to read the plays and listen to the discussion is a pleasure.  Seeing films of the plays is an added bonus.  You fill a void.

Her choice of plays and themes is fascinating and relevant to current events.

Thank you for a very enjoyable class this summer.   The Shakespeare On Film was fun and a welcome distraction from the nerve-wracking summer of 2020.  I like how we were able to kill 5 birds with one stone; I got to study a Shakespeare play I hadn’t read before, and watch four very different versions of it.  I enjoyed meeting the other class participants, and I enjoyed the intellectual stimulation overall.  I hope you do another Shakespeare On Film program next summer!

Marie makes class members of any knowledge level completely welcome.

Marie is amazingly skilled at bringing everyone into the conversation, respecting every individual’s quirky style of communication, their practice with analysis, and their awareness of how long they have been speaking. She manages to keep the conversation friendly and engaging- quite a feat!

Shakespeare Aloud 2024 was a real gem. I thought it was brilliant of [Marie]to bring in
Sarah Woolf.

With her experience as an actor, a director, and a teacher, her approach to
reading the Prologue to Henry V  was innovative, deep, and fresh.
Innovative in the sense that she led us through a process of first reading the passage
silently to ourselves, then reading it sotto voce to ourselves (sitting and then walking),
and finally, fully aloud and afoot, expressing ourselves in the body and with movement.
We also had a very interesting discussion of what it meant to each of us to read
Shakespeare aloud as opposed to reading to ourselves or simply watching or listening.

It was deep in that we as individuals in the class each read certain passages aloud,
and then discussed the textual aspects that affected expression, such as the meaning of
certain words or passages, the poetry and meter, and images and allusions. Sarah next
put us in small groups to consciously add movement to our reading–not for
performance but for the uninhibited addition of bodily expression.

This enhanced understanding resulted in a fresh apprehension of the Prologue,
culminating in our final reading one by one to the group, which proved interestingly
unique.

Thank you so much, Marie, for sponsoring such a wonderful experience.

-Hal

Marie Howe’s Community Shakespeare stresses, beautifully, both sides of the
equation. The concentration on Shakespeare, the discussion, and the
provocative questions asked lead to a deeper reading, a deeper concentration,
and a new set of questions pertaining to each of the plays we read, no matter
how familiar some of them may seem to be. And the community aspect is a
treat. Somehow, no one feels intimidated or feels “I’m not smart enough”
because Marie has a gift of bringing thoughts out, of making us all feel
welcome, of inviting responses to the plays as idiosyncratic as we all are
individually. Without scanting the intellectual element, she creates a warm
and inviting space, a true community of adventurous readers eager to hear
what each other has to say.