Learning From the Bard : Summer Project Recruits Low-Income Youths to Put On a Shakespeare Play, and in the Process, They Gain an Appreciation for the Theater and Literacy

Flipping burgers, this isn’t.

Twenty teenagers have one of the most unusual and (as many later found out) coolest summer jobs in town: putting on a production of a Shakespeare play.

For six weeks, kids from several of Los Angeles’ low-income neighborhoods have been getting paid $5 an hour to study and stage a 90-minute adaptation of “The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice.”

The project, called “Will Power to Youth,” is a collaborative effort between Shakespeare Festival/LA, a nonprofit theater group, and the National Conference, a nonsectarian human relations organization.

“Will Power” is funded by the city’s Community Development Department and several private foundations. The kids’ salaries are provided by a federal summer youth employment program.

The motivation behind the project is two-fold: It promotes literacy and gets young people excited about theater, while offering a forum to discuss racism, sexism and violence--themes prevalent in “Othello,” explained project director Dani Bedau.

‘We’re really trying to get them to respect one another and get them to work toward a common goal,” Bedau said.

Youths between the ages of 14 and 21 are recruited from neighborhoods designated by the city as “community improvement planning areas,” including the Hollywood area, South-Central Los Angeles and Watts.

About 100 youngsters applied for the 20 slots, filling out an application and writing a short essay, Bedau said. At an audition, the young people were asked to perform a monologue from Othello to check their ability to read.

“We like to know what their level is. But we don’t exclude anyone if they have literacy challenges. We just want to directly address their needs,” Bedau said.

Sam Chung, 16, a sophomore at Lincoln High who is playing the villain Iago, said he was surprised to find out how much he enjoyed reading “Othello,” a play about a black commander who is tricked by a deceitful officer into believing his white wife is having an affair and kills her.

“It’s really good,” Sam said, sounding almost stunned. “It’s deep. I didn’t expect it to be like this. Too many movies these days have happy endings. This one doesn’t. It’s a good one.”

Like most other high school students, Sam had read “Romeo and Juliet” in English class. “But I never really got what it meant. I didn’t really get into it,” he said.

At Will Power to Youth, the instructors teach the kids how to decipher the rich Elizabethan language of the Bard by looking up every word and phrase they don’t understand.

Two girls--ShaVon Johnson, 18, and Denisha Millsap, 14--were given the task of finding the misogynistic and racist lines in the play.

Showing a visitor their assignment, ShaVon pointed to a line that reads: “An old black ram [Othello] is tupping your white ewe [Desdemona].”

Referring to a moment when Iago calls his wife, Emelia, “a villainous whore,” Denisha said, “It’s so disrespectful. There’s guys like that today.”

Lisette Pacheco, 18, a recent graduate of Fremont High, is participating in the program for the second straight year. She is playing the role of Bianca, a courtesan.

“They really explain the play to you. It helps me understand it better. In two weeks, everyone is saying Shakespeare lines,” she said.

In addition, Lisette has found that acting has helped her express herself.

“You can’t be shy here. They always want us to speak up,” she said. “I think I would do this even if I weren’t paid.”

Will Power to Youth’s production of “Othello” will be presented at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, at 514. S. Spring St. in downtown at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. A discussion led by a member of the National Conference will follow the performance. Admission is free. Parking is $5.

Information: (213) 250-8787 or (213) 489-1121, Ext. 13.