Lady Gaga, Shakespeare' West Point cadets interpret bard's best

WEST POINT, N.Y. (May 4, 2011) -- West Point cadets took center stage at Robinson Auditorium on April 28 to present an original play entitled "This Can't Be Love: A Shakespearean Revue."

Cadets enrolled in the EP394 Shakespeare course served as cast, crew and orchestra for this Projects Day production, which was a mash-up of the bard's history, comedy, romance and tragedy plays exploring the theme of love.

Dr. Elizabeth Samet, English professor and play director, was proud to see the cadets take ownership of the production in every detail.

"They put in many hours of work at group rehearsals but also on their own: running through scenes, making costumes, building props, arranging music," Samet said. "They brought great creative energy to the project as well as a powerful spirit of teamwork and professionalism-attributes that will serve them well in their military careers."

Class of 2012 Cadet Kelley Duke recalled brainstorming with the group about themes like love, vengeance, deception and disguises-which Samet used to form the script. They had less than a month to rehearse, so the group immediately launched into set and costume designs, music and script memorization.

"The most difficult aspect was probably the time constraint," Duke said." Everyone worked diligently to learn their parts and to put together something that we hoped would be worth watching. We also had limited resources, so we had to get creative. I think everyone really rose to the challenge though: all the costumes you saw were either acquired or created by the cadets themselves-lion manes and fairies wings and all."

Class of 2011 Cadet Patrick Northam played the role of Shakespeare, sitting at his desk with pen in one hand and carafe of wine in the other. As the scenes are written down and played out around him, Shakespeare reveals his own criticism and reflections about his take on love. When a draft of the "Midsummer" play turns into a hilarious musical performance of the B-52's "Love Shack" Shakespeare shakes his head, immediately discarding this version. At the end of the play, Shakespeare debates himself if he is even capable of writing about love, and in turn, his alter-ego asks, "Are you poet enough'"

Keeping tabs of all the moving parts was Class of 2011 Cadet Cody Newsome as stage manager.

"As cadets we have responsibilities and duties outside of academics that can vary greatly from one person to the next," Newsome said. "So finding time when everyone can rehearse is next to impossible. The actors and actresses made my job easy. It wasn't just because of military discipline either. They all really cared about the material, and I think that showed."

Judging from the audience reactions and the constant flash of cell phone cameras lighting the darkened auditorium, the performance made an impression. Duke particularly enjoyed playing multiple roles and the chance to sing with a band.

"I loved all the roles I was able to play for their sheer diversity if nothing else," she said. "I got to sing a country standard (by Tammy Wynette) and Lady Gaga, play an interesting, sassy Shakespearean woman, and to finish, throw on a blonde wig to play a tragic lover whose greatest tragedy was her complete lack of acting skills."

Wait...Lady Gaga and Shakespeare'

"We were all encouraged to let loose and run with our parts-to really make them our own," Duke said. "I loved it."

But keeping in tune with the overall educational experience that is Projects Day at West Point, Duke said the play allowed her to experience Shakespeare as it was meant to be-on stage.

"The most valuable part of this production academically for me was the synthesis of Shakespeare's works into a particular theme," Duke said. "I loved the way we were able to pull from so many different plays to question what love really means. I feel like I have a much richer appreciation for Shakespeare after first studying his plays in the classroom-writing papers and trying my hand at sonnets and soliloquies-and then taking that knowledge and putting it into practice on the stage."

If not for the fact Class of 2011 Cadet Christopher Post is two weeks away from receiving his commission as a Signal Corps second lieutenant, he might have had a career in comedy. The Company C-2 cadet embraced his inner-clown when he took on the role of Bottom/Pyramus in an excerpt from "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"I don't think I have ever enjoyed an assignment as much as I did performing this play," Post said. "The people in this class have amazing talent, but more importantly everyone, at some time or another, laughed at themselves and each other. Having Dr. Samet as the director was a tremendous asset and while she gave us ideas and helped us understand the parts, she really just encouraged us to perform this play how we wanted to."