NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Students enrolled in Iona College’s Shakespeare in Performance class spent their spring break in England. During the trip, they experienced the theatres and the history of London, attending two plays by William Shakespeare — Othello and Much Ado about Nothing — and visited the birthplace and hometown of Shakespeare in Stratford Upon Avon. The group of 13 students also took a walking tour featuring Shakespeare locations around London. Additionally, the class cruised the River Thames and visited Oxford, Warwick Castle and the Cotswolds.
Students in England “Spending a week in England was an experience I will never forget,” said Kathleen Burpoe ’18. “Having lunch on the river cruise was awesome. We passed by the London Eye and Big Ben. It felt like this was all a dream.”
“Being in London was an experience of a lifetime,” said Matthew Steccato ’17. “Othello was definitely very different from any play I’ve been to in the [United States] because the theatre was so small that you felt immersed in the action throughout the whole experience.”
Shakespeare bust
This class is offered only in the spring semester. It can be applied toward the FPA core requirements, minor or as an elective. For more information, please contact the Fine and Performing Arts department chair, Professor Thomas Donnarumma, at tdonnarumma@iona.edu.
“The program enables the students to experience very specific and essential hands on learning opportunities based on the instruction that takes place in the classroom throughout the semester,” said Professor Donnarumma. “Providing the students with opportunities to experience the works and the world of William Shakespeare and experience the city of London itself with all of their senses brings the classroom experience to an unparalleled state.”