As part of the inaugural Shakespeare RES course at Ben Franklin, our class is planning to finish up their school year (and in some cases, their high school experience) by seeing a production of Othello in New York City, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Othello was the first play the students have read as a class, and it has remained a favorite among them. They dived deep into line analysis and character motivations, found themselves baffled and amused by Iago's manipulations, frustrated by Othello's willingness to believe. Even beyond the initial reading of the play, themes and moments from Othello would come up during our talks regarding other plays, particularly regarding race, religion, and depiction of women.

Seeing this play would not only add to the students' experience of seeing a live production of Shakespeare on stage, but it would spur more discussion on the power of adaptations as well as the relevancy of these words today.

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Benjamin Franklin High School was founded in 1957 as a school for the gifted children of New Orleans. The founders had a vision. Opened ahead of the National Defense Education Act that would put new focus on science and mathematics, Ben Franklin was a public school with the best educators teaching the brightest in the city. Admissions requirements with IQ testing were introduced, and in New Orleans, it was a first.

In the years since Katrina, we have worked hard to recruit new students, and we now have a robust and diverse student body of 1,000 students from every neighborhood in the city. Our academic achievements grow with each graduating class, and our vision has evolved. We are consistently named the No. 1 school in the state, and U.S. News & World Report ranks us as the No. 15 charter school in the nation. Now as at the time of our founding, however, our mission remains the same: We prepare students of high academic achievement to be successful in life.

Shakespeare Class Goes to New York

By Friends of Franklin

Shakespeare Class Goes to New York

Team Members