Orlando putting his brother Oliver into submission.

The Hunts Point Children’s Shakespeare Ensemble had another successful series of shows, as the children performed their rendition of Shakespeare’s As You Like It to a full house of family, friends and supporters on Broadway.

The event, organized by the New York Shakespeare Society and the Hunts Point Alliance for Children, allowed the young ones to explore the morals and lessons that one can still take from understanding the 400-year-old playwright’s stories.

“I learned that Hunts Point is full of a bunch of different people,” said Cameron Pickett, a sixth grader who performed the role of Touchstone at the show. “It’s beautiful!”

After performing at The Point the night before, the students headed to Manhattan to perform in a larger venue with more attendees.

“Now I’m getting a little more nervous than yesterday,” Pickett said on his second day of performing. “It’s not little any more.  I am happy, but I am a little more nervous.”

Ann MacDonald, the President of the New York Shakespeare Society, said she felt the kids did well internalizing the play, and actually understood what the play meant to their lives. She explained that As You Like It is a “very chatty” play that helps the children understand how to have good conversation as an adult.

“These kids really have to listen to each other;  they have to talk, have conversations, make eye contact and really interact with each other,” MacDonald said. “It’s a little bit harder than some of the other ensemble plays.”

“You really have to get into it on an emotional level on stage, and I think they’ve really been able to do this.”

The children worked for an entire year, twice a week, to memorize their lines, dance moves, and stage mannerisms.  At the end the young thespians and their supporters were visibly moved by what they accomplished and saw, respectively.

“No paper is long enough for me to write down what I learned,” said Samuel Neverson, a fifth grader who played the star of the show, Orlando. All of Neverson’s classmates went toe to toe with professional actors, who gladly helped in the production of the play.

“We’ve worked hard,” said Raphael Peakcock an actor and co-director in the play. Peacock received his masters in Fine Arts Acting in San Francisco, and is an experienced actor.  “It’s going to go wonderful.”

At the end of the night, everyone was visibly pleased with the children’s performance.

“I think this is the best performance we’ve had,” Griselle Baret,the director of education programs for HPAC, said.  Baret was one of the many visionaries who helped the play come together. “Everything clicked and fell into place.”

–Mike O’Keefe