Lowers Attend Othello Play for Race Curriculum

The class of 2021 traveled to the American Repertory Theater to watch a live Friday night performance of Shakespeare’s Othello on Feb. 8. This trip—an unprecedented experience—included a number of logistical difficulties, but still managed to spur discussions on race and its relation to literature.

During an assembly at the beginning of winter term, English Department faculty members informed lowers of a curricular refocusing on race and later spoke to their individual classes about the scheduled trip.

English Instructor Christina Breen, the trip’s organizer, expressed excitement about the pilot curriculum. “The course itself is supposed to open up discussion about identity and particularly race,” Breen said. Othello is “a Shakespearean play that is very much about identity,” according to Breen, which is why the department found it appropriate to include.

Dean of Academic Affairs and English Instructor Brooks Moriarty echoed her statement, adding that the organizers were “taking advantage of the fact that there’s a play happening.”

As a fan of visual arts, lower Maggie Wainwright appreciated the opportunity to see a professional production.

Lower Rosemary McIlroy, meanwhile, recognized the impact of the school trip. “Watching Othello with our grade added a lot to our experience with the book as it was helpful to see the play come to life on stage,” she said.

Breen wished to capitalize upon the English department’s advantages, noting that, because nearly every student on campus enrolls in English every term, the English department is in a special position to offer class-wide programs. “I think there’s real value in the whole class getting on buses and going together,” she said.

The first trip of this nature, however, saw many delays and various other logistical difficulties.

Lower Christina Xiao recalled, “On the bus ride, I saw a Marshalls/Walmart sign on one side and I remembered it but then maybe 15 minutes later I saw it again on the other side … I realized we had made a u-turn.”

According to company policy, drivers were not allowed to use technology while operating the bus and were instead required to rely upon paper directions. They eventually got lost and separated within Boston city limits. As the fourth and fifth buses stopped on an exit ramp to wait for the remaining four, the others began to drive in circles.

Eventually, the buses arrived between 30 minutes and 1.5 hours after the initial start time. Lowers did not return to their dorms and check in with dorm faculties until 1:30 a.m.

Some students walked back to their dorms unaccompanied by Campus Safety, and were thus unable to enter the buildings. “I remember we waited outside my dorm, Langdell Hall [... in the cold]” Wainwright said. “One of the students had to let us in, [and] it was completely chaotic. 1:30 a.m is not an acceptable time to end a field trip.”

Wainwright went on to describe how the late end affected her weekend schedule.“The next day I had a mock trial tournament. It completely affected the amount of sleep I got … my performance in the tournament and my energy levels throughout the day.”

Although disgruntled about transportation issues, students appreciated the trip overall.“I did feel like it was a mostly enjoyable experience for the time I was there,” said Chen. McIlroy echoed these sentiments, saying, “It was a good bonding experience for our class, and I think everyone enjoyed swapping funny stories about their buses getting lost after the fact.”

Moriarty stressed the amount of work put into organizing the event and hoped that students were able to separate outside issues from the play itself. “The English department didn’t have anything to do with that mishap. It was just the bus company,” Moriarty said. He further expressed that “the department is making a concerted effort to support institutional goals and should be applauded for that.”

Similarly, Dionne added that the planners “have to work so hard to get kids permission to miss … commitments,” but also cautioned against “getting on the bus drivers.” “It feels like a kind of elitist thing … I don’t think we should rattle them,” Dionne said.

Breen hopes to use this pilot to improve future programs that could allow classes to have opportunities to get off campus. “We learned some lessons from this,” she said. “Friday nights are not a good time for Exeter kids. I think that many students’ experience was clouded by that, and they weren’t able to appreciate the opportunity.”

Dionne believes that the trip could be successful in the future on a different day of the week. “We nixed the idea of an evening because of the traffic … If it happens again, it’ll be a Sunday journey,” she said.

Breen, meanwhile, noted that students may need more preparation before leaving. “I think we could do more prep work on the front end about what an amazing opportunity it was and how to behave in theater.” She expressed hope, citing examples in which other schools have similar programs. “I’ve worked at a school where these kinds of trips have happened every term … The entire school was transported from their location in Massachusetts to the Metropolitan Opera in New York and came back in one trip without staying over.”

“I was very surprised when I came here and saw how many resources we have, and how infrequently they’re used in the curriculum. And actually how difficult it is,” Breen added. She noted that “this [pilot] is the most ambitious thing we’ve done besides the prom,” and hopes that it can continue in the future.