Ruth Benjamin, 5th grader at Upper Nyack Elementary School
For my older brother Aaron’s bar mitzvah project, he wanted to do something to help the Nyack community. He came up with the idea of putting on a Children’s Shakespeare Theatre showcase for residents at Nyack Ridge Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Saturday, October 4, 2025, with some help from his friends and family.
In Aaron’s words, “In Jewish tradition, a bar mitzvah is not only about celebrating, but also about giving back and taking responsibility in the community.”
Aaron started doing Children’s Shakespeare Theatre in 2022 at the age of ten. He is now in his third year of CST and still going strong.
At Nyack Ridge, seven other kids, ranging in age from ten to fourteen, participated in the showcase: Amada, Declan, Grace. Iris, Levon, Richard, and Ruthie (me). Some of the scenes performed were from Julius Caesar, Two Noble Kinsmen, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As you Like It, and Hamlet.
During the showcase, the Nyack Ridge residents watched raptly and joined in with some of the best-known lines, such as the “To be or not to be” soliloquy from Hamlet, and the “Friends, Romans, countrymen” speech from Julius Caesar.
Aaron explained the purpose of his project: “Shakespeare’s words may be hundreds of years old, but they are still full of life, humor, and meaning. Performing them reminds us that stories and imagination can connect us across generations.”
We started the performance by playing an improvisational game to show how we begin most rehearsals. We chose one of the simpler games, called Walk the Space, and went straight from that into “Friends, Romans, countrymen.” We then performed a collection of scenes, including a stage combat scene from Romeo and Juliet, and ended with the “To be or not to be” soliloquy performed by the whole cast, alternating lines. This was followed by a Q&A. One question was how we got involved in CST, and another was how old we were.
We enjoyed sharing our experiences with the Nyack Ridge residents. All in all, Aaron’s project was a great success in showing how theater can bring people together.
