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Local Teens Learn Fine Points O f Acting In Park Program:Dueling ShakespeareBY DOROTHY WHITMORE%u201cAll the world%u2019s a stage and all the men and women merely players,%u201d wrote the bard and in Prospect Park this summer it%u2019s the teenagers%u2019 turn at playing Shakespearean thespians. And not just acting, but dancing and dueling, are performed by these eager adolescents.On a recent hot Wednesday the Picnic House resembled a scene from a costume adventure flick. When dueling chief Steve Andresen commanded, %u201cForward, forward, lunge, step back,%u201d ten boys and girls attempted to follow his orders, brandishing foils. Then, the muscular actor-fencer gave private instruction to petite Sakina Paige who had just joined the class. Sakina, who is 13, attends Montessori Academy on Garfield Place, but has never studied Shakespeare there. %u201cI%u2019ve read some on my own though,%u201d Sakina said, %u201cand I%u2019m very interested in acting as that%u2019s what I want to do when I grow up.%u201dMore grown up and also bitten by the acting bug is dark-haired 15-year-old Francesca Ferrara, a Midwood High School student, who says she read about the classes in %u201cThe Phoenix.%u201d She%u2019s studied acting for two years at H.B. Studios in Greenwich Village under Marlene Mancini.NOT A PROFESSIONALMore interested in just having fun, however, were Griffith Thomas, a senior at Midwood High, and his pal, Anton Torres. %u201cNo, I don%u2019t want to be a professional actor, though I do like Shakespeare. We%u2019ve read %u201cTwelfth Night,%u201d %u201cRomeo and Juliet,%u201d and %u201cHamlet,%u201d in school. I really want to be a market analyst,%u201d Griffith remarked.Not interested in analysis, but action is their coach, Steve Andresen, who teaches fencing professionally at Theatre works,USA in Manhattan, and has performed in %u201cShakespearean Weaponry and Dueling%u201d at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre inWashington, D.C. and also played Petruccio in %u201cThe Taming of the Shrew.%u201dBut, of course, the main thrust of the classes is to learn Shakespearean acting. %u201cShakespeare is absolutely the main focus of the English speaking theatre,%u201d said David Goldyn, the class%u2019s director. %u201cUntil Shakespeare%u2019s time no one bothered to write down the plot. It%u2019s all about real people, whereas before it was about the Gods.%u201d Goldyn, who studied medieval theatre in Wakefield, England, and has a Masters in Greek Mythology and dramatic improvisation, directs the classes in Manhattan and Queens, as well as Brooklyn. %u201cRight now, we%u2019re working on scenes based on %u201cAll the World%u2019s a Stage%u201d from %u201cAs You Like It.%u201d At each stage, the students will perform from a diversity of Shakespearean plays %u2014 the child from %u201cA Midsummer Night%u2019s Dream,%u201d the lovers from %u201cRomeo and Juliet,%u201d and the soldier from %u201cOthello.%u201dAfter fencing practice the class split into groups under a teacher%u2019s direction, where each group practiced a scene from Act I in %u201cRomeo and Juliet.%u201d In one group speech teacher, Susan Gabriel, who%u2019s performed in Joe Papp%u2019s %u201cHenry V,%u201d coached 12-year-old, Joy Torres and her brother, Anton, 15, along with Mohy Eagan, who is 13. Molly was J %u2019diet, Anton, Romeo and Joy, the nurse, using unprovisaiionai techniques, Susan instructed, %u201cPut it in your own words when you look at her, she%u2019s so beautiful.%u201d%u201cI enjoy it a great deal working with teenagers, as they really love it and moved into it right away,%u201d Gabriel said.T e rra n c e C o lb e rt an d Jerry C u rlin g practic e th e ir d u e lin g . (P h o e n ix /K irk P h o to s)T e rra n c e C o lb e rt (above). S u s a n G ab raialan d J o y T o rres, p ra c tic e s c en es w h ile (left)T o rres p ra c tic e s s o m e im prov. (P h o e n ix /K irkP h o to s)D ire c to r D ave G o ld y n and d u e lin g in %u00ads tru c to r S te v e A n d re s e n ta k e a short b reakfro m th e a c tio n . (P h o e n ix /K irk P hoto )Giggling during a short break were Molly and Joy. %u201cJoy introduced me to the group. I like it, but I find Juliet a hard part,%u201d Molly remarked. Both girls liked acting, but Joy%u2019s first love is ballet which she studied since she was eight. Brother Anton took a different view. %u201cI want to be a movie director, so I have to know about acting, and playing Romeo is fun.%u201dPlaying Tybalt in another group was Griffith Thomas with Jerry Curling, 17, who was Lord Capulet. Jerry who has not studied any Shakespeare in high school emphasized, %u201cI am an actor and though Shakespeare%u2019s difficult, if you can master it you can read any script on a first run.%u201d The tall teenager is enrolled with Central Brooklyn Talent Search. Directing Jerry and Griffith was Dennis Green, an actor with an MFA from Yale, who%u2019s played in %u201cRaisin in the Sun,%u201d and most recently acted in a movie %u201cForever Luther.%u201dBut the mastermind behind the operation is New York City%u2019s Dept, of Parks%u2019 Jennifer Vermont Davis and her program, %u201cKids on Stage.%u201d %u201cParks and Recreation wanted a theatre program, as we%u2019ve always dealt with sports,%u201d she said. After convincing Commissioner Henry Stem of its merit, the program took off last year with an original musical, %u201cGet It Together,%u201d which was performed in Bryant Park by groups from the five boroughs.Why Shakespeare? Davis, a former offBroadway director, and NYU drama professor said, %u201cKids want to do classical plays. Shakespeare is taught in the City%u2019s high schools, but this program is to make it fun, so they won%u2019t be afraid of it.Fear has been overcome, and the teens-%%u00ab%u00ab- %u00bb-%u00bb %u00bb-l %u2666/> k n V* r V U feV MV