Tounges in Trees Installation

This audio installation, which was intended to greet visitors to the full gallery space, explores the ways in which adults struggling with literacy due to learning disabilities or troubled / low-income histories interact and relate to Shakespeare. As a moving exploration of well-known monologues, the participants reveal Shakespeare’s relevance to different forms of human struggle and experience, and powerfully demonstrate how Shakespeare can be embraced by all manner of people regardless of education, literacy level, or class. Additionally, the outdoor setting of Tongues in Trees placed Shakespeare in a free community setting, where ownership of his words and accessibility were rethought as a function of the performers’ poignant delivery of familiar lines.