The name “Shakespeare” can often invoke images of bored students stumbling through confusing dialogue, dated terminology and seemingly incomprehensible metaphors. However, some students may think of the complex, relatable plots and characters and appreciate the universality of human emotions.

The What You Will Shakespeare Company, or What You Will, is a University RSO that prides itself in shattering the notion that Shakespeare’s plays are boring.

What You Will is dedicated to bringing the works of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries to life through student-produced plays, though the club doesn’t just focus on the Bard. The company is currently working on a production of “The White Devil” by John Webster, which will run at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the University Place Christian Church. Tickets for this show, and any other show they perform, are $7.

The company adapts shows from the early modern period and produces them in such a way that current audiences are able to fully appreciate them as well. Shakespeare’s work has been able to withstand the test of time through it’s omnipresent themes of love, revenge and tragedy, but it’s age often intimidates audiences.

“The company’s shows take the old literature and make the style more modern,” said AJ Taylor, first year graduate student in Food Science. “Instead of having the very old English feel to it, they might make it so it looks like the play was done in the ’90s or early 2000s. This way, the story is the same, but the message can change slightly.  While I have not been a member (of the company) for long, I have seen their most recent show and absolutely enjoyed it.”

Managing Director Emaline Johnson, senior in LAS, said the company takes a lot of creative freedom, changing anything from the time period to characterization.

“We bring out possibilities in the text that are often overlooked or ignored,” Johnson said. “In our most recent production of ‘The Tempest,’ the director Maggie Wolfe proposed it as a ‘good guy Prospero’ interpretation. Prospero is often portrayed as an angry, vindictive man, while we played him as a much more positive character. This changed the tone of the show completely.”

Every semester, the company puts out two to three shows, each open for two nights a week. To prepare, the actors have multiple rehearsals a week for about six or seven weeks. Johnson said a typical rehearsal consists of segments where the cast runs through a scene, gives notes on it and then runs it again.

Artistic Director Delilah Hansen, senior in LAS, said that the company holds social events every Friday and Saturday for the members to grow closer together and to give those who may be interested in joining a chance to see what the company is like.

Those who want to be in a production need to audition, people who are interested in technology, sound or other behind the scenes work do not. The company’s social events are open for anyone who enjoys the theater atmosphere.

Johnson said the close environment is one of the biggest appeals of the company and that’s what initially drew her to the group as a freshman. Even though What You Will has become a larger part of the campus theater community, it has been able to maintain its inviting, open atmosphere.

“It’s important to create a sense of community through theater since it reminds us all of our human sides,” Hansen said. “I think that’s a pretty good reason to go see any piece of theater.”

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