What is the future of Shakespeare? Brian Vaughn, the Artistic Director of the Utah Shakespeare Festival talks to us about the new developments at the USF, how current events might affect Shakespeare Festivals and what he looks for in an actor. With Mr. Vaughn at the helm, the future looks bright.
Illinois Shakespeare Festival I Heart Juliet June 20, 2017
Kevin Rich is on the move. As the Artistic Director of The Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Kevin’s commitment to Applied Shakespeare has inspired him to seek out new and bold voices, including the Q Brothers Collective. The Q’s will be premiering I Heart Juliet at the ISF this summer. What surprises are in store? Kevin has the answers.
Richard II; Act 5, Scene 5 Richard II May 24, 2017
Is there a message of hope in the words that King Richard II speaks to us from his prison cell in the Tower of London? Our guest, Curt Tofteland, is the Founder of the internationally acclaimed Shakespeare Behind Bars program. In 22 years at the helm of SBB, Curt has discovered three noble truths: Humans need a Tribe, Humans need a Story and Humans need to Reflect. Using Shakespeare, Curt teaches the prisoners these truths and the question arises: did Shakespeare do any time?
Dig it. Valerie Clayman Pye discovered the Globe as a student in London. Years later, she has unearthed a way of playing Shakespeare that is fit for the ages. From the stage to the audience and back again in her elliptical training and direct address techniques.
Valerie Clayman Pye will be holding a discussion and signing at the Drama Book Shop in New York City on Wednesday, May 17th at 5pm.
Timon of Athens; Act 4, Scene 3 Apemantus February 8, 2017
Claim it. It’s yours. If Timon of Athens is a perfect play for these frighteningly uncertain times, who would you cast to play Apemantus? In a world where cynics and flatterers seem to rule the day, Vilma Silva sends a message of hope.
James Shapiro had no interest in Shakespeare in high school and never took a Shakespeare course at college. Today, the author of 1606: William Shakespeare in the Year of Lear, has a legitimate claim to be recognized as one of world’s foremost Shakespeare scholars.
Shakespeare’s heroes almost always get a last great speech. Not so with Macbeth. When Equivocation rules the land, nothing is as it seems. In our interview, Professor Shapiro explores the details of Macbeth, the world in which it was written and we discover how Mr. Shapiro came to devote his life to helping people understand Shakespeare’s plays – and why they matter today.
“Unsexy” and “middle-class” are not words you would naturally associate with Ty Jones, the actor and Producing Artistic Director of the Classical Theatre of Harlem. But when it comes to his vision for the future of the American Theatre, Mr. Jones makes no bones about what it will take for both actors and theatre companies to survive and thrive. We get a taste of his critically-acclaimed turn as the lead in CTH’s record-breaking production of Macbeth, and learn why our foreign policy leaders should listen carefully to Shakespeare.
Shaken, not Stirred. Was Shakespeare involved in a treasonous conspiracy to bring down the British monarch? Our guest, author and historian Jacopo Della Quercia, spins a fantastical yarn that places Shakespeare at the center of the real-life Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Della Quercia’s latest novel, License to Quill, is a James Bond-esque Spy thriller set in a Elizabethan England where the truth may indeed be stranger than fiction.
Henry VI, Part III: Act 3, Scene2 Richard of Gloucester August 15, 2016
The pursuit of…. Hamilton Clancy, Artistic Director of The Drilling Company and Shakespeare in the Parking Lot relates Richard of Gloucester’s pursuit of the crown with, among other things, the current election and a petulant teenager. Hear the speech and his fascinating take on the character everyone loves to hate.
Something wicked this way comes! Maria-Christina Oliveras and Nance Williamson are two-thirds of a three woman Macbeth playing at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. They explore how Macbeth’s “vaulting ambition” resonates today, the challenges of doing a three woman play and how the weather changes everything!