Bard in Boston

The American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) will be holding their conference in Boston, November 5-9, 2008.

Within the organization, the Shakespearean Performance Research Group provides "an ongoing home for the study of Shakespearean performance," and have just issued their call for papers:

For the 2008 conference, to be held in Boston, November 5-9, we seek papers that address issues relating to our three subgroups:

1. Shakespearean Performance Histories;
2. Shakespearean Performance Theories; and
3. Shakespearean Performance Practices.

To wit:

• What makes a "Shakespearean performance" count as "Shakespearean"?
• Is this a genre of performance that is particularly defined/deformed/undone by textuality, authorship?
• What kinds of analytic strategies seem required by this genre of performance?

Selected papers will be assigned to one of the three subgroups and the conveners will organize on-line communication of subgroup members before the conference. At the three-hour conference session, papers will be discussed first within the subgroups, after which the groups will come together to exchange ideas. We will seek to continue discussion of the work of the group's members after the conference, in an on-line forum moderated by the group's conveners.

Where	Who	When	What	Details
Plymouth, MA	Plymouth Community Theatre	May 27 and 28	Much Ado About Nothing	( Read more... )
North Adams, MA	Main Street Stage	May 31 and June 1	Romeo And Juliet	( Read more... )

Where	Who	What	When	Details
Jaffrey		16th Annual Jaffrey Rindge Shakespeare Festival,	Friday, May 23, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.	( Read more... )
Durham	Amare Cantare	Renaissance Performing Arts Festival	June 1	( Read more... )

Also, Shaker Bridge Theatre in Enfield, NH, is tentatively planning outdoor Shakespeare-in-the-park for this summer.

And in Vermont, Rutland Youth Theatre is planning an upcoming touring Shakespeare performance across Vermont. This year's summer Shakespeare play will be A Winter's Tale.

Where	Who	What	When	Details
Sudbury	LSB Players	MacBird	May 22 - 24	( Read more... )
Gloucester	The Actors Company	Shakespeare's Ghost	May 30 and 31, 7:30 p.m.	( Read more... )
Dartmouth	The Classical Players Theater Company	The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged)	Friday and Saturday, June 6 and 7, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 8, at 2 p.m.	( Read more... )
Westport	The Classical Players Theater Company	The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged)	Friday and Saturday, June 27 and 28, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 29, at 11 a.m.	( Read more... )

Where	Who	What	When	Details
Pawtucket	Gamm Theatre	The Taming of the Shrew	Now thru June 15	( Read more... )
Little Compton	The Classical Players Theater Company	The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged)	Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 15, at 2 p.m.	( Read more... )

King John and Greenblatt & Mee's Cardenio have only just opened in Boston and Cambridge, but Memorial Day brings with it thoughts of summer.

So, here's a look ahead at what's in store, starting with the major companies:

Play	by	Company	Opens	in	Location
All's Well That Ends Well	by	Shakespeare & Company	June 20	in	Lenox
As You Like It	by	Commonwealth Shakespeare	July 18	in	Boston
Othello	by	Shakespeare & Company	July 18	in	Lenox
Much Adoe About Nothing	by	New England Shakespeare Festival	July 22	in	various cities
A Midsummer Night's Dream	by	Redfeather Theatre	July 23	in	Worcester
Twelfth Night	by	Redfeather Theatre	Aug 6	in	Worcester

Some of the usual subjects (*cough* Publick Theatre *cough*) are not offering any Shakespeare this summer. And, sadly, Industrial Theatre has gone on hiatus. [Best wishes, guys!]

Any other productions I'm missing?

Remember, Bard in Boston is an open community to which anyone is welcome to post.

Coming this autumn:

• In September, Huntington Theatre unveils the world premiere of a new play, How Shakespeare Won The West
• And Actors' Shakespeare Project has another four-play season opening in November.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said the identity of William Shakespeare is “the first of all literary problems.”

And for a group of Shakespearean scholars, this famous Concordian’s revelation, linking the community to the Bard, made the town a fitting locale for their inaugural Shakespeare Festival Conference.

“This is the first and we are hoping that it will become an annual event,” said Cheryl Eagan-Donovan, a Winchester resident and documentary filmmaker who has a passion for the Bard.

Eagan-Donovan is a member of the festival’s steering committee.

“We are hoping to have more people join after this event and make it an annual gathering for Shakespeare scholars and Shakespeare lovers,” she added.

Unlike other Shakespearean conferences, Concord’s weekend-long event, from Friday, May 30, through Sunday, June 1, will include debate on both schools of thought when it comes to Shakespeare’s identity.

The Stratfordians, or traditional Shakespeare scholars, argue that Shakespeare was who he said he was. The Oxfordians, or unorthodox Shakespeare scholars, argue that Shakespeare was a pen name used by poet-playwright Edward de Vere.

The conference is the brainchild of resident Stuart Weeks, who came up with the idea after meeting Mark Anderson, author of “‘Shakespeare’ By Another Name.”

“They met and started talking about the idea of doing a concert festival all about Shakespeare,” Eagan-Donovan said.

The festival conference kicks off Friday, May 30, at the Concord Free Public Library with concert pianist Roderick Phipps-Kettlewell discussing the relationship between Shakespeare and Mozart.

According to a press release about the conference, its mission is to explore sources of the author’s motivation, to examine how people define the meaning of specific works, and to engage in dialogue about the messages readers attribute to Shakespeare.

A number of presentations are scheduled to take place throughout the weekend, including a lecture on “King John,” A look at the play “As You Like It” involving acting, a discussion about Shakespeare and religion and a look at Shakespeare on screen. Scholars, authors and teachers are among the presenters during the festival conference’s different seminars.

Eagan-Donovan said the festival conference includes interpretation through acting during certain lectures. But performance is the main focus of the festival’s Saturday night activities.

On Saturday night, a lineup of performers will take the stage to perform excerpts of Shakespeare’s or Shakespeare-inspired works. Some will read a sonnet, while others will perform a speech from one of his plays. The Concordia Consort will present dances, fantasias and music from Shakespeare’s contemporaries. In addition, there will be court jesters and a reading from an original play about Shakespeare.

“The idea of Saturday night is really to be entertainment as opposed to any kind of lecture,” Eagan-Donovan said.

Registration in advance for the entire weekend is $35, $40 at the door. Students age 25 and younger will be admitted free of charge — a choice the festival conference’s steering committee made to try to expose more young people to the different ways of looking at Shakespeare.

“For us its really important to get young people involved,” Eagan-Donovan said. “Students are really open to the idea of interpreting Shakespeare anew.”

Friday night’s concert takes place at the library, while the rest of the festival conference will take place at the Masonic Temple in Monument Square.

For more information visit www.concordshakespeare.com.

Originally posted to riba_rambles May 19

It was a dangerous time for the English monarch:

The challenges Queen Elizabeth faced are relatively well known.

So how much more daring for Shakespeare to recount the parallels in King John's lifetime?

In short: If you're looking to see Shakespeare on stage this month, ASP is still the best around.

Originally posted to riba_rambles May 16

I maintain a list of every Shakespeare play I've seen. I've been looking forward to adding Cardenio to the tally ever since A.R.T. announced this season's schedule.

Unfortunately, I'm still waiting.

An addendum to my Cardenio timeline:

In 1990, Charles Hamilton made a big splash when he claimed The Second Maiden's Tragedy was actually Shakespeare's Cardenio. This identification has since been debunked, and the incident has been relegated to an embarrassing footnote in literary history.

I suspect the new play by Stephen Greenblatt and Charles Mee will suffer a similar fate.

That's a shame, because they created a perfectly decent play. It's just not Shakespeare, no matter how much they try to tout it as such. And while that kind of hype may sell tickets, it also burdens them with certain expectations that this play can't possibly fulfill. I avoid reading reviews until I write my own, but I suspect that by any other name, opinions would be much rosier.

Frankly, the play's relationship to Shakespeare's Cardenio is so tangential that I don't feel comfortable using that title. Instead, I'm dubbing this new production SCCardenio in honor of authors Stephen and Charles.

For those seeking simple advice on whether or not to see the show, Ian summed it up nicely:

There are three questions to ask about a production like this:

1. Is it fun to watch?
2. Is it a good play?
3. Is it a good pastiche of Shakespeare?

The answers, in this case, are "yes", "meh", and "no".

Most of my criticism focuses on Ian's third point -- its Shakespearean aspects.

As I told Ian on the drive home, "I wanted something close to Shakespeare's Cardenio. What I got felt more like an episode of Friends."

Many recent Hollywood films have been labelled "critic-proof" -- attracting a certain core audience who will see the movie regardless of the reviews. Titling this play Cardenio may provide a similar boost to the box office (I understand a New York run is already scheduled for next year). But poetic justice rarely favors Falsehoods.

Shakespeare Meets the Roaring Twenties

in Hyperion Shakespeare Company's

Sultry Jazz Age "Twelfth Night"