Tina Packer directs All’s Well That Ends Well, with original music by Bill Barclay. The Boston Globe called it a “lively, spirited prodcution” and the Phoenix declared it “vigorous, ultimately magical…Packer does not do things by halves.” Buy tickets now.
Check out the video preview of the show, which features Kristin Villanueva as Helena and Kevin O’Donnell as Parolles (the Wall Street Journal declared: “Kristin Villanueva is fizzingly alive and responsive as Helena — she has the eye-catching energy of a star in the making — and Kevin O’Donnell is just as fine in a very different way as Parolles, the idiotic would-be fop who meets with a painfully shaming fate.”)
Othello is now open! Buy tickets now.
Directed by Tony Simotes, Othello stars John Douglas Tompson as Othello and associate artistic director Michael Hammond as Iago, with music by Scott Killian, scenic design by Yoshi Tanokura, costumes by Gail Brassard and lighting by Les Dickert. Production photos by Kevin Sprague.
Between performing as LaFew in All’s Well That Ends Well in Founders’ Theatre, directing Wild and Whirling Words on the Rose Footprint, and teaching acting students in the Summer Training Institute down at the Production and Performing Arts Center, Dennis Krausnick, director of training, even when obliged to be everywhere at every moment, still has time to pursue a personal project. Miraculously, he was able to find five minutes to talk to us about it.
The Lear Project is a solo play in which Dennis takes the audience on a journey through Shakespeare’s King Lear, performing the King’s speeches and exploring his personal relationship to the play and its themes of parent-child relationships from his own roles as son, step-father, and mentor to myriad young acting students. Continue reading ‘Dennis Krausnick’s “The Lear Project”’
Founding Company member Tony Simotes returns to direct Shakespeare & Company’s first-ever mainstage production of Othello. He sat down for a video interview in which he discusses the soldier’s bond between Iago and Othello and the deeper motivations behind Iago’s actions, the love Desdemona has for Othello and the ease with which everything we know can suddenly change. (The video features rehearsal footage and production photos, and music from the show composed by Scott Killian).
Othello, now in previews, opens Friday and stars John Douglas Thompson as Othello and Michael Hammond as Iago, with Merrit Janson, LeRoy McClain, Ryan Winkles, Kristin Wold, Walton Wilson, Elizabeth Aspenlieder, Michael F. Toomey, Jon Croy and Tom Rindge. Buy tickets now.
Carrie Saldo interviewed marketing director Mike Clary about Shakespeare & Company’s Do But Greenly program, aimed at minimizing the Company’s energy usage but also providing ways for patrons to get in on the action. The talked about our Cheaper by the Carload Night promotion (which begins Wednesday) and our Slow Food benefit performances (the first of which will be this Thursday).
Listen to the story at WAMC’s website, or listen below.
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Bill Buell of the Schenectady Daily Gazette interviewed Othello director Tony Simotes and actors John Douglas Thompson (Othello) and LeRoy McClain (Cassio) to talk about the play’s relationships, issues of race, and what makes Shakespeare & Company’s production so different from others that have come before—specifically, casting McClain, a black actor, in the pivotal role of Michael Cassio.
“I think that ‘Othello’ is one of Shakespeare’s most economical plays because it really moves in one direction and it’s about real people, not kings and queens,” said Thompson. “It’s about love between a black man and a white woman, and those things can still garner a lot of attention today. But what Shakespeare does is make it a positive story. He tells us how strong that love is, and how beautiful and wonderful it can be, as long as there’s no one attacking it from the outside and bringing it down. It’s about racism and friendship, and those things will always be pertinent.”
Click here to read the whole story.
In his eighth season at Shakespeare & Company, Timothy Douglas, a prolific director, steps back onto the stage (after directing Blue/Orange last summer) to play the King of France in All’s Well That Ends Well (Buy tickets now). Tim will also teach voice in the Shakespeare & Young Company summer session.
1. How did you come to be with Shakespeare & Company?
I first heard about the Company through my voice teachers, Zoe Alexander and Virginia Ness, when I was training as an actor at Yale Drama School. My first audition out of grad school was for Tina Packer’s 1986 production of Antony and Cleopatra. I was cast as the Soothsayer and the Clown (who brings the snake).
Continue reading ’7 Questions with Timothy Douglas’
