Bridgette Redman, of Encore Michigan dropped a fantastic review of Richard III after seeing it at the Dog Story Theater in Grand Rapids. LANSING, Mich.–If you’ve been a faithful follower of Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, you now know how the War of the Roses starts and ends and are ready for the final Game of Thrones season, […]
My master’s thesis (one of them…) was about using sounds to communicate information about what was happening off-stage. It’s a core component of the “theater of imagination” that we engage with in the Original Practices community. I’m always a little disappointed when I go see a show and I notice that they’ve cut or ignored […]
I took the kids to see Merry Wives at a school matinee performance last week. They were–as usual–fidgety as all get out, but later said that they loved it. Petra’s favorite part was the fairies pinching Falstaff, and Silas said what he liked best was when Falstaff was dressed as the Witch of Brentford and […]
I’m beyond excited about Richard III at Pigeon Creek Shakespeare. It’s such an interesting play, and the actors are doing amazing work. The truth is, though, I didn’t go into it expecting to be so personally moved by it. I’ve seen productions of this play before–five or six of them, probably. I never walked out […]
I wrote this before I went to Michigan, but it didn’t post correctly. If you’re curious how I was feeling about Skype directing after a couple weeks of it, here’s your answer. I’ll post a reflection with a broader view of the process soon. Directing via Skype has been quite a learning experience. The first […]
A couple of years ago, when I was reading Richard III in preparation to write a proposal for directing it at Pigeon Creek Shakespeare, one thing I struggled with was how to help the audience understand the sequence of people standing between Richard and the throne. A lot of people have to die for him […]
I’ve been hearing about various productions of Arden of Faversham over the past year, due largely to its status as a possible Shakespeare play (or collaboration). The American Shakespeare Center included it in their winter season, so I had a chance to check it out (special thanks to Eric Minton who swapped me a ticket […]
I’m excited to join my friends at the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company once again, this time for Richard III. Except that I won’t exactly be joining them for a while. I don’t have a place to stay in Grand Rapids for the full rehearsal period. It’s my own fault for bringing my entourage with me […]
Preparing to see American Idiot was kind of nerve-wracking. I hadn’t seen the show before, but I have a history with Green Day. Dookie was the first album I bought myself as a middle-schooler. “Good Riddance/Time of Your Life” was the prom song for our class and everyone else who graduated that year (JC reminded […]
I’m a big fan of Shakespeare-adjacent theater, as a category. That can either mean plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries (Dr. Faustus), or plays about Shakespeare’s life (Shakespeare’s Sister), or plays in response to Shakespeare’s plays (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead) or, as in the case of Red Velvet, plays about people performing the works of Shakespeare or his contemporaries. These plays can […]