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 […]
Richard III, at Pigeon Creek Shakespeare, started with the idea that all violence is misogyny, and the question, “What if all the curses of the grieving women had real, literal power?” Magical realism Shakespeare! Through exploring those questions, we found how terrible a character could be, and how kind a cast could be. Although I […]
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 […]
I spent my birthday week in Montclair, New Jersey, helping to organize and run the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for Region 2. It’s my last year as the workshops coordinator, and I’m proud to say we had over 100 workshops, in every area of theater. We had to cancel a few due to weather issues (we […]
It’s been a good week in the critical acclaim department. Not only did our remount of Pigeon Creek’s Much Ado earn slot #16 in Shakespeareances “Top 25” list, but Eric also posted a wonderful review of the show. You can read the full thing on his website, but here are some of my favorite observations (emphasis mine). Director Alisha Huber embraces many textual advantages the space offers her. In his gulling scene, Benedick (Brad Sytsma) hides among the groundlings (though there’s only a few people down there—the galleries are the preferred seating for this NPR audience). Borachio (Josh Fremer) comes through one of the entrance’s curtains but […]