It might seem like I’ve been quiet over here, but it’s because I have been going all over the place filling up on plays. After the Long Intermission, I am saying “Yes, and!” to any play I can reasonably manage to get to. Between October 15 and November 13, I saw twelve plays (14 if […]
Can we just be honest for a minute? Doing my first play back after the pandemic shut-down was terrifying. I thought that my first show back would be a play I’ve been thinking about for a few years, at a company I have worked with a bunch, with actors I know and trust. My actual […]
I had a fun time in Connecticut a couple weeks ago. Right after Merry Wives closed, literally the next day, I packed up my kids and my mom, and we drove to New England. Shakespeare on the Sound had invited me to share my Take 5 workshop with them, and they invited us to see […]
As we approach the last weekend of Merry Wives at Quill Theatre, I wanted to share my program note. “Why this play? Why now?” indeed. This is the Merry Wives summer. As we gather in Richmond, audiences are convening in Los Angeles, Bismarck, Atlanta, and countless other cities to experience the same slapstick romp. Shakespeare’s […]
We moved our rehearsals over to Agecroft Hall and Gardens, where we’ll be performing, this past week. Even though working outdoors has been challenging (to say the least—a windstorm took out our sound tent and knocked over the walls!), it’s also an absolutely magical place. Anne Kenny-Urban, the executive director of Agecroft, took us on […]
It’s been a long time, and I can hardly wrap my mind around the fact that it’s happening, but… I’m directing Merry Wives of Windsor at Quill Theatre for the Richmond Shakespeare Festival! We’ll be performing in the gardens at Agecroft Hall. This is going to be super fun! I know not everyone loves Merry […]
I took a whirlwind trip to west Michigan to see my friends at the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company perform my favorite Shakespearean comedy in one of my favorite venues—the Rose, a Globe-style theater at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Being back at the Rose was just magical. That space has a lively energy, like it […]
Does anybody else feel like they’re just trying to see All The Shows before things get shut down again? My theater-going habits feel downright manic this summer. We saw The Bottom Show last week in Richmond, on the lawn at Agecroft Hall. As I write this, the last opportunity to see it is tomorrow and […]
Alumni of the Shakespeare and Performance graduate program at the American Shakespeare Center have founded or taken on the leadership of, a number of classical theater companies, drawing on the ASC’s scholarship and aesthetic, but with their own unique twist. Just off the top of my head: Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival (Arizona), Pigeon Creek Shakespeare (Michigan), […]
Time for a story about how I became the director I am. In 2002, I was interning at the American Shakespeare Center. This was before they had any kind of formal internship program, so the deal basically was that I worked with their summer camp during the day, and in the evening, I could go […]