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Shakespeare...on SPEED!

Lindsey Walters

The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton is known for being traditional, but you might be surprised by what constitutes tradition when it comes to the bard.

In Shakespeare’s time, the lights did not go down as the curtain came up.  That’s why the Blackfriar Theater’s racy motto is, “We Do It with the Lights On.”  And during the current five-show series, performers are taking just 48-hours to find costumes and rehearse.  Theater spokeswoman, Cathy Bagwell Marsh, says for the Bard, it was all about business.

“Because the more you did, the more money you made.”

Credit Photo by Lindsey Walters
Patrick Midgley as Blunt, Benjamin Reed as Frederick in The Rover.

And today, the fast-paced production schedule makes for an edgy audience experience.

“Shakespeare’s company didn’t have a lot of time to put on a show – mostly about 30 hours, 40 hours to do it, and they would often get cue scripts.  There weren’t copiers back then, so they’d get just their parts and the line before theirs, so our actors follow that model.  It kind of brings back this exciting, fly by the seat of your pants kind of feel.  You’re wondering, as an audience member, ‘Is it all going to fall apart.’”

Needless to say, it does not.  This year’s program features The Taming of the Shrew and plays by four of Shakespeare’s contemporaries – one of them female.

“Aphra Behn was one of the first English women playwrights, and she was rumored to be a spy for Charles the Second.  And if you come see The Rover, you’ll see there are very strong women characters.  It’s a lot of fun – basically a lot of smart women outsmarting a bunch of frat guys.”

That, too, might seem un-traditional, but Marsh insists people haven’t changed that much in 400 years.  The Actors’ Renaissance series runs through the end of March with a different show every night, allowing people to binge on Shakespeare and his contemporaries over a long weekend of performance.  I’m Sandy Hausman.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief
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