GVSU Shakespeare Festival Conference Sept. 26 & 27

Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival, Michigan’s oldest continuous-running Shakespeare Festival, in conjunction with the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, Michigan’s only year-round touring Shakespeare company, is holding its bi-annual conference in 2014, entitled “Shakespeare: Pedagogy and  Performance“.

This year, we are focusing on issues that affect the teaching, production, or performance of Shakespeare and early modern drama for secondary or college students. We are currently seeking proposals from Shakespeare Festival Education Directors, English, Theatre, and Interdisciplinary Professors, Secondary Education Teachers, and Graduate Students specializing in Shakespeare, Theatre, dramaturgy, or the early modern period.

The featured Conference Keynote Speaker and Festival Scholar-in-Residence is Tony Simotes, one of the Founding Members and current Artistic Director for Shakespeare & Company. Now in their 36th season, Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshire Hills in Lenox, Massachusetts, is one of the largest and best known Shakespeare Festivals in the United States. Simotes has either performed in or directed over two dozen productions for Shakespeare & Company during the past three decades.  He is also a Master Teacher of Fight and Movement and has been one of the Company¹s Artistic Associates since 1995. For Shakespeare & Company he has directed such productions as Othello, The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, and Two Gentlemen of Verona to name a few.  His work as a fight choreographer and director has been featured coast to coast, from the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles to the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Public Theater.  Recent directing credits include The Nerd for Madison Repertory Theatre and Fight Direction for Macbeth at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre.

The 2014 Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival Conference also features:

• A performance of Comedy of Errors by the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival
• A performance of Macbeth by the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company
• Pat Quigley, Education Consultant  at the Stratford Festival

More information and registration information can be found on the Grand Valley State University website.

“Venus in Fur” Talkback Tonight!

Tonight after the performance we’ll be hosting a special Venus In Fur talk back. We will have special guest panelists who will discuss  gender roles, feminism, power and control, and much more!

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Our guest panelists include: 

Susan M. Williams: GRCC Faculty – Assistant Professor of History: ABD, Department of History; Major Field: East European History; Minor Fields: History of Gender & Sexuality, Russian and East European Studies; Fulbright Scholar, Romania, 2006-2007.; M.A., European History

David Cope: Grand Rapids Poet Laureate 2011-2014. AB, U of Michigan (studied under Robert Hayden); MA + 30, Western Michigan University. Taught Shakespeare, Drama, Creative Writing at GRCC for decades. Award winning author, edit, and publisher for over 40 years.

Elena Gormley: Venus in Fur Dramaturg – BA of Fine Arts in Performing Arts.

*The talk back should begin at approx. 9:30 pm. You do not need to attend Friday’s nights performance to attend the talk back. Coming another night? Feel free to stop by Friday evening after the show to take part in the discussion! We’d love to have you join us!

 

Want  to know more about Venus in Fur? Take a listen to Shelly Irwin of WGVU as she interviews the cast and director.

There are still a few seats available for tonight’s performance, go to www.atgr.org and reserve yours now! Venus in Fur runs Dec. 13 – 14 and 19-21, 2013. All shows are at 8pm.

Tonight’s Production of “Beauty Queen of Leenane” is SOLD OUT

We are pleased to announce that Friday night’s production of Beauty Queen of Leenane is SOLD OUT!

There are few more seats available for Saturday and Sunday’s performances. If you are interested in seeing this amazing, much talked about production, we recommend you reserve your tickets online immediately. Go to http://actorstheatregrandrapids.org/beauty-queen-of-leenane to reserve tickets.

Remember, this production is being hosted by Dog Story Theatre, so there are a smaller number of seats available than at our usual home of Spectrum Theatre. Ordering in advance is highly recommended.

See what others are saying about Beauty Queen of Leenane:

The Beauty Queen of Leenane receives three and a half stars out of four in the review on mlive.com

Sue Merrell also wrote a personal piece on her blog, Laughing for a Living: Grand Canyon of Leenane

Hear an interview with Fred Sebulske and cast members on GVSU with Shelley Irwin

“Beauty Queen of Leenane” by Martin McDonagh by Actors’ Theatre, hosted at Dog Story Theatre, 7 Jefferson Ave. SE

GVSU Interview with Fred and Bud of “The Drawer Boy”

In case you missed it, here’s the archived interview from The WGVU Morning Show with Shelley Irwin featuring director Fred Sebulske and actor Bud Thompson.  Fred and Bud discuss the play as well as Bud and Dawn’s trip to Clinton, Ontario.  (Click here to read the article Together on the Same Road, on the Actors’ Theatre eNewsletter about that journey.)