The Two Gentlemen of Verona – July 24 – Aug. 2!

From Dog Story Theater’s website:

One of Shakespeare’s early comedies, The Two Gentlemen of Verona follows the adventures of best friends Proteus and Valentine, and the ways in which love and romance interferes with their friendship. Valentine makes fun of his friend for being in love with Julia, but when Valentine falls for the beautiful Silvia, he finds that Proteus may not be the friend he believed.

The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company will present The Two Gentlemen of Verona July 24-26 and July 31-August 2 at 8:00 p.m., and July 27 and August 3 at 3:00 p.m..

Pigeon Creek’s production features actors Ian Brown, Zoe Collenburg, Kimi Griggs, Anessa Johnson, Janelle Mahlmann, Chad Marriott, Brian Peerbolt, Kristin Ripley, Brad Sytsma, and Stephen Wright. The production is directed by Pigeon Creek Executive Director Katherine Mayberry, with assistant direction by Kerissa Bradley.

Tickets are $14 for adults and $7 for students and seniors.

Buy tickets at the Dog Story Theatre website.

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.

Pigeon Creek Shakespeare presents – CORIOLANUS – June 19-28!

Coriolanus follows the rise and fall of Roman warrior Caius Martius Coriolanus, as he struggles to gain the support of the Roman populace, encouraged and driven by his powerful mother, and as he forms an unlikely alliance with his greatest military rival, the Volscian general Tullus Aufidius.  Pigeon Creek’s production features actors Kathleen Bode, Chaz Bratton, Antonio Copeland, Kat Hermes, Sean Kelley, Scott Lange, Owen McIntee, Sarah Tryon, Kate Tubbs, Kyle Westmaas, and Scott Wright.

The production is directed by Dennis Henry, who has previously spent 8 years touring with the American Shakespeare Center, a nationally known company which, like Pigeon Creek, uses performance conditions from Shakespeare’s own time period in staging the Bard’s plays.

Shows continue June 26-28 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday 29 at 3:00 p.m..

Get more information and purchase your ticket on the Dog Story Theater website.

Pigeon Creek Presents “Midsummer Night’s Dream” April 17-27 + Audition Notice

The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company brings Shakespeare’s comedy of magic and confused love to Dog Story, April 17-20 and 24-27. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream features four Athenian lovers and a band of amateur actors who get more than they bargained for when they venture into the woods outside of Athens.  When these human characters encounter a group of mischievous fairies and feel the effects of fairy magic, hilarity ensues.  The cast of this production features Steven Anderson, Kathleen Bode, Antonio Copeland, Kimi Griggs, Amanda Heeren, Janelle Mahlmann, Chad Marriott, Kristin Ripley, Janna Rosenkranz, Sarah Stark, Brad Sytsma, Kate Tubbs, and Kyle Westmaas.

Production dates are April 17/27. Tickets are $14 / $7 student & senior. More information can be found on the Dog Story Theatre website.

 

Audition Notice

The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company is holding auditions for its summer productions of Coriolanus and The Two Gentlemen of Verona on April 22 and 23 at 7 p.m.

Coriolanus will be directed by Dennis Henry.  Dennis holds an MFA in directing from the University at Nebraska Lincoln, and has extensive experience as a Shakespearean actor.  A member of Actors’ Equity, he spent eight years touring with the world-renowned American Shakespeare Center.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona will be Pigeon Creek’s first ever Workshop Production, designed to provide acting experience and training for actors who may not have previously acted in Shakespearean plays.  College students and others who are eager to get training in Shakespearean text, voice, and movement techniques would be ideal candidates to audition for this production.

Visit Pigeon Creek’s website for more information.

 

Lake Effect Fringe Festival 2014

 Calling all Playwrights! (And people who know playwrights.)

The Lake Effect Fringe Festival is a collaboration between West Michigan theatre groups: Dog Story Theater, GEM Theatrics, Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, and Stark Turn Players. The first annual festival was held during the month of February, 2013 at the Dog Story Theater in Grand Rapids. The festival seeks to highlight performer-focused theater in a non-traditional theater space, creating an intimate performance experience for audiences.

Stark Turn Players, in its continuing mission to foster local artists, hosts an annual competition to become an incubator for local playwrights to have the opportunity to workshop their works and have them produced at no cost to the playwrights.

Playwrights (Student and Non-Student) in the Greater Grand Rapids Area (reside or attend school in Kent County and it’s contiguous counties) are welcome to submit their 10-Minute scripts annually to compete for production slots in our annual season. This year’s theme for the festival is Out of Time.

The Procedure is simple and relatively painless!

• There are two divisions: student and non-student.
• Playwrights submit a 10 to 15 minute short play due November 1st.
• A maximum of four scripts in each division are chosen for full production in the following February.
• Starting in January, the chosen plays begin rehearsals and development.
• At performance, the plays are adjudicated by a panel of local arts professionals.
• The Best in Show in each division will be awarded the final night of the performances.

For information on how to submit your script, judges criteria and links to information about past winters, go to www.starkturnplayers.org.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact them at: starkturnplayers@gmail.com