Henry V, III.7

Those of you (if any exist) who have been paying close attention will know that I am currently engaged in a province-wide tour of the Norm Foster play The Melville Boys, at the behest of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.  Though I remain a significant distance from the feverish goings-on at the SIR office (I am presently, pleasantly  ensconced in a beautiful bed & breakfast castle in the heart of picturesque Minnedosa), my thoughts refuse to stray for long.

Having said that, it has clearly proven to be a challenge for me to find the time, the wherewithal, and relevant subject matter with which to post a regular blog.  I can only hope that the recent infrequency of these postings has resulted in an increase in demand and a sharpened sense of anticipation among my loyal readers (if any exist).

However, inspiration and opportunity have conveniently collided with one another this (ominously) warm and sunny Super Bowl weekend, and so here I am.

We had the great pleasure last Thursday of staying and performing in the town of Gladstone and, while there, paid an afternoon visit to a book fair at the Gladstone Elementary School which (as well as providing a chance to meet some very nice people and to receive a hug from a young student whom I assisted with the purchase of a book about kittens) brought to mind what is possibly my all-time favourite and most meaningful memory of performing Shakespeare.

It was the 2008 tour of Stripped-Down Romeo & Juliet, and I was playing Juliet/Mercutio (along with Andrew, Matt TenBruggencate and Glen Thompson).  We had set up in the Gladstone Elementary school gymnasium, and managed to squeeze in (as far as I know) every student in Gladstone, starting with the Kindergarteners in the front row, all the way to the grade 12 graduating class in the back.  We elected to spare the sensibilities of the younger students by smoothing down the edges of the bawdiest bits, and were having a great time performing for such a range of ages, when a most heartbreakingly beautiful thing occurred.

I didn't actually witness it myself, having been "dead" at the time, but I'm certainly willing to take the word of the other actors who did.  Apparently, as Romeo approached the "sleeping" Juliet in the tomb (having handily dispatched poor Paris), a handful of wee ones sitting up front quietly began to chant in unison: "Kiss-Her! Kiss-Her! Kiss-Her!".

The implication of this is, I hope, as breathtakingly wonderful to you as it was to me.  A clear and irrefutable proof that these youngsters, who couldn't have been older than five, had not only been able to follow the story (delivered in the original Shakespearean text) and knew exactly what was happening on stage, but had been affected by what they were seeing to the extent that they couldn't help but try to affect the outcome, resorting to a strategy to which they had been conditioned to believe in by thousands of years of folklore and fairy tales: a kiss to wake up the sleeping beauty.

Now, as then, I can't help but wonder how it made those youngsters feel when their time-honoured strategy failed, and the lovers' doomed romance reached its denouement with a double-suicide instead of a "happily ever after".

And I can't help but wonder what full grown adults are really thinking when they claim that nobody actually gets Shakespeare, they just pretend to understand it so that other people will think they're smart or sophisticated.

Five year old children.

Whom do you suppose they were trying to impress?

Shakespeare is for EVERYONE!!!

Henry V, II.2

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping 2012 brings us all, in all things, no more and no less than we can handle.

Speaking of all things: SIR is holding auditions next week for this spring's exciting production of Henry V, to be directed by our own Michelle Boulet!

(Stay tuned for more details about the show as they materialize.)

Men will be asked to read the part of Henry in Act 1, Scene 2 starting from:

“Now we are well prepared….” up to and including: “We hope to make the sender blush at it.”

Women should be prepared to read the part of Katherine in Act 3, Scene 4 as well as the part of Henry in the scene outlined above.

Auditions will be held at Prairie Theatre Exchange on:

Thursday, January 12^th & Friday, January 13^th

To book please email artisticchairsir@mts.net or call the office at 957-1753.

Hope to see you there!

Romeo And Juliet, II.3

Much is being said about RMTC Artistic Director Steven Schipper's decision to set his Romeo and Juliet in modern day Jerusalem, and the extent to which that decision does and does not affect the action and the text of Shakespeare's play.

Some seem to feel that this production should have taken further steps to modernize the play, including a suggestion that, in place of Friar John failing to hand-deliver a letter to Romeo in Mantua, a more compelling choice would have been to have Friar Laurence's e-mail lost in Romeo's spam filter.  (This particular idea came from someone who further posited that had the actors been asked to deliver Shakespeare's "antiquated" text while "waddling" about in Elizabethan dress, the audience would likely have had a more difficult time following the action.  I, and anyone who has seen SIR's Stripped-Down Romeo & Juliet can confirm that this presumption is simply asinine.)

Some people seem to think that the real life tension and violence of the real life Israeli-Palestinian/Middle Eastern Jewish-Muslim conflict should have somehow been reflected more in this telling of the story, including a suggestion that Friar Laurence be represented as a Red Cross/Doctors Without Borders triage medic.

Considerations such as these regularly come into play whenever SIR prepares to mount a new Shakespearean production.  In its entire history, Stripped-Down Romeo & Juliet is the only Shakespeare play that SIR has set in the Elizabethan era.  Alternative settings have included The War of the Roses, the Restoration Era, America's Wild Western Frontier, the Roaring Twenties, Fellini's mid-20th Century Italy, a South American banana republic, and modern-day Transcona.

As has been asserted in the case of RMTC's current production, each of the above location changes has been made in an effort to contextualize Shakespeare's work in such a way that it can be a fresh experience for the audience, and to help underline the timelessness of his characters, their behavior, and their circumstances.  Each choice (despite Shakespeare's unequaled capacity for contemporary relevance) presents a number of challenges in dealing with certain anachronistic references and societal constructs, and each choice ends up walking a fine line between being a distraction from Shakespeare's original intention,  and providing additional immediacy and resonance.

As in all things artistic, the final analysis can only be subjective and, to a large extent, depends on the preconceptions and personal experience of each individual audience member. 

Speaking for myself, I think I would rather see a production that aims to tell the story of Romeo and Juliet based in the city of Jerusalem than a production that somehow tries to tell a story about the city of Jerusalem, based on Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo And Juliet, III.3

Here's another aspect of Friar Laurence which has always puzzled me: when Romeo comes in and tells him that he's fallen in love with Juliet (without even mentioning her name: he merely refers to her as "the fair daughter of rich Capulet"), the Friar says nothing about the potential danger of this relationship.  He somewhat mercilessly chides and mocks Romeo for having dropped, overnight, his infatuation with Rosaline for a new love, and then, in the blink of an eye, agrees to marry them, apparently with the sole intention of reconciling their families.  From the outside, this decision has always struck me as a little rash (especially for the Friar), and from the inside, until just recently, I found it very difficult as an actor to motivate.

However, I believe I have figured it out

In Act I, Scene 2, when Romeo is reading off the guest list for the Capulet's feast, it includes "my fair niece Rosaline".  Which means (obviously) that Romeo starts the play in love with a Capulet, and the Friar already knows all about Rosaline.  This explains why the Friar doesn't warn Romeo of the dangers of falling in love with the enemy: they've already been through all that, probably a hundred times.  (It's interesting that Benvolio thinks the best place for Romeo to get over his obsession with Rosaline, a Capulet, is at a Capulet feast populated by more Capulet women.  Perhaps Romeo would have been better off checking out the action at a Montague mixer.)

This also explains why the Friar is so quick to marry the two lovers with the hope of ending the feud: he has been thinking about the possibility, and perhaps even formulating the plan, since Romeo came to him with the great news that he had fallen in love with Rosaline.  Of course, the fact that Rosaline "hath sworn that she will still live chaste" and has refused Romeo's advances tells the Friar that this particular relationship is not the great love story to melt the hearts of the feuding families.  But when Romeo insists that Juliet "doth for grace for grace and love for love allow", Friar Laurence is convinced he's got the winning ticket.

Shakespeare pretty much establishes that Friar Laurence and Juliet are familiar with one another, and given all of the Friar's subsequent action in the play, it's not difficult to imagine that he sees in her what she seems to inspire in everyone she meets: as her father puts it, "she is the hopeful lady of my earth".  As for Romeo, despite his adolescent propensity for the occasional hormonal histrionic, "Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well govern'd youth".  Indeed, after the play's opening brawl,  Capulet himself sees hope for peace between the two households.

In this context then, and given his faith in a god that (presumably) wants peace, it's difficult to condemn the Friar too harshly for believing that, by wedding the two young lovers, he has found the solution for finally ending the town's "ancient grudge".

Of course, in a way he could never have imagined, and would never have desired, he has. 

Myself condemned, and myself excused."

Romeo and Juliet, V.3

The other day, during a post-show Q&A for one of our student preview audiences I was asked what, if anything, the character of Friar Laurence was meant to tell us about Shakespeare's attitude toward religion: an excellent question.

I replied along the lines that, given the list of questionable actions the Friar commits in his disastrous (though ultimately successful) attempt to reconcile the Capulets and the Montagues, while recognizing what an admirably, naively altruistic leap of faith he takes in making the attempt, I could only surmise that if  Shakespeare intended to comment on religious or "holy" (as Friar Laurence is described throughout the play) people, the comment can be interpreted as, at best, ambivalence.

Since then, I've been thinking about it quite a bit, and thinking more deeply about the Friar as a person and about what really motivates his actions and reactions throughout the play.  The most useful and encompassing conclusion that I've been able to make is that, upon his first entrance in the play, Friar Laurence  is impressively and dangerously disconnected from his own humanity, and from the normal passions and desires which go along with being human.

This is most likely a result (obviously) of his dedication to monastic life, and a strange (for a religious man) devotion to logic and reason.  Throughout the entire play, he is quite literally shocked by the fact that everyone with whom he comes in contact has some kind of emotional reaction to their experiences.

Romeo (a teenager) falls in and out of love: "Holy Saint Francis!"

Romeo kills Tybalt out of rage, and threatens to kill himself out of despair: "Thy wild acts denote the unreasonable fury of a beast!"

Capulet, Lady Capulet, Nurse & Paris demonstrably mourn what they think is Juliet's death: "For shame… for though fond nature bids us all lament, yet nature's tears are reasons merriment."

Juliet discovers her dead husband: "Stay not to question, for the watch is coming."

It's that last one that seems to give most people the most difficulty when trying to comprehend Friar Laurence's actions in the play.  Why, if his goal is to take Juliet away with him, does he pause to tell her that Romeo is dead?  The best that I can come up with is that, in his limited experience with her, the Friar has tragically overestimated Juliet's capacity to overcome her passion with reason, and he therefore assumes that, seeing that there is nothing more to be done for her poor husband, Juliet will leave with the Friar to be disposed "among a sisterhood of nuns".  The Friar can't know what Romeo (and the audience) know: that Juliet's capacity for reason and logic is matched only by the capacity of her passion and her imagination, and her ability to apply logic to her passion and her imagination, all of which combine to create a will to action that cannot be denied or assuaged.

I think that, when Friar Laurence explains that "a noise did scare me from the tomb", it is because he would rather appear a coward to the world than confess what it was that really sent him fleeing in terror from that vault.  When Juliet tells Friar Laurence "Go, get thee hence for I will not away" (and he knows instantly that she will kill them both if he stays), he has come face to face with either one or the other of his two worst fears: the wrath and punishment of a vengeful god, or the knowledge that, if there is a god, he has forsaken them.

Of course the final irony (or, if you prefer, final lesson) for the Friar occurs when Capulet and Montague do indeed reconcile, there in the tomb, over the bodies of their dead children.  If Shakespeare is trying to tell us (and Friar Laurence) something about the nature of god (or, if you prefer, fate) it is a difficult,  troubling lesson to contemplate.

Personally, I prefer to believe that Shakespeare is, as he always is, trying to tell us something about he nature of our selves.  It's far easier information to put to practical use.   

Romeo and Juliet, II.5

What a wonderful piece of writing is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Now in my 6th production of R&J,  I consider myself more or less qualified to make such a bold and contentious statement, and I submit that it is (arguably) impossible for anyone (myself included) to fully appreciate just what a truly great play it is without having the opportunity to play EVERY speaking role.  (This should probably be said for all of Shakespeare's plays, but I'll stick with the one I'm in right now.)

This is because, at the end of the day, and as Shakespeare comes right out and says in the prologue, Romeo and Juliet  is not merely about Romeo and Juliet, but about two households (the Capulets and the Montagues), and the many ways in which their irrational hatred for one another has poisoned the entire community in which they live.

The marriage between Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare insists, is not (as is so optimistically hoped by Friar Laurence) enough to turn their "households' rancour to pure love": the parents' enmity is ended only by the fact that their children die for their love.

One can argue and wrestle with the plethora of bad choices and irrational acts (committed by nearly everyone in Verona) which occur throughout the course of the play, but Shakespeare tells us from the beginning that this must happen.  We the audience can only hope, and trust (and, in our own lives, ACT to ensure) that the lovers' sacrifice hasn't been in vain: that those who remain alive will work to make their world a better place — that they will, now and tomorrow, choose love. 

It has now been 20 days since last I posted, and I believe there have accumulated enough events of interest to make this one worthwhile.

First of all, thank you to everyone who has answered our plea for donations!  The response has been astonishing, and the shadow of deficit that had been looming over us here in the office for the past few months has been largely dispelled by the envious streaks of a new dawn.  It is more encouraging than words can adequately express to know that what we do is, apparently, as important to you as it is to us.

In other exciting news, tickets to see our public presentation of Stripped-Down Romeo & Juliet  are, as of this typing, 81% sold out, with 18 seats remaining for Saturday, Nov. 12th only.  If you haven't phoned in your reservation, please do it NOW!

I personally had the pleasure of attending our annual stripped-down preview at the Manitoba Association of Teachers of English's Special Area Group Conference (M.A.T.E. S.A.G.), and I can assure you the fellows are putting on one heck of a show this year (the SDR&J touring cast I mean, not the M.A.T.E S.A.G. people, whom it should be said, no doubt put on a heck of a conference as well).  You can have a sneak preview by going back to the homepage and clicking on the FANTASTIC promotional reel shot & edited by SIR's own Sarah Constible.   The tour is nearing the end of its first week, the early reviews have been very positive, and the show will only get better!  Don't miss it!

We've also been very busy attending workshops and preparing our application for the Winnipeg Arts Council's new artsVest initiative: a program started by Business for the Arts (BftA) which equips and encourages arts groups to develop mutually rewarding partnerships with those in the "regular" business community.  (If you're reading this and you or your partner or parent or cousin or child or child's godparent happen to own a business, or be responsible for developing relationships with other businesses, and you think you or this other person might be interested in becoming a part of SIR's business of show, please contact us!)  The bonus part of the artsVest program is that, if our application is successful, we will receive matching grant monies for any sponsorship with a new partner, or any increase in funding from a previous relationship.  So 3 cheers for BftA, WAC, and artsVest!

Lastly (and from your perspective, likely leastly), I will be busy for the next 7 weeks playing Friar Laurence in the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's production of Romeo and Juliet.  The concept for this production is an intriguing one, and will no doubt have people talking (and perhaps writing letters).  I look forward to sharing anything that seems like it might be relevant with all of you (whoever you are).  While I'm away, I'm sure Michelle and Matt would appreciate your letters, e-mails, or even a phone call, just to help alleviate the sad longing that will most assuredly result from my absence (HINT: the phone calls, letters and e-mails that involve a dollar value seem to cheer them up the most).

Henry V, V.2

I turned 40 today.

In lieu of cards or flowers, those wishing to extend their congratulations/condolences are encouraged to donate to:

Shakespeare in the Ruins, c/o "The Tired Old Man".

Viewing to be held at 8pm tonight, & 2pm & 8pm tomorrow at Theatre By The River's outstanding production of Generous by Michael Healey, 70 Albert Street.  All are welcome.

Sonnet CX

One of the great aspects of being an "artist-run" organization is that SIR is able to regularly benefit Winnipeg's wonderful theatre community by "lending out" members of  our Ensemble to work on their shows. 

(I place the expression "artist-run" in quotations because I believe, in a general sense, ALL theatres are run by artists: that's why we call them Artistic Directors.  The distinction in SIR's case is that we have a GROUP of artists [performers, directors, designers, playwrights] in charge of of our programming: the SIR Artistic Ensemble.  For further clarification, click on the "About" icon above and explore.  I place "lending out" in quotation marks because the preceding introductory sentence is intended, perhaps obviously, not to be taken too seriously.  Having said that, I am inclined to believe that any organization with the good taste to put our Ensemble members to work does so to their organization's benefit.)

Beyond their duties toward SIR, the Ensemble is once again keeping plenty busy for this year's exciting new theatre season, and this page seems to me an appropriate forum in which to tell you all about their various activities!  This is not intended specifically as an endorsement for the projects herein described, except to the extent of SIR's standing policy that you should ALWAYS attend ALL THE LIVE THEATRE YOU CAN!  (And if you find yourself forced to make choices, you may as well do so armed with the knowledge of which choices will afford you the opportunity to enjoy the work of our intrepid SIR Artistic Ensemble Members.)

Eric Bossé is already knee-deep in his second season as MTYP's House Technician.  He will also be contributing his expertise to Theatre Incarnate's  production of Lilith – A Cautionary Tale, part of Winnipeg Jewish Theatre's Neurotica festival.

Michelle Boulet will  be returning for a third tour of duty as director of SIR's Stripped-Down Romeo & Juliet fall tour, and in December she will be part of Theatre Projects Manitoba's In The Chamber Holiday Special as "Co-Duumviratrix" of the Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir.

Andrew Cecon will be performing in Theatre Projects Manitoba's The Three Sisters, a co-production with zone41.  After that, he will grace the John Hirsch Theatre stage in the Manitoba Theatre Centre's Romeo and Juliet, followed by his participation in The Smell of Dead Mums, a new creation from Echo Theatre.

Sarah Constible has been preparing for her role in Theatre By The River's Generous, and will then join her Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir "Co-Duumviratrix" Michelle in  Theatre Projects Manitoba's In The Chamber Holiday Special.  In the new year, she'll pay a visit to Suffragette City in The Fighting Days, at the Manitoba Theatre Centre.  Sarah will then return to TPM to perform in Dionysus in Stony Mountain.

Kevin Klassen (your humble blogsmith) will also make a brief appearance in Theatre By The River's Generous, and will also be in Manitoba Theatre Centre's Romeo and Juliet.  He will then hit the trail in MTC's regional tour of The Melville Boys.  Not long after that, he will join Prairie Theatre Exchange's production of 'Til It Hurts.

Arne MacPherson will once again be directing Prairie Theatre Exchange's annual Munsch tour (this year: The Three Munschketeers), and will also perform in Mrs. Warren's Profession and August: Osage County for the  Manitoba Theatre Centre.

Debbie Patterson has begun another tenure as Artistic Associate for Prairie Theatre Exchange, and as adapater/playwright/sound designer/composer for The Three Munschketeers.   She continues to develop her play Sargent and Victor after a "stunning and triumphant" premiere in Reykjavik at the Lokal International Theatre Festival, and will present it with Núna (now) in the spring.  Debbie will be the Carol Shields Writer in Residence at the Uof W from January to May, during which she will work on a new piece called Tuktoyaktuk and Me.  In the meantime, she will also be singing in the Rainbow Harmony Project Choir just for fun.

Wow!  All that, and they manage to keep SIR thriving and surviving as well!  What a wonderful, dedicated group of Winnipeg theatre artists!

As You Like It

ACT III Scene 2.

Well, it's that time of year again…

The time when arts organizations all over the country are furiously preparing grant applications, donor request letters, sponsorship proposals… all with the same goal: to drum up enough income to bring the year in with a balanced budget.

It's a depressing fact, but the ticket buying public accounts, at the best of times, for a bare fraction of the financing required to keep a professional theatre company in business.

As I may have mentioned previously, our most recent Main Stage show King Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2, for (no doubt) a myriad of reasons (none of which entirely satisfy me) was the lowest attended show we've had in quite some time, and this has left us with an intimidating shortfall of cash, somewhere in the neighbourhood of $15,000.

Recognizing that regularly asking people for money (while on some personal level, through conditioning and genetics, makes me want to bury my head in a bucket of pudding) is a natural part of producing theatre, I hereby, on behalf of Shakespeare in the Ruins, request your financial assistance.

To find out how, please CLICK HERE to visit our donation page.

To find out where your money will go, I encourage you to explore this website.

Thanks for your consideration.

KK