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Shakespeare & Company receives $25,000 From NEA for New England Tour
Posted by Gail M. Burns - January 2010
“Men at some time are masters of their fates”—Julius Caesar
New England Tour of
Julius Caesar
February 4 – May 7, 2010
{Lenox, MA}—Shakespeare & Company’s 29th annual New England Tour of Shakespeare this year brings the timeless drama of Julius Caesar to over 50 schools and theatres throughout New England, New York and New Jersey. For the sixth consecutive year, the tour is generously supported by a $25,000 Shakespeare for New Generations grant from the National Endowment for the Arts—as part of its Shakespeare In American Communities initiative, in partnership with Arts Midwest—enabling the Tour to further fulfill its mission of reaching more and more traditionally underserved students.
Now in its 29th year, the New England Tour of Shakespeare has proven to be one of the Education Program’s most successful and popular programs, with new schools annually added to the roster of participants. Schools receiving visits from the Tour for the first time this year include Mt. Anthony Union High School (Bennington, VT), Agawam High School (Agawam, Mass.), Nonnewaug High School (Woodbury, MA), Venerini Academy (Worcester, MA.) and St. John’s Preparatory School (Danvers, MA).
A new twist to this year’s schedule is a week-long residency at Hudson Valley Community College. (Details to be announced.) The Tour is one of the Company’s longest running Education programs, and reaches over 25,000 students and teachers every year. It performs from February 4 to May 7. The tour is directed by longtime Company artist Jonathan Croy, and offers both in-school and public venue performances as well as in-school workshops in conjunction with the play.
The general public is invited to a dozen matinee performances at locations from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA (February 11) to The Egg in Albany, New York (March 12) and Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, New York (April 16). The public is also invited to performances at Shakespeare & Company’s Founders’ Theatre on March 11, April 8 and April 9. The full schedule is available at www.shakespeare.org/springtour2010/2.php. For information on bringing the Tour to your school, contact School Programs Manager Alexandra Lincoln at (413) 637-119 ext. 131 or alincoln@shakespeare.org. To purchase tickets for a public venue, or inquire about bringing a group to one of these shows, contact Sales Manager David Joseph at 413-637-1199 ext 132 or groupsales@shakespeare.org.
Schools receiving the Tour experience this year expressly because of the NEA’s Shakespeare for New Generations grant include Mt. Anthony Union High School (Bennington, VT), Auburn Village School (Auburn, MA), Hoosac Valley High School (Cheshire, MA), Litchfield High School (Litchfield, MA), Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School (Adams, MA), New Direction School (Northampton, MA), and The Victor School (Acton, MA).
Shakespeare & Company’s non-Equity tour of Julius Caesar includes a 90-minute production featuring a six-member cast who take on multiple roles, placing the focus on a clear and powerful delivery of Shakespeare’s text. The production is modeled after Shakespeare’s own touring shows, which took to the countryside when the plague shook London and closed down the theatres. The actors are Katherine Abbruzzese, Jake Berger, Dani Cervone, Sean Kazarian, Andy Talen and Ryan Winkles. Though composed of talented young actors on the rise, the cast is stocked with actors already familiar to S&Co. audiences. Winkles recently earned rave reviews for his performance in S&Co.’s Hound of the Baskervilles, and has also been seen in Othello, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and the 2007 Tour. Talen was seen in All’s Well That Ends Well, and Berger and Kazarian are veterans of past Tours as well. The costumes are designed by Govane Lohbauer, with sound design by Michael Pfeiffer, lighting design by Christian Schmit, and set construction and design by Christian Schmit and Jonathan Croy.
Two different interactive workshops as well as a post-show forum are available to audiences in conjunction with the tour of Julius Caesar. Through Workshops in Performance, students not only learn about Shakespeare’s works but also have an opportunity to become the actors as they create their own Shakespeare performance. Actor/Audience is another interactive workshop in which students have the opportunity to become directors. The actors perform short scenes then invite students to suggest other ways the scenes might be played. Students gain first-hand experience about what is means to rehearse a scene and learn there is no one “right way” to perform a play.
A staple of school curricula and dotted with some of the most memorable and enduring turns of phrase in the English language, Julius Caesar is a favorite choice for experienced students of Shakespeare and newcomers alike. Shakespeare’s account of the conspiracy to kill Caesar, and the wild struggle to achieve order from the chaos that resulted, is loved by students of all ages for the clarity and beauty of its language.
Director Jonathan Croy, now in his twenty-fifth season with the Company, directed last year’s critically acclaimed Twelfth Night on the S&Co. mainstage. With over 40 roles at S&Co., his credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, King John, Much Ado About Nothing Henry V, The Tempest, CompleteWorks abridged, Twelfth Night, Richard III A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Merchant of Venice, Comedy of Errors, Custom of the Country, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and Much Ado About Nothing. Jon has directed many New England Tours of Shakespeare, Shakespeare in the Courts programs, Summer Institute productions, Shakespeare & Young Company performances, and more than 30 other in-school Residencies. Regional acting credits: NY Shakespeare Festival, Missouri Rep, NC Shakespeare Festival, and Virginia Shakespeare Festival.
The Education Program is one of the most extensive theatre-in-education programs in the Northeast, and has reached over a million students since 1978 with innovative performances, workshops, and residencies. Guided by Education Director Kevin Coleman and Company education artists and teachers, educators continue to develop and fine-tune their programs to enhance and complement curricular activities in elementary, middle, and high schools across the country. The Education Program received the prestigious 2006 Coming Up Taller Award presented by First Lady Laura Bush at the White House in January 2007, and in 2005 it also received the Commonwealth Award, the highest award for excellence in the arts, sciences and humanities given by the state of Massachusetts. It was also the subject of an in-depth, two-year study by Harvard University’s Project Zero which recommended national replication. The Education Program has been identified by the Arts Education Partnership and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities as a Champion of Change. Shakespeare & Company arts-in-education programs receive major support from The National Endowment for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Humanities, Berkshire Bank Foundation, Bank of America, Greylock Federal Bank, the Massachusetts Cultural Council and its local cultural councils, Country Curtains and The Red Lion Inn, and many other local corporations, private foundations, and individuals.
The National Endowment for the Arts’ mission is to enrich our nation and its diverse cultural heritage by supporting works of artistic excellence, advancing learning in the arts, and strengthening the arts in communities throughout the country. Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is an independent agency of the federal government and is the largest annual funder of the arts. Since its founding, it has awarded more than 120,000 grants in all 50 states and the six U.S. jurisdictions.
Shakespeare for a New Generation was created to give high school and middle school students throughout America the opportunity to experience professional productions of Shakespeare’s plays at a greatly reduced cost. It is the fifth phase of the NEA’s Shakespeare in American Communities initiative, which began in 2003 to bring Shakespeare productions and related educational activities to more than 150 small and mid-sized communities in 50 states. For more information about the program, please visit www.shakespeareinamericancommunities.org.
Arts Midwest, based in Minneapolis, enables individuals and families throughout America’s heartland to share in and to enjoy the arts and cultures of the Midwest and the world. Arts Midwest connects the arts to audiences throughout the nine-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. One of six non-profit regional arts organizations in the United States, Arts Midwest’s history spans more than 25 years.