News From the Festival
Artistic Director Headed to Arizona Theatre Company
David Ivers, Festival artistic director since 2011, announced today that he will be leaving the Festival later this month to accept the role of artistic director at the Arizona Theatre Company, based in Tucson and Phoenix.
Ivers described his departure as bittersweet. “I have so many memories and inspiring events associated with the Utah Shakespeare Festival that I’ll remain forever grateful to the artists, staff, and guests that make the Festival what it is,” he said. “Everything I know about cultural literacy, everything I know about challenges and rising above them, everything I know about incredible work on incredible stages, I learned at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.”
“This new position is a thrilling professional opportunity, and it dovetails with the needs of my family,” he said. “I am eager to embark on this next adventure, even as I say goodbye to this amazing theatre and company of gifted and dedicated artists and staff.”
Ivers will return to Cedar City to direct the world premiere production of How to Fight Loneliness, opening August 26, 2017
“David has significantly influenced the development, growth and progress of the Festival as an actor, artistic director and innovator,” said Festival Board President Jeffery R. Nelson. “We will always be grateful for his energy, passion, and many contributions; and we wish him and his family nothing but success in his new role."
Ivers has acted and directed at the Festival since 1992. He was hired as co-artistic director along with Brian Vaughn in January of 2011. Festival Founder Fred C. Adams has worked with Ivers through all that time. “David has been a much-loved talent here at the Utah Shakespeare Festival,” Adams said. “Under his co-leadership with Brian Vaughn, the Festival has accomplished remarkable things. Of course, we will miss him and hope to get him back to act or direct Festival productions when his schedule allows. We will always consider him a valued member of the Festival family.”
Co-artistic leader Brian Vaughn has worked with Ivers at the Festival on a nearly daily basis for over six years, and was quick to point out the many changes in that time. “David and I started our leadership tenure at this organization over six years ago,” he said. It is amazing to think of the things that have happened in that time: a new brand, a new logo, the fifty-year anniversary celebration, building new theatres, the Complete the Canon initiative, and the new play program Words Cubed. I will cherish our shared artistic learning and growth. He is a dear friend and will be greatly missed.”
“While we will miss David, we are grateful for his passion for great theatre, his dedication to our art, and the artistic leadership he and Brian have given over the past years,” added Zachary Murray, interim executive director.
Tickets are now on sale for the Festival’s 56th season, which will run from June 29 to October 21. In addition to How to Fight Loneliness, this year’s plays are Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Shakespeare in Love, Guys and Dolls, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Treasure Island, The Tavern, and William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged). For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
The Controversy of Shakespeare and Marlowe
By Brooke Vlasich
Christopher Marlowe
Any celebrity can tell you that with a great deal of fame and respect comes something else: controversy. William Shakespeare is no exception, and speculation continually follows the playwright, especially since we know so little about him. Only a few certain facts are known, and even fewer documents survive regarding Shakespeare. But Shakespeare isn’t the only playwright during his time period to be surrounded by speculation. His contemporary, Christopher Marlowe, is a victim of the same circumstances. Rumors about Marlowe range from espionage to collaboration. Who exactly was Marlowe and what connections does he have to Shakespeare? Join us as we take a closer look into both of these mysterious playwrights.
According to Bill Bryson’s biography Shakespeare: The Illustrated and Updated Edition, we cannot be exactly certain when Shakespeare arrived in London, but we do know that Marlowe was an upcoming playwright in the 1590s, especially after Tamburlaine the Great. Unfortunately, Marlowe also had a short temper, and in September 1589, he became involved in a fight with innkeeper William Bradley. Playwright friend Thomas Watson stepped in and killed Bradley in a duel. Both Marlowe and Watson ended up in prison, and this wasn’t the only time Marlowe ran into trouble with the law. In 1593, anti-immigration notices featured lines from popular dramas, including Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great, to dissuade people from seeing these shows.
Marlowe was also accused by author Thomas Kyd of being an atheist, which led to questioning before the Privy Council. After all this, Marlowe still argued over a bill at a bar and began stabbing another bar patron who in self-defense turned the knife on Marlowe and killed him. He was only twenty-nine years old.
At this point in time, Shakespeare was gaining a great deal of recognition for his poetry and had the patronage of an aristocrat, but he decided to return to theatre by writing comedies including Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Comedy of Errors. Marlowe, however, had focused on ambitious dramas including The Jew of Malta and The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. Marlowe’s death has left historians and literary scholars wondering what would have happened if he had lived.
William Shakespeare
Some believe Marlowe was assassinated by a request from the Crown. Others think that Marlowe’s death was faked, and that he is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays. The theory behind this is that Marlowe faked his death, escaped, and hid so he could continue to work under the patronage of Thomas Walsingham.
During Shakespeare and Marlowe’s time in London, the theatrical scene was incredibly busy with intense demands on playwrights and actors. Shakespeare in Love which is enjoying a regional premiere at the Festival this summer, develops the possibility of collaboration between the two playwrights, which was common as playwrights struggled to keep up with the pace of theatrical productions. The play suggests a relationship between Shakespeare and Marlowe as Marlowe mentors the new playwright while he woos Viola and writes his masterpiece Romeo and Juliet.
Putting Shakespeare in Love, is this story of Marlowe true? Was Marlowe’s death faked so he could continue to write the literary masterpieces we attribute to Shakespeare? Bryson indicates that the man behind this theory, Calvin Hoffman, opened Thomas Walsingham’s tomb to uncover manuscripts and letters to prove his case. He found no materials, however, but still made this case in The Murder of the Man Who Was ‘Shakespeare.’
Whether or not the accusations are true, one thing is certain: Whomever wrote Shakespeare’s work, whether it was the playwright or not, the elaborate words, plotlines, and characters continue to resonate with audiences, directors, and actors worldwide. Both the compilation of plays from Shakespeare and Marlowe will always be integrated in our lives and our world as we continue to study, perform, and experience them.
Casting for Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare in Love
Shane Kenyon
Betsy Mugavero
Jeb Burris
Aaron Arroyo
Quinn Mattfeld
Susannah Florence
Richie Call
Michael Manocchio
CEDAR CITY, UT—The Utah Shakespeare Festival recently announced many of the actors playing roles in Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare in Love this summer. The two plays are complementary to each other (Shakespeare in Love imagines how the Bard may have written Romeo and Juliet), and many of the actors will play the same or similar roles in the two plays. Please check for all the latest casting news at www.bard.org.
Shane Kenyon is appearing at the Festival for the first time, playing the star-struck lover, Romeo, in Romeo and Juliet and Kit Marlowe in Shakespeare in Love, as well as Jacque DeBoys in As You Like It. He has appeared at numerous regional theatres, including Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Steep Theatre, Irish Theatre of Chicago, Rivendell Theatre, and more. He has also appeared on television in Chicago Justice, Chicago PD, Empire, Mind Games, and Chicago Code and on film in Jessica and Olympia. “I grew up coming to the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and it has been a dream of mine to perform at the Festival,” he said. “This is the fulfillment of so many childhood dreams. I can’t wait to experience everything performing at the Festival has to offer.”
Quinn Mattfeld is returning to the Festival to play Will Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, as well as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls. He has played many roles at the Festival, including Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher, Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility, Robert in Boeing Boeing, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night. Most recently he has also appeared as Mr. Wormwood in the first national tour of Matilda! The Musical, with the Royal Shakespare Company. “I am absolutely thrilled to be returning for my sixth season at the Festival, and playing the Festival’s namesake is such a rare and humbling experience,” he said. “What an honor and joy to get to come back to my artistic home in Utah.”
Betsy Mugavero will play opposite Kenyon as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and opposite Mattfeld as Shakespeare’s muse and love, Viola de Lesseps, in Shakespeare in Love. She has appeared at the Festival in six separate seasons, playing such roles as Constanze in Amadeus, Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Kitty in Charley’s Aunt, Molly in Peter and the Starcatcher, Jacquenetta in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and others. “I am lucky this summer to get to live Shakespeare’s most famous love story in two very different ways and through the eyes of two complex and equally inspiring female characters,” she said in talking about the upcoming season. “I’m humbled, honored, and thrilled.”
Susannah Florence will take on the roles of Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet and Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love, as well as Celia in As You Like It. Festival audiences will remember her from last year at the Festival when she played Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins and Ursula in Much Ado about Nothing. Other theatres she has appeared at include Pioneer Theatre Company (Dolly in One Man, Two Guvnors, Shaindel in Fiddler on the Roof, and Sarah/Ghost/TV Producer in King Charles III) and Sting & Honey (William Shakespeare in Kings’ Men).
Jeb Burris is returning to the Festival to play Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Ned Alleyn in Shakespeare in Love, as well as Orlando in As You Like It. Other roles at the Festival have included Jim O’Connor in The Glass Menagerie, Cateby in Richard III, Chiron in Titus Andronicus, Dumain in Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Dauphin in King John, Ferdinand in The Tempest, and Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor. “I am thrilled to be returning to the Utah Shakespeare Festival,” he said. “Getting the chance to play Mercutio and Ned Alleyn will be a unique experience for me, and one I very much look forward to.”
Richie Call is appearing at the Festival for the first time. He will be playing the roles of Lord Montague in Romeo and Juliet and Peter and Ralph in Shakespeare in Love, as well as several roles in Guys and Dolls. He is an assistant professor of acting at Utah State University and has appeared at numerous regional theatres. Although this is his first time acting at the Festival, he actually has a rather long history here: “I first attended the Festival in 1998 when I was an apprentice working for the Lyric Repertory Company,” he said. “I now run that apprentice program, and I’ve been bringing students to see Festival shows for years. It’s an honor to get to work in these spaces, with these people, on these shows, for this company.”
Aaron Arroyo is new to the Festival this year, playing the roles of Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Nol and Ensemble in Shakespeare in Love, and Ensemble in Guys and Dolls. He has also appeared in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Our Class, and Sight Unseen at the University of California at Irvine; and Death of a Salesman and The Winter’s Tale at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. In addition, he has toured with the Missoula Children’s Theatre.
Michael Manocchio is also new to the Festival this year. He will be playing Sam in Shakespeare in Love, Balthasar in Romeo and Juliet, and William in As You Like It. He has worked at numerous other theatres, including Moscow Art Theatre School, Goodman Theatre, American Theater Company, Teatro Vista, Chicago Dramatists, Titan Theatre, Hilberry Theatre, the side project, and 20% Theatre Company.
Tickets are now on sale for the Festival’s 56th season, which will run from June 29 to October 21. For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
Shakespeare Cinema Celebration Scheduled
CEDAR CITY, UT—The Utah Shakespeare Festival Education Department and Southern Utah University’s Center for Shakespeare Studies are sponsoring the second annual Shakespeare Cinema Celebration on April 22 in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre. This year, the celebration centers around William Shakespeare’s birthday (April 23) with adaptations of Shakespeare on film in an all-day movie marathon.
Participants may attend any number of movies, with prizes for those who attend every film in the series. This event is free of charge. Please be aware that not all movies are appropriate for all age groups.
“Each year the committee takes special care to select a broad range of film titles that will celebrate classics in cinema while also introducing audience members to cinema they might not have seen before,” said Festival Education Director and Director of the Shakespeare Studies Center Michael Bahr. “There is a wide range of film being offered from Gnomeo and Juliet and She’s the Man for young audiences to the timeless West Side Story and Kiss Me Kate for classic musical fans.”
The Cinema Celebration includes the following films:
- Gnomeo and Juliet (rated G) from 9:15-10:45 a.m.
- She’s The Man (rated PG-13) from 11 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
- West Side Story (rated G) from 1-3:30 p.m.
- Kiss Me Kate (Not rated) from 3:45-5:45 p.m.
- Ran by Akira Kurosawa (rated R) from 6-8:45 p.m.
- Shakespeare in Love (rated R) from 9-11 p.m.
Bahr continued, “One of the highlights for this year is the Academy award-winning film Shakespeare in Love. The Utah Shakespeare Festival has the unique opportunity of being one of the only theatres in the country this summer producing the play which is based on the film.”
Audience members are welcome to enjoy the seating or bring a blanket and pillow to watch.
Shakespeare: The Man and the Myth
By Allison Borzoni
CEDAR CITY, UT—William Shakespeare is a name that conjures up a lot of thoughts. From Iago to Katherine, his plays have inspired us for hundreds of years. However, this influential artist is difficult to pinpoint historically. Marriage licenses and other legal documents are useful, but they aren’t good records for describing the man or the personality. For example, he was an actor in the years of 1592, 1598, 1603, and 1608, but we don’t know what he acted in. He defaulted on his taxes two years in a row, but it’s anyone’s guess as to what that tells us about the Bard.
Even the records we do have of William Shakespeare tend to muddy the waters rather than clear them. It’s commonly known that William married Anne Hathaway; however, a clerk recorded that William Shakespeare had applied for a marriage license to marry a Ms. Anne Whateley. This could have been the love triangle that inspired some of William’s future plays, or it was an incompetent clerk. The same clerk that wrote up this request also recorded the names of ‘Barbar’ as ‘Baker’, and ‘Edgecock’ as ‘Elcock’ in past entries. To make matters more suspicious, the clerk was also working on the case of Mr. William Whateley the same day that Shakespeare applied for his marriage license. Besides the problem with the clerk, Anne Whateley also lacks any record that would indicate her existence, like a birth or death certificate. Luckily, a different clerk wrote the marriage bond which records Anne Hathaway as the eventual bride.
Even William Shakespeare himself doesn’t make it any easier for scholars. Although it may seem there is a right and wrong way to spell Shakespeare, “William Shakespeare” was one of the few spellings that William didn’t take advantage of during his lifetime. From surviving documents, the Bard signed his name as: Willm Shaksp, William Shakespe, Wm Shakspe, and William Shakspere.
Despite the discrepancies, we do have enough records to dispel myths that have risen up over the years. One common story about William is that, as a young man, he poached a deer on the estate of Sir Thomas Lucy. Due to this crime, Shakespeare fled to London where he eventually rose to fame as a playwright. If this rumour were true, it would give scholars a potential date of when William went to London. In reality, there is no legal document that suggests Shakespeare was ever charged with deer poaching. The myth of this crime comes from Nicholas Rowe, who wrote a forty-page biography on Shakespeare about a century after his death. In the biography, Rowe also claimed that Shakespeare had three daughters instead of just two. Most of Rowe’s “facts” came from legend or hearsay, and the deer-poaching tale is one of those.
Thankfully, we do know of one legendary incident which did occur in Shakespeare’s life. When the lease on the Globe Theatre expired, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men tried to renew it. The landlord, however, refused to renew the lease with the troupe, so the Lord Chamberlain’s Men took things into their own hands. On December 28, 1598, the theatre troupe and some workmen began the process of dismantling the Globe Theatre and moving it across the Thames that night. It likely took several months to complete the project, but at least it gives us one interesting story about the Bard.
Overall, we have a rough list of facts about Shakespeare. Some of what we know is that he was christened, bought properties, hated by a Robert Greene, feared by a William Wayte, praised by others, wrote at least 38 plays, and died on April 23, 1616. Legends and rumors will continue filling in the gaps of Shakespeare’s life for now, but maybe new records will show up and provide us more insight into his life. However, the man behind the plays may never be quite pinned down, because with our luck, Shakespeare’s perfectly preserved diary will be where he kept his grocery lists.
This article was made possible thanks to the book Shakespeare: The Illustrated and Updated Edition by Bill Bryson
Ten Shakespeare Plays You Didn't Know You Knew
By Allison Borzoni
Sam Ashdown (left) as Prince Hal and Henry Woronicz as Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV Part One, 2014..
CEDAR CITY, UT— Whenever we gather in a theatre for a Shakespeare play and settle into our seats, we’re excited to get started and watch the show. But if you haven’t seen the play before, you may flip open the program and read the synopsis to get familiar with the story. The likelihood, though, is that you’ve already seen parts of these Shakespeare plays. The plots, tropes, and characters that Shakespeare used back in London are still in use today, and here are just ten of them:
1. Hamlet: The plot of Hamlet is adapted point by point in Disney’s The Lion King. Simba represents Hamlet in this adaptation of Shakespeare, and Simba is surrounded by characters similar to the originals Scar as Claudius, Timon and Pumbaa as Rosencratz and Guildenstern, and Rafiki/Zazu as Polonius. Although the Disney version has a significantly lower number of casualties, the basic plot still follows. Boy’s father is killed by the uncle, boy runs away from responsibilities and big decisions, boy speaks to his father’s ghost, boy returns to his kingdom and kills his uncle.
2. Troilus and Cressida: One word here: Illiad. Troilus and Cressida isn’t the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays, but don’t worry about not knowing the context. Troilus and Cressida takes place during the Trojan War, fully equipped with Achilles, Ajax, Ulysses, and Agamemnon. Once you know that the play takes place during the Illiad, and when you learn that Troilus is a Trojan prince, there are going to be some sad times ahead. Although the love story between Troilus and Cressida never takes place in the Illiad, you have enough context to sit down, kick back, and enjoy the play.
3. Henry IV Part One: One of the main points in both Henry IV Part One and the Jungle Book is that the protagonists must face their rival and their responsibilities. Prince Harry spends most of the play living a prank-filled life with the fat Falstaff, and Mowgli does the same with the jolly Balloo. King Henry keeps appealing to his son to come back home and be the prince that England needs, while Bagheera keeps attempting to deliver Mowgli to the safety of the Man-Village. Prince Harry eventually takes on his mantle and defeats Hotspur, and Mowgli manages to defeat his own Hotspur, Sher-Khan. Although Mowgli’s jungle isn’t torn apart by civil war, his journey throughout the movie is similar enough to Prince Harry’s to guide you through the play.
4. Henry V: Going into a history play can be intimidating, but when it comes to Henry V, just sit back and replace King Henry with Thor, the French with Frost Giants, and Catherine with Jane. Shockingly enough, Thor is an excellent parallel to Henry V. In both the play and the movie, a young royal has to prove himself to his family and supporters. He has to sacrifice a lot in order to win what looks like a losing fight, but in the end he triumphs. Both Henry and Thor get the girl from another land too, despite the language barriers and broken coffee mugs.
5. King Lear: The plot of Thor will also help you with another Shakespeare play - King Lear. If you’re intimidated by this intense tragedy, don’t be; just reach back into your knowledge of Thor and you’ll get a good chunk of the plot. One of the sub-plots in King Lear is the story of Edward, Edgar, and their father Gloucester. Edward is the bastard son who convinces his father that his legitimate son Edgar can’t be trusted. Edgar is then forced to leave and hide from Edward’s manhunt. This should sound a bit familiar, as Loki is a parallel to Edward. Odin exiles Thor without Loki’s urging, but Loki does his best to take down Thor and get Odin’s throne for himself. The Thor/Edgar trope ends relatively happy in both the tragedy and the movie, with both Thor and Edgar getting back into their father’s good graces.
6. Julius Caesar: Et tu, Brute? You probably know that line already, which means you also know that Julius is doomed to die. It’s an exciting part of history that is common knowledge, and Shakespeare doesn’t deviate too far from the facts. Caesar’s wife warns him to not go to the Senate and to beware the Ides of March, but Caesar ends up going anyway. He’s stabbed twenty-three times by the senators and his closest friends, and eventually Marc Antony takes power. The play, of course, digs into the specifics, but it’s a Shakespeare play you can predict as soon as you hear, “Hail, Caesar!”
7. As You Like It: Shakespeare’s comedies can be complicated farces, but there is actually a Will Ferrell movie that can help you understand this play, and it’s Megamind. In both productions, someone wins a battle he shouldn’t. Orlando wins a wrestling match against a professional, and Megamind kills Metro Man despite the fact he has never won a fight. One trope shared between the play and the movie is the disguising trope. Rosalind disguises herself as a boy and later convinces Orlando to practice flirting with “Ganymede” so he can successfully win Rosalind’s heart later. Megamind also participates in an awkward game of disguise when he disguises himself as Bernard and works with Roxanne to try and take down—that’s right—Megamind. Despite the complications of promises to marry and finding an invisible car, both play and movie end happily.
8. Much Ado about Nothing: The trope of two characters who swear they’ll never get married and insult one another due to pride and misunderstandings is as old as time. In Much Ado about Nothing, there is the subplot of Beatrice and Benedick, two individuals who share insults, jokes, and a declaration that they’ll never marry. Beatrice and Benedick share some striking similarities with another popular love story: Pride and Prejudice. Although Shakespeare’s jokes are less subtle than Pride and Prejudice’s satirical jokes and insults, they are remarkably similar. The fact that another love story is occurring alongside Beatrice and Benedick/Elizabeth and Darcy only adds to the similarities. All four of those characters do their best to bring their friends and relatives happiness while debating and then finally committing fully to their own love story.
9. The Comedy of Errors: Twins are the name of the game this time, with separated parents each having a twin in both The Comedy of Errors and The Parent Trap. Both play and movie have a farce-like trading of identities. The Comedy of Errors throws its characters into these situations without their knowledge, but in The Parent Trap, the twins don’t realize they have a sister until they meet at summer camp. This twin trope is popular throughout comedies and highly successful, as shown in the popularity of both shows. In the end, The Comedy of Errors and The Parent Trap reunite the parents and fix all of the love triangles.
10. The Winter’s Tale: The Winter’s Tale has a dark and insightful beginning, but with a fairytale ending—and so does Frozen. Although the plots do not line up stanza for stanza (and Frozen has a large lack of bears), the shows do share several tropes. A young woman grows up separated from her family, a woman turns from a statue back into a human due to familial love. Granted, the statues have shifted in characters, Hermione is a mother who was verbally attacked by her husband and Anna was accidentally attacked by her sister. However, both King Leontes and Elsa greatly regret their decisions and are horrified that they “killed” Hermione/Anna.
All of Shakespeare’s plays are their own shows, but Shakespeare’s tropes and plots have been revived and reworked into other popular movies over the years. So next time you go into a Shakespeare play you’re not familiar with, don’t worry about it! Set up a movie night with Thor, The Lion King, or The Parent Trap, and you’ll be all set to enjoy Shakespeare too.
Festival Announces More Casting for 2017
J. Todd Adams
Brandon Burk
Michael A. Harding
Geoffrey Kent
Leslie Brott
Michael Elich
Jonathan Haugen
Alexandra Zorn
CEDAR CITY, UT—The Utah Shakespeare Festival recently announced more actors and their roles for the 2017 season. Some of them will be familiar to Festival audiences, while others are new to Cedar City, but well known at other theatres across the country. Please check for the latest casting news at www.bard.org.
J. Todd Adams appeared at the Festival in 2016 as Athos in The Three Musketeers, Pistol in Henry V, and Don John in Much Ado about Nothing, as well as in the title role in 2014’s Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. In 2017 he will be taking on the roles of Oberon and Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream which will be set in the art deco world of the Jazz Age, as well as Black Dog, Israel Hands, and other roles in Treasure Island, and Wile Ed Coats in the world premiere of the melodramatic farce, The Tavern. Adams, a Utah native, is looking forward to returning to Cedar City, saying “I’m thrilled to be back at a theatre I idolized as a budding actor from American Fork, Utah.”
Leslie Brott is very familiar to long-time Festival audiences. She has appeared in fourteen previous seasons, but the most recent was 2012 when she played Mrs. Dubose in To Kill a Mockingbird, Nurse in Titus Andronicus, and Hanna Kennedy in Mary Stuart. Other roles Festival playgoers will remember include Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn in The Music Man (2011), Margaret in Richard III (2011), Dolly Levi in The Matchmaker (2007), Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew (2004), Martha Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace (2001), and many others. This summer she has been cast as Nurse in both Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare in Love and General Matilda B. Cartwright in Guys and Dolls.
Brandon Burk is appearing again at the Festival, this summer as Gregory in Romeo and Juliet, Adam in Shakespeare in Love, and Ensemble in Guys and Dolls. Last summer he was Borachio in Much Ado about Nothing and Gower and Grey in Henry V. In 2015, he played Professor in South Pacific and Venticelli in Amadeus. Most recently, he has been a member of the educational touring company, in the roles of Lysander, Flute, and Cobweb in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “I’ve never worked for a company or in a town where the people are so respectful, compassionate, and generous,” he said when talking about the upcoming season. “The Festival is not only about creating amazing art, but about educating generations of people about the importance of theatre in our lives and the unique ness of live performance.”
Michael Elich is acting at the Festival for the first time in 2017. He will play the pirate Long John Silver in Treasure Island, Jaques in As You Like It, and Burbage in Shakespeare in Love. Off-Broadway he has appeared at such theatres as The Public Theatre, Playwright’s Horizon, The York Theatre Company, and Orpheum Theatre Company. He has also worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for twenty-one seasons, as well as Hartford Stage Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Artists Repertory Theatre, Clarence Brown Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, and many others. On television, audiences may recognize him from roles in One Life to Live and Ryan’s Hope.
Michael A. Harding will be a familiar face to Festival audiences, having worked in thirty plays over eleven seasons, including such diverse productions as Twelve Angry Men, Cyrano de Bergerac, Richard III, Foxfire, The Cherry Orchard, Henry V, and Mary Stuart. In 2017 he will be in the roles of Chorus, Apothecary, and Friar John in Romeo and Juliet, Ensemble in Guys and Dolls, and Selwyn Shotwell in The Tavern. Harding says the Festival “has been the cornerstone of my professional career as an actor, director, and playwright. . . . It is a pleasure to return, as the work is always rewarding, challenging, and top notch.”
Jonathan Haugen, who is here for the first time, says he “is very happy to be working at the Festival this season.” He will be playing the roles of Doctor Livesey in Treasure Island, Tilney and Sir Robert De Lesseps in Shakespeare in Love, and Touchstone in As You Like It. His previous experience has been extensive, including seventeen seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in such roles as James Tyrone, Jr., in Long Day’s Journey into Night, Richard Nixon and George Wallace in the world premiere of All the Way, and Brutus in Julius Caesar. Other work includes performances at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Theatre on the Square (San Francisco), American Conservatory Theatre, California Theatre, and others.
Geoffrey Kent, appeared at the Festival in 2009 as Geoff in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) and is returning this year to perform as Oliver in As You Like It, Wessex in Shakespeare in Love, and Billy Bones in Treasure Island. He will also be pulling double duty by working as the fight director for the same three plays. He has appeared at numerous theatres across the country, including the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, and Arvada Center. In 2016, he was named Best Actor in a Shakespeare Play for his role as Iago in Othello for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
Alexandra Zorn is working at the Festival for the first time this summer and will be appearing as Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls and Kate in Shakespeare in Love. “I am looking forward to this summer and fall in Utah,” she said. “I’ve heard such fantastic things about the Festival and can’t wait to walk in Sarah Brown’s shoes, explore Shakespeare in Love, and see all the sights gorgeous Utah has to offer.” She recently appeared in the first national tour of the Broadway production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. She has also performed at Signature Theatre in New York City, 5th Avenue Theatre, Gateway Playhouse, Village Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, and many others.
Tickets are now on sale for the Festival’s 56th season, which will run from June 29 to October 21. For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
Festival's New Play Director Retires
CEDAR CITY, UT—Charles Metten, a long-familiar face at the Utah Shakespeare has announced his retirement, effective March 31. He will be leaving his post as the Festival’s new plays director to spent more time with his family in Provo.
Metten began as the director of what was then called the Plays-in-Progress program in 2005. However, his began his involvement with the Festival in 1966 when he directed Julius Caesar. He has since then appeared as an actor at the Festival numerous times, as Van Buren in Damn Yankees (1999), Verges in Much Ado about Nothing (2003), Dr. Glass in Room Service (2006), Stephano in The Tempest (2007), and many others.
During his time working with new plays, the program grew and evolved into what (starting in 2017) will be known as Words3, or Words Cubed.
Metten said that the program has improved and grown exponentially, especially the past few years when it was known as New American Playwrights Project (NAPP). “The quality of the writing has become stronger,” he said. “And audiences have grown in number and in their appreciation of the program.”
He also pointed out that new plays are the lifeblood of the future theatre. “Without new plays, we have no more American theatre,” he said. “We need to actively work to nurture and encourage new playwrights and their work. I am pleased that the Utah Shakespeare Festival makes this a priority in their programming.”
Where Elizabethan Meets Contemporary
By Brooke Vlasich
CEDAR CITY, UT— Looking at the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2017 season, you may already know several of our titles, including Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But there are two titles that that may be less familiar. The world premiere of How To Fight Loneliness by Neil LaBute and the regional premiere of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) from the famed Reduced Shakespeare Company couldn’t be more different from this season’s line-up. Their contemporary settings are not the only remarkable contrasts to the rest of our shows, but they also add a great deal of insight about humanity and humor to our repertoire.
William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged), is described by director Christopher Edwards as a humorous mash-up of Elizabethan and contemporary settings. It takes the meaning of play-within-a-play to another level by having three actors take on the complicated task of incorporating numerous Shakespeare characters and themes. At the center of the play are Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ariel from The Tempest who create havoc with forty-nine of Shakespeare’s famous characters. The play asks the question: “What would happen if Shakespeare’s characters connected and interacted in unexpected ways?” As the script answers this question through hilarious scenarios, Edwards sees language and character as essential elements that engage a variety of audience members ranging from those who have a broad knowledge of Shakespeare to those who have little or no exposure to the Bard.
In contrast to the humor of this play is How To Fight Loneliness from playwright Neil LaBute. Known for focusing on controversial subject matter, LaBute’s play centers around Jodie, a woman who is terminally ill and is faced with decisions regarding life and death. Director David Ivers emphasizes that the play is a character study that revolves around the people in the play and their relationship, not issues surrounding the plot. LaBute’s work will immerse audiences in deep conversations about the play as it pulls them into a world that presents a variety of in-depth questions without any direct answers. These questions will be asked through LaBute’s powerful and poetic dialogue that is ready for a classical theatre such as the Utah Shakespeare Festival to develop and pull off the page.
Both William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) and How To Fight Loneliness offer new perspectives, characters, and stories to our upcoming repertoire. The Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre (where both plays will be performed) will provide the director, artistic team, and actors with opportunities to explore new territory regarding the human condition. Whether you are looking for a new way to experience Shakespeare or see how we’re taking audiences into modern stories, these plays present plenty of experiences to explore in our new theatre.
Tickets are now on sale for the Festival’s 56th season, which will run from June 29 to October 21. Other plays in the season are As You Like It, Shakespeare in Love, Romeo and Juliet, Guys and Dolls, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Treasure Island, and The Tavern. For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
How to Play Craps
By Allison Borzoni
So you are planning on seeing Guys and Dolls at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and know that parts of the plot revolve around a floating game of craps. You’ve seen people playing craps. You’ve heard about it from others. But how, exactly, do you play this game?
First things first, find the craps table, it’ll look like this:
It’s a fast-paced game and people will be crowded around the table. Because of its fast nature, four casino employees usually run the game.
- Boxman—He is usually seated and he manages the chips, exchanging them for higher denominations, etc.
- Basedealers—There are two basedealers, and they will be on either side of the boxman. They collect and pay bets to their respective side of the table.
- Stickman: He pays bets to the center of the table (or instructs the basedealers to do so). He also announces the results of the rolls and moves dice across the table with an elongated wooden stick.
Craps is made up of two phases, and your bets will differ depending on which phase the table is in.
Phase I: Coming-out Roll
On the table will be a disc called a “button” with one side marked “ON” and the other marked “OFF”. At this point, it will be showing the OFF side. A person called the Shooter will roll two dice. You’ll be betting on what number will come up. Your options are—
Pass Line: Place your bet here to win if the Shooter rolls a 7 or an 11. But if the Shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12, which are called “craps,” you lose this bet, and the Shooter keeps rolling.
Don’t Pass Bar: Place your bet here and you will win if the Shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12.
Now, this could go on for quite awhile if the Shooter keeps rolling 7 , 11, 2, 3, or 12. This phase of the game only stops when the Shooter rolls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, and that number becomes his Point. The game then switches to Phase II.
Phase II: Succeeding Rolls
The button is now flipped over to ON. Everybody’s bets stay on the Pass Line and/or Don’t Pass Bar. The Shooter continues to roll the dice, trying to roll his Point and hoping he does NOT roll a 7. If he does roll a 7 before he rolls his point, he loses his bet and so does everyone else who bet on the Pass Line. The Shooter then passes his dice to the next person, and the table goes back to Phase I with the new Shooter.
Let’s say the Shooter’s Point is an 8. When the Shooter rolls an 8 during Phase II, he wins his bet (along with the people who bet on the Pass Line). The Shooter would then go back to Phase I and roll for a new Point.
But there are also a few more bets you can make during Phase II, because remember, the Shooter might roll every number except his Point or a 7 for quite a while.
Come: This is your own, personal “Come-out roll” even though you are not the Shooter. You place a Come bet and, then if the Shooter’s next roll is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number becomes your personal Come-Point. This Come-Point only affects you and your bet.
Let’s say you place a $5 bet on the Come, and the Shooter rolls a 4. The dealer will then move your $5 over to the 4, and the Shooter keeps rolling. If the Shooter rolls a “4” (your Come-Point) , you win; but if he rolls a 7, then you lose your bet.
Don’t Come: This is the same as the Don’t Pass Bar, but you’re hoping a 7 shows up before your Come-Point.
Let’s say you place $5 on the Don’t Come, and the Shooter rolls a 4. That 4 is now your Come-Point. If the Shooter rolls a 7 before he rolls another 4 (your Come-Point) then you win. However, if the Shooter rolls a 4 before he rolls a 7, then you lose your bet.
Field: If you place your bet on the Field, you select a number out of 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 that you hope will show up on the next roll. Remember, this bet is just for the next roll; it doesn’t carry over beyond one roll.. You either win or lose.
Place or Buy Bets: These are the numbers inside the boxes, with 6 and 9 spelled out. Here, you can bet that a 10, nine, 8, six, 5, or 4 will be rolled before a 7 does. These bets do carry over until a 7 is rolled.
A few other bets are also possible in craps, but this description will do for this simplified explanation.
Etiquette for the Shooter and Other Players
The Shooter:
- Take the dice with one hand and then roll them with the same hand. The dealer and camera(s) need to see the dice at all times.
- If you need to switch hands, put the dice down on the table and then pick them up with your other hand.
- When you roll the dice, toss them so they hit the opposite side of the table.
- The role of the Shooter gets passed around the table. If you don’t want to be the Shooter, just say “Pass” and the role will be offered to the next person.
Players:
- Don’t ever say 7. Call it ‘Big Red’ if you have to, but keep that on the down-low too. It’s bad luck for the table.
- If you’re betting with the Shooter (Pass Line, Come, Place, or Field), feel free to root for him.
- If you’re betting Don’t Pass or Don’t Come, then you are betting against the shooter, and probably most of the table too. Keep your cheering to yourself as you don’t want to be rude.
- Stay positive when rooting for yourself or the Shooter. For example, don’t root for 7 tonot come up, root for your Come-Point to be rolled instead.
- Keep your drinks off the table and behind the rail.
- Keep your hands out of the table as much as possible, you don’t want to interfere with a roll.
- Finally, remember to tip the dealer.
So, you definitely don’t need all this information to enjoy Guys and Dolls, but it may help you out as you try to understand the motivation of the characters—or on your next trip to Las Vegas!