By Michael Wagg
Here in Texas, it’s work, work, work. In Hamlet’s hands it’s words, words, words. And, in wonderfully weird Austin, it’s all fun.
The University of Texas at Austin is a stalwart of support for the AFTLS project. Apart from our historic bases in Notre Dame, Chapel Hill and Santa Barbara, UT Austin has welcomed our week-long residencies more than most. Since the first one here in 1979 happy bands of five have touched down in this singular pocket of Texas almost thirty times to share Shakespeare. And the welcome here is as warm as ever; if not the weather, which has been rather chilly.
We’ve had an action-packed week: of shows in the theatre at the vast Bullock State History Museum, and of workshops across this equally vast and bright campus. So, just as Joanna did at Barton Springs this week, let’s jump right in.
I’ve led sessions with students taking courses in Leadership in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (which included a chance to hurl Shakespeare insults at their Professor); in Performance & Activism, in which we developed site-responsive readings of the opening scene of Hamlet in the spaces around campus green; and on Heiner Müller’s Hamletmachine. One of the real treats of this work is how we’re encouraged to explore texts new to us, in the context of our production, or as in this case, encouraged to return to a text we might have read many years ago as uber-keen drama students, like the mirrors we’re often faced with.
Midweek, Esmonde, Joanna and I were thrown bleary-eyed into the storm of a cavernous lecture theatre to make a choral reading of the opening of The Tempest with 200 students, all of them participating as wind, rain, thunder or human. The racket created, at 9am on a Wednesday morning, was quite the tonic.
Meanwhile Jack led sessions with students of Global Teaching Methods and Human Rights, as well as Shakespeare workshops in both High and Elementary Schools. Sadie tackled Early Celebrity and Masterworks of World Drama (as did Esmonde and Joanna; there’s a lot of ground to cover!). Sadie also worked with students on the marvelous Shakespeare at Winedale course. We now all proudly wear our Winedale t-shirts on which Shakespeare proudly sports his Texan Stetson.
Sadie and Esmonde paired up to explore Greece and Rome in film; while Joanna and Esmonde did the same for an Intro to LGBTQ Studies. Sadie and I finished the week working with younger Shakespeareans at their Saturday morning club, before watching their performance in the lobby of the Bullock Museum prior to our final show of the week.
The variety of subjects we’re asked to engage with is the real joy of this project: how much ground we can cover in the course of a week, always in direct connection to the spirit and endeavour of the rehearsal room, is the challenge and the thrill of it. We don’t always have the answers, of course, but together we’ll find a way to give it a go.
At any given moment this week any number of us were in classrooms exploring what Shakespeare’s text shows us of the world around us: here and now, in Austin, Texas. The only downside is that for the most part we don’t get to see the sessions the other four deliver. But the buzz of sharing ideas for exercises and checking back in with each other at the end of the day about how the class landed – before we put our acting hats back on – is a nourishing thing. It’s great when one of us comes back from a class, as is often the case, and declares a hit, a very palpable hit.
It’s not for me to say, but it does seem that we might be bold enough to think that of our shows here too. Three sold out performances were met with whoops and cheers in Austin style. At least I think so, as my ears are currently blocked thanks to a pesky cold. We continue to develop the show, and after a line-run in the Texas Chili Parlor, to the bemusement of our server, we tweaked the story of our Fortinbras and his Norwegian troops. It was a refreshing reminder that the show will never be made, but is always in the making.
It’s not all work and we’ve loved exploring Austin. Joanna’s covered the Capitol Building, the LBJ Presidential Library and the Big Bullock among other things. A committed historian, Jo leads the way in diving into all this for us. Jack and I enjoyed the excited hush of the Harry Ransom Center: a veritable treasure trove of literary archives. Jack settled in with the papers of his beloved Edgar Allan Poe; while I read letters between Tom Stoppard and Homer ‘Murph’ Swander, the heart and brains behind the original AFTLS dream.
Jo and I grabbed the chance of a gig at the legendary Hole in the Wall, taking in the country blues and the player’s advice to ‘stay up late, with Todd Day Wait.’ Sadie, meanwhile, deserves serious hats off, including Stetsons. Not only did she stay up late and then early the next morning run the Austin 5k, but out of a field of 1000s she finished second in her age group and top ten overall!
Esmonde never stops working, but I’m pleased to report that he’s just found a joint called Shakespeare’s Pub. So I’ll head off for some froth ‘n’ elbow, leaving Austin with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Warm, thanks to the welcome of the folk here and from the satisfaction of a week of Hamlet’s words. Fuzzy, thanks to blocked ears! These darn ears stopped me from joining the others for a well-earned Texas two-step at the glorious Broken Spoke last night. Until I find some olive oil, the rest is silence.
