Author Archives: Shakespeare

“Twelfth Night” Fall 2024 Tour: Entry #1

Posted on by

By Shona Babayemi

A pitch pipe, a tattoo sleeve, a comical number of kazoos and a pair of fishnet stockings make up just some of the wonderful, and certainly weird parts and props that sit in our cast suitcase.

Ah, the humble suitcase: the unsung hero of travel!

It’s not just a bag; it’s a portable miracle.

Imagine a world without suitcases – your socks would mingle awkwardly with your shampoo, there would be a great battle for your belongings at the other end, and you’d arrive at your final destination looking like a bootless ill-natured haggard. A suitcase holds your life in its clutches.

However, this is not just any case, this is THE SHOW CASE.

THE SHOW CASE holds all the discoveries, angst, epiphanies and compromises of rehearsal. It holds the greatness, the confusion, the ambition and all the joy in Twelfth Night. In non-thespian terms, this equates to a 50lb travel allowance (or approximately 22kg for our international friends), and seemed an insurmountable task to achieve at the start of our rehearsal process: squeezing a show into a suitcase. Five actors after five weeks of rehearsal morphed into directors, set designers, costume designers, musical directors, and great eaters of curry goat – superbly stewed by the one and only Francis – that we leave behind at the Karibu Centre in Brixton, our rehearsal hub. So, touching down at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after nearly nine hours in the sky and a further three-hour crawl through an overzealous customs, we nervously anticipate being reunited with our suitcases and most importantly THE SHOW CASE.

Imagine the sweet sigh of relief to see the weathered case, plastered to high heaven with stickers from previous destinations, float around effortlessly. A manic baggage claim where suitcases had been piling up for the past few hours. We bundle them and ourselves into a taxi, the AC blowing away any warmth provided by the Chicago air, but the jubilation of Mexican Independence Day and the relief of knowing all our company and cases are here keep us going as we enter Notre Dame, AFTLS headquarters – it’s starting to feel real now.

We meet with the awesome and astute Cate (Happy Birthday!) and get settled into our week at ND. Business commences, as we undertake lots of admin on the beautiful grounds. I could run out of lovely adjectives to describe the team, but more about ND in Week 7!

Westville vs. Wellesley

Westville Correctional Facility is a state prison located in Westville, Indiana. It’s one of the larger correctional facilities in the state and is operated by the Indiana Department of Corrections. The prison houses a mix of security levels, including medium and maximum security, which means it accommodates inmates serving a range of sentences, from shorter terms to life sentences. It is home to some of the fiercest Shakespeare lovers in the land.

Wellesley College is a prestigious private liberal arts college for women located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. It’s one of the Seven Sisters, a group of historically women’s colleges in the northeastern United States. Founded in 1870, Wellesley is known for its rigorous academic programs, small class sizes, and its beautiful campus, which features a mix of Gothic and modern architecture. It is also home to some of the fiercest Shakespeare lovers in the land. A Twelfth Night battle between Westville Correctional Facility and Wellesley College would be a delightful mix of Shakespearean wit, mistaken identities, and epic mischief.

Indulge me here.

Wellesley College would approach the play with precision and flair. Their Viola would be flawless, navigating between her male disguise as Cesario and her true self with grace and subtlety. They’d bring a beautiful, nuanced take on the humor and gender-bending of Twelfth Night, nailing the complex dialogue and social commentary. Their Sir Toby Belch would be played with just the right balance of drunken absurdity and clever jabs, while their Malvolio would offer a perfect study in stuffy pride, complete with cross-gartered yellow stockings that dazzle and repulse in equal measure.

On the Westville side, the interpretations would be raw and full of unexpected energy. Their Viola might bring a fierce, survivalist twist, delivering lines with the gravitas of someone who’s experienced a bit of life. Sir Toby would be a rough-and-tumble trickster, pulling pranks with a mischievous grin that suggests he’s up to more than just Shakespearean hijinks. And Malvolio? He would take his tragic humiliation to Shakespearean heights, maybe turning the cross-garter scene into an unforgettable, over-the-top performance that mixes humour with pathos, leaving the audience laughing and cringing at the same time.

Wellesley’s crew plotting with perfect timing, slipping in literary allusions as they conspire to deceive Malvolio, while Westville brings streetwise cunning to the art of trickery, upping the ante with a few unexpected twists of their own. The Westville-ians might even throw in a few modern- day references, as a basketball swish from Maria delivering the letter of deception to Malvolio proved popular in our AFTLS preview.

In the grand finale, the mistaken identities would create utter chaos, but the Westville actors would handle it with a winking, self-aware charm, while Wellesley keeps things perfectly buttoned-up until the big reveal, where everything falls apart hilariously.

By the end of the Twelfth Night battle, it’s clear both sides brought their A-game. The mix of academic finesse from Wellesley and Westville makes it a perfect Shakespearean showdown, full of laughter, mischief, and enough “what you will” to make the Bard himself proud.

It truly was an honour to play to Westville, whose students have been studying Twelfth Night with AFTLS’ AD, the Scintillating Scott Jackson. Scott has been teaching Shakespeare at the facility for many years and they clearly admire him and the work. Equally it was absolutely terrifying, simply because they know that text like the back of their hand, so we needed to bring our A-game and deliver a world-class performance to a world-class audience. Thank you so much guys for attending the performance and being so generous with your feedback, praise, and inquisitiveness.

And last but not least, thank you Wellesley, thank you Marta and Sarah V. for your warmth and hospitality. Thank you to the brilliant women and members of the Shakespeare Society (please invite us back) and special shout out to Sid & Shirley for stage management and tech. Wellesley’s unfiltered passion for Shakespeare, theatre, and this weird and wonderful thing we do has lit the fire for the rest of the tour. You all are legends!

Playing with Puppets at the 2024 Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival

Posted on by

By Jennifer Birkett

Greg Corbino’s journey to becoming a puppet designer started when he was a little kid. As he says, “it’s something I have always done and was interested in,” but it was not until he encountered Bread and Puppet Theatre in college that he really became fully invested in it. Much of Corbino’s style–specifically his use of cheap, resourceful materials (like cardboard and papier-mâché) along with a focus on colors and shapes, as well as building puppets to scale–is influenced by Peter Schumann, the co-founder of Bread and Puppet Theater, whose work really took off in the 1960s making giant puppets with kids in the Bronx.

Unlike the puppets many audiences encounter in musicals like The Lion King and Into the Woods, Corbino’s puppets focus on accessibility, both in material and in utility. In other words, they do not require significant training to operate. As Corbino highlights, compared to silicones, foams, or tricky items like toxic glues often used in theatrical puppetry, “we are using materials used by communities all over the world for parades, protests, and elementary school plays.” The puppets are representations of a way of working, one which requires many hands and collaboration. Indeed, while designing and building these puppets, Corbino worked alongside volunteer company members, as well as artisan Aimee Cole, who brought a unique costuming perspective, and director Sara Holdren, whose Arden world inspired Corbino’s interplay between color and light. Ultimately, the puppets reflect the collective theme of community central to this production of As You Like It.

As an audience member, you can expect large-scale 3D puppets, one which requires 5 actors to operate, but also a herd of deer that are flat and two dimensional. A new design for Corbino, the deer legs are articulated with a series of bolts and elastics allowing them to appear to leap across the stage. This choice to emphasize the “gesture” of a deer rather than go for a “realistic” one leans into the age-old magic of theatre, the audience’s willing suspension of disbelief. As Corbino puts it, “we are asking the audience to do the work of joining us in this magical place where objects come to life.”

We hope you’ll join us at this magical production this summer. While this is the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival’s first foray into puppetry, we have a feeling it won’t be our last.

“Setting the Scene” with Shakespeare at Notre Dame’s Jennifer Birkett and As You Like It scenic designer Inseung Park

Posted on by

By Jennifer Birkett

Birkett: As You Like It, like Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, is a play where we expect two very distinct settings and a bold contrast between the two. When you started designing the set, what was your inspiration for these two designs and the transition between the two?

Park: The beginning of the production process, before I actually met with Sara (the director), I thought about how we might ‘tweak’ things. With As You Like It, there is always a stereotypical sense that Arden will have foliage and be a woodland. I wanted to show something visually unexpected. When I met with Sara, she brought a lot of ideas that connected with other theatre audience work, one being Bread and Puppet Theatre and the other being Geoff Sobelle’s Home production. Those were are key inspirations for where we headed in our designs.

Birkett: How do we evoke a clear shift from the court to Arden when both are more interior spaces that exterior spaces?

Park: Well, we wanted to get away from focusing on a physical location and focus more on the concept and feeling of the place: What is the concept for the court? What is the concept for Arden? For Arden we focused on collaboration, utopian equality, people doing things together, rather than focus on whether we were inside or outside. We also pulled in a lot more design collaboration as well with the props, lighting, and puppetry.

Birkett: So what about the court? My understanding is this production does not have a specifically designated time period, but did you have any look or idea that guided your concept of that space?

Park: The court needed to be a visual contrast to Arden. We knew Arden was going to be crazy and complicated, so the court would be simpler, with more solid lines, and less props. Essentially, the set is rather stark at the beginning and then it becomes crazy! We begin with simplicity, an operational feel, and then later move to something more festive.

Birkett: Did you have a favorite part of the set design? What about a difficult part, any piece of the set that just kept giving you trouble?

Park: My favorite part of this set is the movement. We are still using the fly system, but not completely. The set opens up in exciting ways that allows the actors to work together to build the new setting. The most difficult part of designing the set was, actually, also that collaboration element which meant the design was not really complete until we put together all of the elements, props, lights, puppets, etc. I couldn’t really predict what would happen.

Birkett: Well, you wanted it to be unexpected! I’m sure our audience is going to be excited by this set and all its thoughtful details. Thank you so much for chatting with us today. We cannot wait for opening night!

Park: Thank you.

“As You Like It” and Finding “much virtue in ‘if’”

Posted on by

By Jennifer Birkett

In the late 1590s, William Shakespeare wrote a theatrical comedy based on the then popular romance titled Rosalynde by Thomas Lodge. As in Lodge’s romance, Shakespeare’s As You Like It centers on Rosalind, a vibrant female heroine, who dons a male disguise to flee the unwelcoming court of her uncle, Duke Frederick, and escape into the forest to find her banished father, Duke Senior (Frederick’s older brother and rightful Duke). While in disguise, she comes upon Orlando, the youngest brother of Oliver de Boys, who has fled into the forest seeking safety from his violent brother. Although the two have met before, Orlando does not recognize Rosalind in her male clothes. She takes the opportunity to use her disguise to befriend Orlando and sort out if his supposed “love” for her is sincere or not. Of course, it would not be a Shakespeare play if there were no other plot lines to entertain the audience and further complicate Rosalind’s journey.

There are multiple legends tied to As You Like It. One being that Shakespeare, himself, played Adam, the old servant of the de Boys household, in the original production. Another being that the title refers to Shakespeare’s frustration at meeting a growing audience’s demands: “Fine, have it as you like it!” However, as Sara Holdren, the director of this summer’s NDSF production, notes, the title also hints at the play’s deep longing. Woven beneath the lighthearted comedy is a desire for a world as one likes it, where one can love freely, be seen genuinely, and escape artificiality.

As a pastoral comedy, As You Like It juxtaposes a court corrupted by the hatred of brothers with the simple communal existence in the forest of Arden. When Orlando arrives in Arden, he observes that “there is no clock in the forest.” This play, and this NDSF 2024 production, invites both its characters and audience to set aside the stifling demands of everyday life and embrace alternate realities. What might the world look like if, for example, women had the same courtesies as men? What if class did not matter? Or if there were no greed for power? Or if we treated the earth with more care? As Touchstone, the play’s clown puts it, there’s “much virtue in ‘if.’”

As You Like It is an experimentation in “if.” From its abundance of song to its philosophical musings on performativity and its all-too-convenient conclusion, the play exposes Shakespeare’s writerly process, putting more stock in asking questions than answering them. It invites an openness to revise, to think again, and to imagine otherwise. Similarly, this summer’s production invites us to reimagine our traditional notions of gender, community, politics, and even Shakespeare to inquire after a world “as we like it.” We hope you’ll set aside your clock to join us in the Forest of Arden this Aug 20-September 1st! As an audience member, you can expect to be enchanted by the festival’s first-ever incorporation of puppets, the bold transition from a tight-laced court setting to a artistic Arden, and original songs performed live on stage by our actors.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Spring 2024 Tour: Entry #9

Posted on by

By Sam Hill

For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
Psalm 69:33

And so just like that, we entered our final week of the tour. Looking back it felt like it had been a long tour, but also a short tour. When I think back to all the places we have been: Indiana, New York State, Vermont, Texas, California and Alabama, it feels like we have been away for a long time. But then again, it some ways it feels like yesterday that we were doing our read-through in Covent Garden, London.

Florence is a pretty, affluent town in northern Alabama. Its high street leads up to the university which is a short walk from our hotel. If you turn out of our hotel and walk down the hill, you find yourself at the Tennessee River. It’s big and beautiful, people fish on the river bank and you feel like Huckleberry Finn might pass by on a raft at any given moment.

We had three shows to do here, one at the university, one for high schoolers and one at Limestone Correctional Facility: a prison about an hour and half outside of Florence. Most of us had never performed in a prison before, including me. Going into the building is an austere experience, but once you are inside (literally and figuratively) you sort of forget you are in a prison. We were shown into a room, where we would perform, which was reminiscent of a church hall. The floor had been mopped and cleaned so well we could have had our lunch on it. We set up and the audience entered.

What struck us most was the focus this audience had on the play. Every single man was paying a deep attention to the play. They had been studying A Midsummer Night’s Dream through a program run by the University of North Alabama. They were well equipped with a ‘No Fear Shakespeare’ script in hand (this edition offers a modern English version of the story alongside the original), pencils and a list of characters in the play. They were to listen, to learn and to get out of prison life for a couple of hours.

After the show we ran a Q and A, spoke to the prisoners, and signed their copies of the play, which were kept carefully and in pristine condition. We were thanked a lot and were reminded how important it was to them that we had come. It was a profound experience. I have thought about it a lot since. And will think about it a lot, probably throughout my life. Of course, I’m sure some men in that prison have done very bad things and some might even show little to no remorse; but the people we met seemed so normal. Perhaps, a fit of anger, a tragedy, a tough, tough life, forces someone to do something rash, they get caught and that’s it: prison. And then once you’ve been to prison, done your time and get released, is it easy to establish a normal life? I don’t know, but the experience made me think. The walls we put up are built on sand.