Area’s Only Free Theatre Festival Expands
with New Offerings
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The region’s only free Shakespeare festival returns for a 5th year as Collaborative Arts presents The Charlotte Shakespeare Festival. The festival will be expanded in 2010 to feature two mainstage productions, a new Festivities pre-show performance series, free educational workshops for young people and adults, and a new Shakespeare in the schools education program.
The 2010 mainstage season kicks off with William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors outdoors at The Green Uptown June 3-20, 2010. The festival continues indoors August 4-15 at the McGlohon Theatre with the drama Othello. Both productions offer audiences a chance to see two plays that are rarely produced in the Charlotte region.
About The Comedy of Errors
If you enjoyed one set of twins in last season’s hit production of Twelfth Night, then double your pleasure this summer with The Comedy of Errors. Not one, but two sets of estranged twins find themselves unwittingly wandering through the streets of the same town, where the men are jealous, the women are furious and there’s a priceless gold chain that everyone wants.
“Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s least performed comedies,” says Joe Copley, Festival Managing Director who will direct the play. “It’s also Shakespeare’s first play, and one that sets up comedic devices that will be used again and again in later plays. It’s zany, fast-paced and fun - perfect entertainment for a summer picnic on The Green.”
Performances of The Comedy of Errors take place June 3-20 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00pm and Sundays at 6:30pm. The Green is located in Uptown Charlotte at 401 S. Tryon Street, between 1st Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Street, directly across the street from the Charlotte Convention Center. Sundays are Family Days at The Green with an earlier family-friendly curtain time of 6:30pm. Free educational workshops for young people ages 8 and up are also offered at 5pm on Sundays during the run of the show.
About Othello
In Shakespeare's monumental tragedy Othello, a tender love story is shattered by one man's hatred of another. “More than any other of Shakespeare’s tragedies, Othello explores human emotions at a personal level,” says Elise Wilkinson, Festival Artistic Director who will direct Othello. “The play is a highly-charged tale of jealousy, prejudice and revenge that
combines some of Shakespeare’s most beautiful language with some of man’s ugliest behaviors such as jealousy and racism.”
Performances of Othello take place August 4-15 on Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00pm, Saturday afternoons at 2pm and Sundays at 3pm. The McGlohon Theatre is located in Uptown Charlotte at 345 N. College Street.
About Festivities (pre-show entertainment)
In celebration of its 5th anniversary, The Charlotte Shakespeare Festival will launch a new pre-show performance series called Festivities featuring a variety of local artists. Since many of our audience members arrive very early for our shows to reserve seats, the festival is pleased to present special pre-show entertainment starting approximately one hour before each show’s curtain time. Whet your appetite with a short performance lasting 20-40 minutes featuring local performing artists from a variety of disciplines. A full performance schedule will be available in May.
Artists interested in participating in the Festivities series are encouraged to contact Elise Wilkinson, Artistic Director, at elise@collaborativeartstheatre.com.
Admission and Seating
There is no admission charge for performances or workshops, but a minimum donation of $5 per person is strongly encouraged and appreciated. For performances at The Green, patrons are encouraged to bring blankets or lawn chairs and may bring food and beverages (including alcohol), if desired.
Seating areas at The Green open 90 minutes prior to curtain. Seating in the McGlohon opens 30 minutes prior to curtain. Seating at both shows is first-come, first-served. A limited number of reserved seats are available for donors. Contact the festival at hi@collaborativeartstheatre.com or 704-625-1288 for more information.
Educational Workshops
As in past years, the festival will offer free educational workshops for young people ages 8 and up at 5pm on Sunday June 6, 13 and 20 at The Green Uptown. Attendees will gain a greater understanding of The Comedy of Errors through hands-on exercises and participating in the performance of a 15-minute version of the play.
In addition to the free workshop series, the festival is pleased to announce the expansion of its education program to include workshops and performances for schools. For more information on how to bring our education programs to your school, please email education@collaborativeartstheatre.com.
Collaborative Arts is a non-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to producing inventive productions of classical and contemporary plays. Our goal is to offer programming not frequently available in Charlotte – in particular classical theatre, site-specific productions and professional-level training opportunities for local actors. The company produces 3 – 4 shows each season, including The Charlotte Shakespeare Festival (the region’s only free Shakespeare festival). For more information, please visit www.collaborativeartstheatre.com or call 704-625-1288.
No comments:
Post a Comment