Shakespeare revived in Swope
Tara Tanzos
Issue date: 3/1/10 Section: Entertainment
An evening of Shakespeare sounds wholly academic and (in some cases) frightening to most University students not willingly- immersed in literature or theater.
The reading of prose and "olde-fashioned" language is connotatively determined as difficult to understand and as attractive to decipher as the scrawled note on one's car apologizing for denting the back bumper.
However, when taken to the stage, Shakespeare's work becomes enlightening among all audiences.
Given scenery, movement, music and other designs, the Bard possesses visual wit, action, romance, despair - elements all the more enticing to audiences who find dullness in the words upon the page.
West Chester University's Theater Department will be performing two different Shakespeare-affiliated works near the end of March:
"As You Like It" and "Love's Fire."
The two plays will be produced in repertory, meaning the shows will rotate each night during a ten-day period.
The performance dates for each are as follows:
"As You Like It"
Friday 3/19: 8 p.m.
Saturday, 3/20: 2 p.m.
Sunday, 3/21: 2 p.m.
Thursday, 3/25: 7:30p.m.
"Love's Fire"
Thursday 3/18: 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, 3/20: 8 p.m.
Wed., 3/24: 7:30 p.m.
Friday, 3/26: 8 p.m.
Though most are familiar with the term "love triangle," "As You Like It" defies all geometric explanations of the complexity of love.
Written between 1599 and 1600, the play is a pastoral comedy, meaning the focus is centered on various love plots in a rural setting.
Much of the interaction between the characters comes about as chance encounters in woods, and so there is often a whimsical feel behind the play and the interaction of the characters.
Dr. Leonard Kelly has chosen to transform Shakespeare's Middle-Age "As You Like It" into 1960's-set show.
The production will maintain the language of the original play, but will have a more psychedelic and resonant feel.
The reading of prose and "olde-fashioned" language is connotatively determined as difficult to understand and as attractive to decipher as the scrawled note on one's car apologizing for denting the back bumper.
However, when taken to the stage, Shakespeare's work becomes enlightening among all audiences.
Given scenery, movement, music and other designs, the Bard possesses visual wit, action, romance, despair - elements all the more enticing to audiences who find dullness in the words upon the page.
West Chester University's Theater Department will be performing two different Shakespeare-affiliated works near the end of March:
"As You Like It" and "Love's Fire."
The two plays will be produced in repertory, meaning the shows will rotate each night during a ten-day period.
The performance dates for each are as follows:
"As You Like It"
Friday 3/19: 8 p.m.
Saturday, 3/20: 2 p.m.
Sunday, 3/21: 2 p.m.
Thursday, 3/25: 7:30p.m.
"Love's Fire"
Thursday 3/18: 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, 3/20: 8 p.m.
Wed., 3/24: 7:30 p.m.
Friday, 3/26: 8 p.m.
Though most are familiar with the term "love triangle," "As You Like It" defies all geometric explanations of the complexity of love.
Written between 1599 and 1600, the play is a pastoral comedy, meaning the focus is centered on various love plots in a rural setting.
Much of the interaction between the characters comes about as chance encounters in woods, and so there is often a whimsical feel behind the play and the interaction of the characters.
Dr. Leonard Kelly has chosen to transform Shakespeare's Middle-Age "As You Like It" into 1960's-set show.
The production will maintain the language of the original play, but will have a more psychedelic and resonant feel.

Be the first to comment on this story