Shakespeare's `The Winter's Tale' to warm Notre Dame
By C. SPENCER BEGGS
Scene Writer
What do London, England and Notre Dame have in common? Well, they're both cold, both have bland food, and both have some of the most innovative and inspirational theater in the world.
The Actors From The London Stage arrived on campus Saturday evening. Originally conceived by Homer "Murph" Swander in 1975 as a way to better teach theater and Shakespeare to American drama students through short teaching sessions, the Actors from the London Stage program has grown from impromptu question and answer sessions into a formidable touring theater program.
The company consists of about five actors from notable theater companies in London such as The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Royal National Theatre of Great Britain. The actors perform with minimal props and costumes and travel by car to American universities from their base of operations. Notre Dame has recently become the host university of the company.
However, this is not Notre Dame's first brush with the program. The Actors from the London Stage have visited the University seven times before. During their most recent visit last semester, they performed "As You Like It" for packed audiences.
The company doesn't just perform Shakespeare, they also teach it, as well as any other type of theater style in which their students are interested. This is because The Actors From The London Stage tour in residencies, or one-week performance/teach-in sessions. A usual residency consists of three full-performance Shakespeare plays, two "one-handers" (one person shows created by members of the cast) and up to 30 class teach-in sessions.
The Actors From The London Stage company has come to Notre Dame with the support of the Office of the Provost, the Department of Film, Television and Theatre, The Department of English and the College of Arts and Letters' Shakespeare Initiative. The company has been especially encouraged by the creation of the McMeel Chair in Shakespeare Studies. This endowed professorship at Notre Dame will take on the additional role of director of the Actors From The London Stage beginning next year. However busy the transition may be, the company is still working hard to create a monumental season.
This time around, the company will be serving up one of Shakespeare's romances, "The Winter's Tale." The cast, featuring Doyne Byrd, Mairead Carty, Andrew Readman, Alison Skilbeck (incidentally, Ms. Skilbeck was a member of the first AFTLS company to visit ND) and Nicholas Tigg, plays all 31 characters in this turbulent story that contains everything one could ask for in a show — from romance, to jealous fits of rage, to infidelity and even wild bears.
Don't be fooled by the minimal look of the show. Even without any special eye candy to ornament them, the Actors From The London Stage will have you in utter awe only with the use of their incredible acting abilities.
Presented by the University of Notre Dame Department of Film, Television and Theatre, "The Winter's Tale" will be performed Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 21, 22, 23 and 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Washington Hall. Tickets are $16, $14 for senior citizens and $12 for all students. Tickets are available in advance at the LaFortune Student Center Box Office or by calling (219) 631-8128.
All Scene Stories for Monday, February 19, 2001
