Keeping the Lights on for Shakespeare

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1954

By Clover Carroll

The cast of The Life of King Henry the Fifth at Blackfriars Playhouse, Staunton (2016). Photo by Tommy Thompson.
The cast of The Life of King Henry the Fifth at Blackfriars Playhouse, Staunton (2016). Photo by Tommy Thompson.

“If music be the food of love, play on!” So began a recent production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, a delightful comedy featuring a shipwreck, twins, mistaken identity, Puritan mockery, and a tangle of mismatched lovers. The lively, ebullient performance made us “laugh [our]selves into stitches” (III.ii) as well as shed a tear of happiness as we were transported back in time through poetry and innovative stagecraft. We were witnesses as “journeys end in lovers meeting” (II.iii), and all’s well that ends well! Experiencing the work of the Bard in as close as we can come to its original setting and staging conditions is pure theatrical magic.

If you haven’t yet made it over the mountain to visit this cultural treasure right in our back yard, this would be a great year to go. 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 1616 at age 52. In addition, the ASC—a mere half-hour drive from Crozet via I-64 and I-81—is celebrating its 15th birthday in the Blackfriars Playhouse, which opened in 2001, an authentic recreation of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre. And the 25th birthday of the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express Theatre troupe, which had been taking its experimental approach to Shakespeare on the road since the early ‘90s, is already in the rear-view mirror. So why not take in one of the daily, year-round performances of Renaissance drama—including, in addition to Shakespeare, works by Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and Richard Sheridan, among others—performed there? And be sure to take the kids (aged 8 and up), who are sure to enjoy the fresh approach, live music, and zany humor. Other plays being staged this summer/fall season, which runs through November, include King Lear, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (in case you can’t get tickets to Hamilton!), and The Rise of Queen Margaret (a.k.a. Henry VI, part 2). But Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies.

The 300-seat Blackfriars Playhouse features a thrust stage surmounted by a musicians’ gallery and flanked by the audience on three sides, wooden benches in the center pit, “gallant stools” on the stage, and cushioned Lords and Ladies chairs along the sides; an overflow gallery provides a bird’s eye view. It is worth the trip just to see the stunning interior, built of polished Virginia oak, black marble, and hand-made, wrought iron chandeliers and sconces that remain lit throughout each performance, leading to ASC’s motto, “We Do It With the Lights On.” With no existing plans or images of the original indoor theatre—built in 1596 on the site of the former Blackfriars Monastery in London, across the river Thames from the Globe—project director Ralph Alan Cohen and architect Tom McLaughlin based the design on plans for other 17th-century theaters, trips to England to view surviving halls of the period, Shakespeare’s stage directions, and other research.

The American Shakespeare Center’s mission is “to recover the joys and accessibility of Shakespeare’s theatre, language, and humanity by exploring the English Renaissance stage and its practices through performance and education.” Co-founders Ralph Cohen, Director of Mission and former James Madison University English professor, and Jim Warren, Artistic Director—along with Managing Director Amy Wratchford—attempt to capture the true spirit of Shakespeare by observing Renaissance staging conditions as closely as possible. These include universal lighting, doubling of parts, brisk pacing, minimal sets, and live music before and during the show. As in Shakespeare’s time, the auditorium remains fully lit throughout the show so that actors can see and interact with the audience, who are seated in close proximity—especially those brave enough to sit on the stage! Often they are brought into the action, asked to hold props, and the like. As in Shakespeare’s time, 15 or fewer actors often play multiple roles in each play, and the company offers multiple plays in rotating repertory. Actors perform on a bare stage, with only the occasional throne or other needed prop carried on stage by the actors themselves; this allows Shakespeare’s words to set the scene and creates a theater of the imagination. Most unique to ASC productions is the broad, high-energy, sometimes raucous performance style that draws in the audience, makes the language accessible, and adds youthful appeal. Shakespeare’s often bawdy clowning is fully exploited for many an hilarious scene. “High school kids who thought they hated Shakespeare often love us,” commented Warren, “because they walk out of our shows wondering ‘who did the translation, because I understood everything?!’” Added together, these features lead to an engaging theater experience that you won’t soon forget.

Until 2014, when the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse opened in London next door to the 1997 Globe replica, the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton was the world’s only re-creation of the King’s Men’s winter lodgings. In addition to its year-round, almost daily performances—by the end of this year, they will have presented 220 productions of over 100 plays—the ASC is a hub of Shakespeare study and scholarship, offering a Master’s degree in Shakespeare and Performance in collaboration with Mary Baldwin College; summer camps for teens, adults, and teachers; student matinees and talk backs with actors during the school year; and the bi-annual Blackfriars Conference, a week-long celebration of early modern drama in performance. Cohen is also the author of ShakesFear and How to Cure It: A Handbook for Teaching Shakespeare (2007). The ASC Tour has taken performances and workshops on the road to high schools and colleges in 23 states. Current fundraising efforts are aimed at making Staunton Shakespeare’s American home by building a replica of the Globe Theatre in walking distance of the Blackfriars Playhouse.

If you do decide to venture over the mountain for this unique cultural opportunity, you might want to take in a meal before or after the performance at one of Staunton’s many fine eateries, including the Stonewall Jackson Hotel, Emilio’s Italian restaurant, or the Pampered Palate Café. For a full schedule or to purchase tickets, visit www.americanshakespearecenter.com. Learn more about Shakespeare’s career and plays at www.shakespeare-online.com. And for an eye-opening survey of Shakespeare’s influence on the English language, watch Rob Brydon’s “You’re Quoting Shakespeare” at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig6f5fT0Xho. In our everyday speech, in his immortal plays, and in this epitaph—etched on his gravestone in Stratford’s Holy Trinity Church—William Shakespeare still speaks from beyond the grave.

Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,

To dig the dust enclosed here. 

Blessed be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he that moves my bones.

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