Student actors rehearse for a performance of “Shakespeare a la Carte,” a compilation of scenes and monologues from the plays of William Shakespeare. The play will be at the Robinson Theatre in October.
Madonna has one. Michael Jackson’s had a few. Britney’s just finishing hers. No, this has nothing to do with plastic surgery, but rather a Greatest Hits compilation.
His may not be a CD packed full of songs to sing along with, but William Shakespeare’s greatest hits is coming to the Robinson Theatre Oct. 1 and 2 with the production of “Shakespeare Ala Carte” by the University theater department.
Although “Shakespeare Ala Carte,” scenes and monologues from the plays of Shakespeare, is the department’s first production of the 2004-05 academic year, the seven actors and actresses involved in the play have been performing at Oregon high schools since Sept. 13. Traveling as far south as Brookings and as far north as Astoria, the thespians performed scenes from famous Shakespearean plays for high schools that can’t afford a theater program or have no exposure to live theater. The group is funded by a grant given by Janette Drew to the University theater several years ago.
“The responses have been quite amazing,” theater graduate student and company manager Jennifer Thomas said. “We’ve run into both students and teachers outside of the theater who have told us what a great time they’d had.”
For the tour, the play was renamed “Shakespeare’s Guide to Dating” to make it more appealing to a younger crowd. Joseph Gilg, a theater professor in charge of promotion and publicity for the production, called the play “light-hearted and comedic” for the adolescent audience, which has ranged from as few as 65 students to as many as 650.
“We focused on scenes ranging from how to pick up girls and
first loves to how to avoid divorce,” director Jack Watson said. “But when (the actors) bring it to UO, we’ll add to the play to make it darker and more dramatic for the older audience.”
“Shakespeare Ala Carte” contains scenes from 12 to 14 of the Bard’s most celebrated works, which include “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Tempest,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Macbeth,” “Richard III” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” The play moves quickly; the longest scene only runs about ten minutes.
“(On the road) we had to go by the school’s bell system, so the play lasted anywhere from 40 to 70 minutes,” Thomas said.
The University production will be full-length.
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