Shakespeare in Winedale Visits Austin: The Tempest, August 19, 2013 and Henry IV, Part I, August 20, UT Union

UPDATE: Michael Lee's 2-minute feature at KUT-FM, July 19 


Shakespeare in Winedale 2013
comes to Austin


The Tempest, August 19 and Henry IV, Part I, August 20
7:30 p.m.
Shakespeare at Winedale 43rd Summer Season
performing at the ballroom of the Texas Union, 2247 Guadalupe - click for map

Shakespeare at Winedale’s 2013 Summer Class will showcase their productions of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and King Henry IV, Part One as part of their summer tour. There will be only one performance in Austin of each play: The Tempest on Monday, August 19 and Henry IV, Part I, onTuesday, August 20 at 7:30pm. 

Tickets are $15 for general admission or $10 for student ID holders, UT staff, and faculty and may be ordered online through the Shakespeare at Winedale website or by calling (512) 471-4726.

The Tempest tells the tale of Prospero, the supplanted Duke of Milan, and his young daughter Miranda, both of whom have been stranded together on an island for twelve years. With the magic he has learned, Prospero conjures a tempest that strands his wrong-doers on the same island. The Tempest follows the shipwrecked passengers as they fight to survive amidst the magic and monsters that inhabit the island. Elissa Russell, who plays Miranda in The Tempest, finds that the unique environment of Winedale enhances the beauty of the play. “Performing in the barn is entirely different than performing on a normal stage. You’re surrounded by nature and removed from society, which adds an aspect to the plays that you can’t get everywhere else.” Assistant Director (and former Winedale Prospero) Bob Jones says “The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s most beautiful plays, both in terms of the richness of its poetic language, and in its themes of grace, reconciliation, and forgiveness.”

King Henry IV, Part One tells the tale of Prince Hal and his journey from street rat to a young King Henry V. As the play begins he associates with the fat, drunk knight Falstaff, and commits theft with the scum of England. As his father’s war with the fiery Hotspur wages on, he becomes what his father had hoped: “A son who is the theme of honour's tongue.” Cody Chua, playing the lovable Falstaff, says Henry IV is a play “that reflects well the wonder of Shakespeare’s versatility and wit. As one of his best history plays, if not the best, it has so much not only of pleasure but of pathos, and passion. We can meditate on the fragility and innocence of an old, fat man, and at the same time we can laugh at his wit, and his blunders.”

Shakespeare at Winedale is a University of Texas program in which students study and perform Shakespeare at the Winedale Historical Complex near Round Top. Since its founding by English professor James Ayres in 1970, the program’s unique, hands-on approach has brought Shakespeare’s words to life for hundreds of students and thousands of audience members. University students from many disciplines and backgrounds work together for six weeks at Winedale, ending their summer with four weekends of performances in a converted nineteenth-century hay barn.

For a full schedule of performances or more information about the Shakespeare at Winedale program, please visit our website: www.shakespeare-winedale.org or contact the Program Coordinator Liz Fisher at (512) 471-4726 or lfisher@austin.utexas.edu.

When the students complete their work in residence, they will also tour to Dallas, as well as the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA, home to the world’s only historical recreation of Shakespeare’s Blackfriars stage.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Preview: Shakespeare at Winedale, 2013, University of Texas, July 18 - August 11

July 18 - August 11, 2013

Winedale Barn

3738 FM 2714 Round Top, Texas 78954-4901 (click for map )

click to view full performance schedule at AustinLiveTheatre.com

Shakespeare at Winedale’s 2013 Summer Class takes the stage this summer with performances of The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Henry IV, Part I, and, for the first time at Winedale, Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Performances will begin July 18th and run through August 11th; performances are Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 7:30pm with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $10 for general admission or $5 for students/UT ID holders and may be ordered online through the Shakespeare at Winedale website www.shakespeare-winedale.org.
The complete summer performance schedule can be accessed at this link: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/progs/winedale/_files/pdf/Performances-And-Tickets/Summer_Schedule_2013.pdf
For the first time in the program’s history, this summer’s class will perform Christopher Marlowe’s thrilling tragedy of Doctor Faustus. Based on the classic German myth, the tale of Doctor Faustus chronicles one academic’s deal with the Devil to gain knowledge and power. This is only the third non-Shakespearean play to be performed at Winedale, and the first time Marlowe has been performed in the Winedale Theatre Barn. Join us for a devilish good time.
The magic continues with Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which tracks the survival of shipwrecked sailors as they roam about an island inhabited with a spirit, Ariel, a monster, Caliban, and the vengeful sorcerer, Prospero. This tale of magic, revenge and betrayal will come to life when set against the backdrop of Winedale’s natural beauty.
Henry IV, Part I begins with a disquieted new King of England, Henry IV, who must begin his reign by dealing with the murder of his predecessor, battles with Scotland and Wales, and his son’s debauched behavior. This is the first of Shakespeare’s plays in which we are introduced to the lovably infamous Falstaff – a role so hilarious it allegedly earned commendation from the Queen Elizabeth I. Shakespeare at Winedale prides itself on its histories. You won’t want to miss this classic tale.
The Comedy of Errors sees two sets of twins who were separated at birth thrown back together with a wonderful array of confusion and frustration. Shakespeare’s shortest play, Comedy will delight audiences with a slapstick farce of mistaken identity.
“We have a fantastic array of performances this summer,” says Shakespeare at Winedale Director James Loehlin. “The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s funniest plays, and The Tempest is perhaps his most magical one. Henry IV is a history, a comedy, and a tragedy wrapped up in one play, and Falstaff is probably Shakespeare’s greatest comic character. And it is a thrill to be doing Marlowe—Faustus is a haunting play you will never forget.”
When the students complete their work in residence, they will tour to Austin and Dallas, TX, as well as the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA, home to the world’s only historical recreation of Shakespeare’s Blackfriars stage. More information about touring dates and venues will be posted to the website soon.
Thursday, July 25th, is Fayette County Night; tickets for Fayette County residents are only $4 for that evening’s performance of The Tempest, and door prizes will be raffled off at the end of the performance. Our annual Season Finale is Saturday, August 10th, beginning at 6:30pm with a special catered reception before the evening performance of The Comedy of Errors; tickets are $25.
Shakespeare at Winedale is a University of Texas program in which students study and perform Shakespeare at the Winedale Historical Complex near Round Top. Since its founding by English professor James Ayres in 1970, the program’s unique, hands-on approach has brought Shakespeare’s words to life for hundreds of students and thousands of audience members. University students from many disciplines and backgrounds work together for six weeks at Winedale, ending their summer with four weekends of performances in a converted nineteenth-century hay barn.
For more information about the Shakespeare at Winedale program, please visit our website: www.shakespeare-winedale.org or contact the Program Coordinator Liz Fisher at (512) 471-4726 or lfisher@austin.utexas.edu.
(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

SHAKESPEARE AT WINEDALE 2013 announcement, University of Texas

Shakespeare in Winedale
Summer 2013 Season:

The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Henry IV, Part I
and 
Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.

Shakespeare at Winedale 43rd Summer Season, July 18 - August 11, 2013

Shakespeare at Winedale Theater Barn, Winedale Historical Center, Round Top, TX

TICKETS: $10 General Admission; $5 Student/UT ID Holders

Available at www.shakespeare-winedale.org or (512) 471-4726

Shakespeare at Winedale’s 2013 Summer Class takes the stage this summer with performances of The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Henry IV, Part I, and, for the first time at Winedale, Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Performances will begin July 18th and run through August 11th; performances are Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 7:30pm with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $10 for general admission or $5 for students/UT ID holders and may be ordered online through the Shakespeare at Winedale website www.shakespeare-winedale.org.

Click 'Read more' for additional information

ALL WELL THAT ENDS WELL, Shakespeare-at-Winedale, at UT and at Winedale, April 23 - 27, 2013

[at the barn of the Winedale History Center, 3738 FM 2714, near Round Top, Texas - click for map]

presents


All's Well That Ends Well
by William Shakespeare


 



April 23 at the University of Texas; April 26-27 at the Winedale barn

The Shakespeare at Winedale Spring Class will give two performances of All’s Well That Ends Well at the Winedale Theatre Barn on April 26th and 27th at 7:00. These performances are the culmination of a semester of coursework focusing on ‘Shakespeare’s Problem Plays in Performance.’ Tickets are $10; $5 for UT ID-holders and students. Tickets are available at www.shakespeare-winedale.org or by calling (512) 471-4726.

‘Tis not the many oaths that makes the truth, But the plain single vow that is vow’d true. – IV.ii

All’s Well That Ends Well is an adult fairy tale that follows the low-born Helena’s arduous journey to win the love of the haughty Count Bertram. Unrequited love, reversed gender roles, aristocratic pride, and wartime lies arise on the journey, presented to the audience with a thorny mixture of romantic optimism and real-world pessimism.

“This is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, and one far too few people have read or seen,” said Shakespeare at Winedale Director and Regents Professor, James Loehlin. “It feels very contemporary in the way it mixes drama and comedy, and in its resourceful but vulnerable heroine, Helena. One of the characters says that 'the web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together,' and I think that sums up the outlook of this very funny but bittersweet comedy.”

Shakespeare at Winedale is a program within the University of Texas English Department that invites students from all disciplines to learn about Shakespeare through the experience of performing his works. Since 1970, hundreds of students have performed Shakespeare’s immortal words in the Winedale Theatre Barn, using textual interpretation, creativity, and passion to bring the plays to life. 

The students of the Spring Class come together to explore several plays throughout the UT spring semester. The course includes three weekends at the Winedale Historical Center, where students immerse themselves in the study of Shakespeare surrounded by the beauty of the Texas countryside. Their coursework culminates in a final presentation of their studies: two performances in the Winedale Theatre Barn.

Tue • Apr 23

All’s Well That Ends Well Preview...

Texas Union's Union Theatre
7:00 PM

Fri • Apr 26

All's Well That Ends Well

Winedale Theatre Barn
7:00 PM

Sat • Apr 27

Shakespearean Celebration on Festival...

Winedale Theatre Barn
12:00 PM

Sat • Apr 27

All's Well That Ends Well

Winedale Theatre Barn
7:00 PM

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Shakespeare at Winedale Profile by Willa Young in the Daily Texan, March 4, 2013

Shakespeare at Winedale Offers Students One-of-a-Kind Learning Experience through Performance

by Willa Young

A much-needed cool breeze flows through the three open sides of a dilapidated German hay barn on a warm Texas night. The barn is miles from city life, far enough from streetlights that the Milky Way can clearly be seen each night, but the inside is packed with a cramped and sweaty audience. The dull hum of the crowd hushes as the lights dim, and a group of young men and women clad in Elizabethan garb take the stage. This is not a conventional theater, nor is it a conventional experience. But Shakespeare at Winedale does not try to be conventional.

“Performing in the barn setting is unforgettable”, said Alexander Fischer, Plan II senior and seasoned “Winedaler”. “It’s surrounded by just absolutely gorgeous Texas countryside, unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

It may sound like a vacation, but being a cast member of the University of Texas’ 43-year-old tradition is far from a breeze. Between 15 and 20 students are selected and cast in four classic Shakespeare plays in the spring. At the beginning of summer the group is shipped off to Winedale, a completely isolated area near Round Top, where they spend nine grueling weeks preparing to perform three plays, eight times each, in the barn-turned-theater. Each cast member works seven days a week, 18 hours a day, completely shut off from the outside world.

“It’s just a really good, in-depth study of Shakespeare, particularly his language,” Plan II junior Lucy Junkersaid. “It shows how easily acting comes when you’re just given a script.”

Professor James Loehlin from the University of Texas’s English Department has been directing the Shakespeare at Winedale program for 13 years. He took over for Professor James B. Ayres, who started the program and solely directed for 30 years. Loehlin was a “Winedaler” himself in the 1980s.

“I found it, as many students have, to be a transformative experience, and it made me love Renaissance and Shakespeare drama very deeply,” Loehlin said, “I have tried to carry on in the essentials [of] what Dr. Ayres wanted the program to be — total Shakespeare immersion.”

Loehlin compared the Winedale learning experience to learning a foreign language. People generally learn a language much faster and better when they are in the country itself and become a part of the culture. By performing the works, instead of just reading them, each cast member retains a deeper and more complex understanding of Shakespeare, according to Loehlin.

“Dr. Loehlin’s expertise is just outstanding,” said Liz Fisher, Shakespeare at Winedale program coordinator and another Winedale alumna. “You need only be in a few minutes of rehearsal with him to know exactly what’s going on in his head.”

Shakespeare at Winedale has two separate sections. The first is the full-immersion, completely isolated and highly selective summer program. The second is a spring course taught by Loehlin. The class analyzes between five and seven texts throughout the semester, prepares one full play and visits Winedale for three weekends, culminating in a final performance in the barn. This semester, the spring class is performing “All’s Well That Ends Well.” Both sections of the course are open to all students, regardless of Shakespeare or acting experience.

“Part of what’s useful about coming from a non-theatre background is having a different perspective,” said Fisher. "You’re able to see things that Shakespeare pros don’t see, and that is so valuable and important.”

During the summer program, cast members eat, sleep, work and play together 24 hours a day for over 65 days. This close proximity, complete isolation and high- stress environment, combined with the intense summer heat in Texas, creates a familial relationship among the class members.

“It is impossible to spend that much time with a small group of people and not get incredibly close,” Fisher said. “On the flip side, there comes a time when you get really irritated with each other.”

Through the mentorship of Ayres, Loehlin has fostered a Shakespeare program rooted in tradition.

“You’ll have to forgive me, but there are just some parts of being at Winedale that words won’t help describe it,” Fisher said “You just have to be there.”

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, University of Texas Shakespeare in Winedale, April 26 and 27, 2013

[Shakespeare at Winedale, Winedale Historical Center barn, 3738 FM 2714, Round Top, Texas 78954-4901]

presents

All's Well That Ends Well

by William Shakespeare
Performed by the Shakespeare at Winedale Spring Class
Presented by Shakespeare at Winedale, The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of English, and SHOUT.
April 26 and 27 at 7 p.m.
Winedale Theatre Barn, near Round Top, TX.

Student/ UT Faculty/ UT Staff - $5; General Admission - $10
Available at www.shakespeare-winedale.org or 512.471.4726.


The Shakespeare at Winedale Spring Class will give two performances of All’s Well That Ends Well at the Winedale Theatre Barn on April 26^th and 27^th at 7:00. These performances are the culmination of a semester of coursework focusing on ‘Shakespeare’s Problem Plays in Performance.’ Tickets are $10; $5 for UT ID-holders and students. Tickets are available at www.shakespeare-winedale.org or by calling (512) 471-4726.

‘Tis not the many oaths that makes the truth, But the plain single vow that is vow’d true. – IV.ii

All’s Well That Ends Well is an adult fairy tale that follows the low-born Helena’s arduous journey to win the love of the haughty Count Bertram. Unrequited love, reversed gender roles, aristocratic pride, and wartime lies arise on the journey, presented to the audience with a thorny mixture of romantic optimism and real-world pessimism.

“This is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, and one far too few people have read or seen,” said Shakespeare at Winedale Director and Regents Professor, James Loehlin. “It feels very contemporary in the way it mixes drama and comedy, and in its resourceful but vulnerable heroine, Helena. One of the characters says that 'the web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together,' and I think that sums up the outlook of this very funny but bittersweet comedy.”

Shakespeare at Winedale is a program within the University of Texas English Department that invites students from all disciplines to learn about Shakespeare through the experience of performing his works. Since 1970, hundreds of students have performed Shakespeare’s immortal words in the Winedale Theatre Barn, using textual interpretation, creativity, and passion to bring the plays to life. The students of the Spring Class come together to explore several plays throughout the UT spring semester. The course includes three weekends at the Winedale Historical Center, where students immerse themselves in the study of Shakespeare surrounded by the beauty of the Texas countryside. Their coursework culminates in a final presentation of their studies: two performances in the Winedale Theatre Barn.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

This Week: Shakespeare and the Law, panel at the University of Texas with scenes from The Merchant of Venice, September 28

From the on-line magazine from UT Law:

Shakespeare and the Law:

Scenes and a panel on legal issues in The Merchant of Venice, September 28

Actors from Spirit of Shakespeare, a University of Texas student organization; the University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance, under the direction of Fran Dorn; and Hidden Room, an Austin-based original practices company under the direction of Beth Burns, will perform versions of the courtroom scene from The Merchant of Venice as part of a panel discussion titled “Is that the Law?: Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice,” on Friday, September 28, 2012, in the Eidman Courtroom at the University of Texas School of Law from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The event, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Department of English at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas School of Law.

A reception will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Jamail Pavilion adjacent to the Eidman Courtroom in the Law School’s John B. Connally Center. (See Maps and Directions.) The panel, which includes the performance, starts at 7:00 p.m.

This year, four panelists will discuss legal and related issues central to The Merchant of Venice. They are:

• Alan Friedman, professor of English, coordinator of Actors from the London Stage, and faculty advisor for Spirit of Shakespeare at the University of Texas at Austin
• Angela Littwin, Assistant Professor at the University of Texas School of Law
• James Loehlin, director of Shakespeare at Winedale and professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin
• James Shapiro, Larry Miller Professor of English, Columbia University

Spirit of Shakespeare (SOS) is a group of University of Texas students involved in promoting Shakespeare programs on campus and in the community. For several years now, the SOS players have performed scenes from the annual Actors from the London Stage (AFTLS) play and have helped to augment and elucidate the Shakespeare and the Law panel discussions.

Shakespeare and the Law grew out of the AFTLS residency, a familiar and regular part of the University’s Shakespeare offerings since 1999, and a conference on “The Law and Other Performing Arts” held at the Law School in 2002. AFTLS, a London-based theatrical touring company, brings its unique educational and theatrical program, which features a troupe of five classically trained actors from major English theaters, to this campus and city for week-long residencies every year.

Arts Reporting: The Bard of Winedale by Kurt Wilson, Roundtop Register

Background on Shakespeare in Winedale with an interview of program director Dr. James Loehlin and program coordinator Liz Fisher, republished by permission from

The Bard of Winedale

by Kurt Wilson

Four decades ago, two events added immeasurably to the cultural riches of Fayette County. James Dick held a classical music concert in Round Top (please see our previous issue) that was the genesis of Festival Hill, and Dr. James Ayres founded Shakespeare at Winedale. Both of these projects were encouraged and supported by Miss Ima Hogg. The similarity does not end there. Like Festival Hill, Shakespeare at Winedale has flourished and expanded its mission well beyond its beginnings. In addition to furnishing University of Texas students a chance to learn about Shakespeare through performing some of his plays before an audience, the program now runs Camp Shakespeare, a two week program wherein ten to sixteen year olds get to perform scenes from the plays for their fellows and, finally, for an audience. The emphasis for the children, as with the college-aged students, is on the learning process, not the polishing of a performance. The program, which is part of the College of Liberal Arts, also provides classroom visits and workshops for schoolchildren from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Under the direction of its founder, Shakespeare at Winedale also provides classroom teachers with professional development to enhance their language arts instruction. There is an emphasis on reaching students from lower-income communities.

Recently the Round Top Register met with Dr. James Loehlin, Director, and Liz Fisher, Program Coordinator, for Shakespeare at Winedale to ask them some of the questions that might occur to readers of this magazine.

RTR: Dr. Loehlin, when did you take over from Dr. Ayres as the director of the summer program at Winedale?

JL: My first summer was 2001, so this past summer was my tenth anniversary. Dr. Ayres ran it for the first thirty years, and I have run it for the last ten, but he is still very involved in Camp Shakespeare. He is teaching at UT this semester. Even though he is retired from UT, he comes back from time to time to teach a course.

RTR: Liz, did you start as a student in the program?

LF: I was a student in Dr. Loehlin’s first class in 2001and then came back to do another summer in 2003. I worked with our outreach program for a bit after I graduated and then became the program’s coordinator in the fall of 2008.

RTR: You perform in a barn. Was the barn already on site when you began?

JL: The barn was already there. It was part of the original property purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, renovated, and donated to the university in the 1960s. I believe the original interior structure of the barn goes back to the late Nineteenth Century. It has had significant additions and renovations since then, including many things that happened since Shakespeare at Winedale started forty years ago when Professor James Ayres began taking his students out there to perform. When he started, it was certainly a spare structure with just the hayloft, a dirt floor, and no stage. He made a number of changes to the barn over the years to make it somewhat more of a theatrical space and more along the lines of an Elizabethan theatre, but I think the original structure of the barn gives the suggestion of an Elizabethan playhouse. That was one of the reasons Doc and Miss Ima had the idea of doing Shakespeare in that space.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Henry VI, parts 2 and 3, Shakespeare at Winedale tour at University of Texas Student Activities Center, August 15 -16

Received directly:

Shakespeare at Winedale 41^st Season’s Summer Tour

presents

Henry VI parts 2 and 3

by William Shakespeare

August 15 - 16, 7:30 p.m.; tickets $15 General Admission, $10 Student/UT ID Holder

Student Activities Center Black Box Theater; University of Texas at Austin (click for map)

Tickets available at www.shakespeare-winedale.org or (512) 471-4726

Hamlet

by Willam Shakespeare

Friday, August 12, 7:30 p.m.

McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas; tickets: $20 General Admission, $10 Student/UT ID Holder

As You Like It

by William Shakespeare

August 22, 7:30 p.m. (free admission)

American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Playhouse; Staunton, VA

Like Shakespeare’s occasionally itinerant players, the 2011 Shakespeare at Winedale summer class will take their performances on the road as part of the final piece of their study of Shakespeare through performance. After concluding four weekends of public performances at the Winedale Historic Center near Round Top, TX, the troupe will perform Hamlet in Dallas, Henry VI Parts 1 and 2 at UT in Austin and As You Like It at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia. Tickets for these events may be ordered online through the Shakespeare at Winedale website: www.shakespeare-winedale.org or by contacting Liz Fisher at (512) 471-4726 or lfisher@mail.utexas.edu.

Shakespeare at Winedale Receives Outreach Grant from RBC Wealth Management

Received directly:

Shakespeare at Winedale Receives Grant from RBC Wealth Management

Shakespeare at Winedale recently received a generous $5,000 grant from the RBC Foundation- USA to fund the program’s Shakespeare Outreach program, which brings Shakespeare into the lives of deserving children in and around central Texas. Shakespeare at Winedale Outreach, housed in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas, is a Language Arts enrichment program that provides opportunities for meaningful learning and academic excellence for Texas schoolchildren in grades K-12, with a special focus on both emerging and advanced readers in grades 3 through 8, and on students in low-income communities.

“We are extremely grateful for the support that RBC has given to our program over several years,” said Shakespeare at Winedale director James Loehlin, “Shakespeare at Winedale Outreach depends on grant support to carry out our educational mission.”

The mission of the RBC Foundation- USA is to improve the quality of life in the communities where RBC Wealth Management has a business presence by supporting non-profit organizations that make a positive difference. The foundation focuses on three core areas: arts and culture, human services and youth education. The culture at RBC Wealth Management is deeply rooted in being a trusted partner of its clients and to communities the firm serves.

Shakespeare at Winedale Outreach Upcoming events include summer workshops with Austin and Gonzales youth, both culminating at Winedale. Students will explore Shakespeare with the help of the Winedale summer class. The students will have the special opportunity to perform on the barn stage as well as enjoy Winedale performances of Hamlet and As You Like It.

About RBC Wealth Management In the United States, RBC Wealth Management operates as a division of RBC Capital Markets Corporation. Founded in 1909, RBC Capital Markets, LLC. is a member of the New York Stock Exchange, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, and other major securities exchanges. RBC Wealth Management has over $183 billion of assets under administration and nearly 2,100 financial consultants operating in nearly 199 locations in 42 states. Through RBC Foundation – USA grants, charitable sponsorships, civic involvement and employee volunteerism, RBC Wealth Management gave $3.2 million to charitable causes in local communities in 2010.

Upcoming: Shakespeare, Politics and Shylock: A Political Forum, Austin Shakespeare, March 24 and 26

Received directly from www.austinshakespeare.org:

Shakespeare, Politics, and Shylock: A Political Forum

Directed by Ann Ciccolella.

Austin Shakespeare will offer scenes and discussion about “Shakespeare, Politics & Shyock”; speakers include: UT professor Dr. Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, Dr. Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute and on Thursday only: Dr. James Loehlin, Shakespeare at Winedale Regents Professor.

Jewish Community Center, 7300 Hart Lane (click for map), 8 p.m. Thurs., March 24 and

Curtain Theater, 7400 Coldwater Canyon Dr. (click for directions and map), 8 p.m., Sat., March 26

Jewish Community Center of Austin, 7300 Hart Lane, Austin, 78731

TICKETS: $35–$15; $15 for students, all performances. $10 seniors JCC.

Tickets are on sale now at nowplayingaustin.com or by calling (512) 474-8497.

Delicious Kosher treats and refreshments will be on sale at the JCC.

For Sat. March 26, Special pre-show champagne reception with speakers and actors at 7 pm.

or follow on Twitter: @austinshakes

Austin Shakespeare will offer scenes and discussion about “Shakespeare, Politics & Shyock” at both the Austin Jewish Community Center and at Richard Garriott’s Curtain Theater, which is a replica of an Elizabethan theater. Speakers include UT professor Dr. Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, Dr. Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute and, on Thursday only, Dr. James Loehlin, Shakespeare at Winedale Regents Professor.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: New Russian Drama Festival, Breaking String, Rude Mechs, Scriptworks and UT at the Off Center, January 28 - 31

Found on-line:

in association with the Rude Mechanicals and the Fusebox International Theatre Festival proudly presents

The Breaking String New Russian Drama Festival

at The Off Center 2211 Hidalgo Street, Austin, TX 78702 (click for map)

January 28th through January 31st

Thanks to support from the Center for International Theater Development and its director, Philip Arnoult, Breaking String is proud to host two of Russia’s most important contemporary playwrights: Maksym Kurochkin and Olga Mukhina.

All Festival events, except performances Flying, are free and open to the public. Join us!

Friday, January 28

• 8:00 PM: North American Premiere of Flying by Olga Mukhina, translated by John Freedman.

Saturday, January 29

• 12:30 PM: Discussion on New Russian Drama. Panelists: Olga Mukhina and Maksym Kurochkin
• 2:00 PM: Panel Discussion: New Russian Drama in Context. Panelists from the University of Texas at Austin: Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, Thomas Garza, and Seth Wolitz
• 4:00 PM: Staged Reading of YoU, by Olga Mukhina, translated by John Freedman. Directed by Liz Fisher
• 8:00 PM: Flying by Olga Mukhina, translated by John Freedman

Sunday, January 30

• 1:00 PM: Discussion of the Center for International Theatre Development's New Plays for Russia Initiative, with CITD Director Philip Arnoult
• 3:00 PM: Staged reading Repress and Excite, by Maksym Kurochkin, translated by John Freedman. Directed by James Loehlin.
• 8:00 PM: Flying by Olga Mukhina

Monday, January 31

• 6:00 PM: Austin Scriptworks Panel Discussion on new play development in Russia and the United States. With Scriptworks Director Christi Moore, Olga Mukhina and Maksym Kurochkin.

Upcoming in 2010 at Winedale and at St Ed's

News about upcoming seasons at Winedale and at the Mary Moody Northen Theatre, just received:

Dr. James Loehlin, director of the Shakespeare at Winedale program in the barn near Round Top, has scheduled

The Merchant of Venice on April 30 and May 1, 7 p.m., a presentation of the spring semester performance class.

In addition, on Saturday afternoon, May 1, the barn hosts 150 young players, drawn from third through sixth grade participants in UT's outreach programs, for a spring festival of play, followed by Eeyore's Birthday Party.

The summer program of Shakespeare at Winedale in July and August will present

Twelfth Night, Henry VI, Part I, and Macbeth

- - - -

Dr. Michael McKelvey greeted the opening night audience for City of Angels at the Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward's University, with an announcement of an expanded five-play season for 2010 - 2011 and an invitation to purchase season tickets. Coming up:

The Imaginary Invalid by Molière, directed by David Long

September 16 - 26

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, directed by Michelle Polgar

November 11 - 21

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl

February 3 - 13

On the Verge by Eric Overmyer, including student works

March 3 - 13

Carousel by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, directed by Michael McKelvey

based on Ferenc Molnár’s play Liliom

April 7 - 17

(Note: the St. Edward's drama program regularly uses guest artists from Actor's Equity, a performance and preparation bonus both for theatre students and for the audience.)

Cymbeline, Shakespeare at Winedale, July 18 - August 9

Shakespeare wrote at least 36 plays over a period of about twenty years, beginning about 1591 with the histories of Henry VI and Richard III. Cymbeline, a historical fantasy about early Britons facing Roman legions, was among his last works. There's a mention of it in an account dated 1610, five years before Shakespeare's death, but it was not published until the 1623 Folio edition of collected plays.

You won't get the chance to see it very often. Or in most university courses to read it, either, unless your professor is a fanatic for completion. So the fans of Shakespeare at Winedale have another reason to appreciate the choices and the productions of that rigorous program.

Shakespeare presents a happy mishmash of history and fantasy, combining a chastity intrigue involving the daughter of the mythic king of the southern tribes of Britain with a time-shifted account of the Roman battle to conquer the isle. He probably wrote this entertainment not too long after producing his series of Roman plays, and it could be viewed as a nationalist continuation of events from Antony and Cleopatra.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Richard III, Shakespeare at Winedale, July 16 - August 9

Shakespeare at Winedale is most of the way through its July 16 - August 9 summer season of three plays done by students accepted for its "Shakespeare boot camp." Those of us who attended last Saturday afternoon's performance of Richard III saw the cast gather in a circle and heard them chanting vocal exercises, a prep to get the blood racing for their performance.

The barn at Winedale has been the performance locale since 1970. One is reminded of the traditions by photos, story telling, a succession of painted wooden cows from recent years and by the extensively reserved front rows, saved for patrons, participants and alumni of the program. We of the general public could claim any vacant seats with a tidy little card from the box office, starting an hour before the performance.

You'd think that 100+ degree temperatures would be killing, but you'd be wrong. There was a hot wind blowing, but although the barn is open-sided, it is cooled by surprisingly effective air conditioning. Enough cool air flows down from the rafters to keep the audience sweat free. And the play is gripping.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: UT Nilsson Lecture on Tom Stoppard, April 1

From UT news, March 30:

Fourth Annual Nilsson Lecture Features Performance

AUSTIN, Texas — The fourth annual David O. Nilsson Lecture in Contemporary Drama takes on meta-theatre as noted stage actors tackle scenes from Tom Stoppard's playful play about plays, "The Real Thing."

"'The Real Thing' in Real Time: An Interactive Performance/Discussion of Tom Stoppard" will take place at 5:45 p.m. on April 1 at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, and is hosted by the University of Texas Libraries and the Fine Arts Library.

British actors Eunice Roberts ("Inspector Morse," "Twelfth Night," "Tartuffe") and Matthew Radford ("Macbeth," "One for the Road," Austin Shakespeare) join Austin's David Stahl ("Richard III," "Gross Indecency," "A Macbeth") onstage, with commentary by Dr. James Loehlin, director of Shakespeare at Winedale, and Department of English faculty member Dr. Kurt Heinzelman.

Alternating performance and discussion will present a uniquely interactive evening of drama.

The David O. Nilsson Lecture was founded through the generosity of Dr. David O. Nilsson, a retired mathematics instructor at The University of Texas at Austin, scholar and Henrik Ibsen aficionado.

Past lectures have featured the Swedish novelist Lars Gustaffson (speaking on paradox in Ibsen's "The Wild Duck") and a panel of local playwrights, including internationally renowned Kirk Lynn and Keene Prize winner George Brant (discussing the state and fate of theater).

A reception precedes the event beginning at 5 p.m. Free and open to the public.