actors shakespeare project

By James Foritano Shakespeare must have felt himself to be living in an increasingly and perilously fast-paced society when he penned A Midsummer Night’s Dream — still one of his most popular comedies in 1595-96. Earlier in that rumbustious century, England’s Henry VIII decided that he couldn’t abide an Italian pope telling him what he could and couldn’t do in his own marriage bed. So, Henry nationalized not only divorce laws but religion and all its far-reaching properties in England — thank you very much. Actors’ Shakespeare Project is presenting Shakespeare’s masterpiece through early June in a production directed by Patrick Swanson. In this classic favorite of the season, Theseus, the duke of Athens, in Shakespeare’s parable of his own life and times, is also in a hurry to wed his intended, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Recent antagonists on the battlefield though … [Read more...] about Actors’ Shakespeare Project presents: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Multicultural Arts Center

By James Foritano Cambridge, Mass. - As usual, the Actors’ Shakespeare Project performed brilliantly on the stage of the Central Square YMCA in the current production of Richard II during its Feb. 21 performance. The house was fortuitously configured so that villains could be spotlighted in high places performing dastardly deeds like the strangulation, in his sleep, of the noble Gloucester. And soldiers, courtiers, priests and nobles could thread themselves though the aisles of the audience breathing hot revenge, sorrow, despair and other mightily theatrical emotions. For me, both in his acting and in his pivotal role in the action, the star was Robert Walsh’s Duke of York. The Duke’s role was to salvage not only Richard II’s throne and kingdom, but the very sanctity and awe of kingship. In the case of Richard, such a rescue mission was bound to fail. Being king in … [Read more...] about Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s Richard II at Cambridge YMCA

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