Birthday Party at the Folger

Today was the Folger Shakespeare Library's open house in celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday, and it was a gorgeous day indeed.

Here are some of my photos, including a few future Shakespeare Readers! (We live in hope....)

please credit all photos: C. G. Wagner, Shakespeare Readers

On stage at Folger Theatre, this gentleman has participated in the "spontaneous Shakespeare" readings for 50 years.

The Folger Shakespeare Library's reading room is open to the public in honor of Shakespeare's birthday.

In Bard we Trust!

Geraldine Braun

We were saddened to learn of the passing earlier this month of one of the Shakespeare Readers' charter members, Geraldine "Gerry" Braun.

Gerry was a great fan of all things Shakespeare, a lover of the arts, and a kind-hearted friend. She will be greatly missed.

Gerry Braun, at the Kennedy Center.

A memorial will be held Thursday, April 3, at 11 a.m. at the Church of the Annunciation, 3810 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016. 

To sing a requiem and such rest to her
As to peace-parted souls.

Update April 3 ~ a beautiful service. Goodbye, Gerry!

Shakespeare Readers, 2012-2013 Season

The SHAKESPEARE READERS of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area meets once a month to read aloud one play in its entirety. No memorization required; simply bring your own standard copy of the selected play. All participants have equal opportunity to use your voice! It's "Shakespeare without tears."

Where: Note, new location, through 2012 only! American University's Bender Library, Room 115 (Training and Events Room on first floor).

Campus Map (PDF)
Parking in the lot at Nebraska and New Mexico avenues is free on Sunday.
Metro riders: Use the Blue Shuttle from Metro-Tenleytown.

When: Note, new time! 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

2012-2013 season schedule:

Sunday, Sept. 16: LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST
Sunday, Oct. 14: OTHELLO
Sunday, Nov. 11: WINTER'S TALE

UPDATE, OCT. 10: Readings at AU Library have been cancelled. Future events will be by invitation. Please check the DC-Area Shakespeare Explorers Meet-Up group for further information.

We're still scouting possible new homes for the 2013 half of this season. Please stay tuned!

In Bard We Trust,
Cindy Wagner
Director, Shakespeare Readers
hosaajoy 'at' gmail.com

Message from The Shakespeare Theatre Company

Received by e-mail this morning:

Dear Friend,

I am writing to you today to let you know about a legal issue we are currently addressing in regard to the Lansburgh Theatre, our home for the past 20 years.

For some time now we have been in negotiations with the management company that oversees the Lansburgh Theatre regarding our rent. Thus far we have been unable to resolve the issue and therefore, as a last resort, have filed a lawsuit this week including a request that the court issue an injunction so that we may continue to perform at the Lansburgh Theatre.

The particulars of the issues are complicated, so I’d like to offer a bit of detail about the creation of the Lansburgh Theatre. In 1992, the developer of the Lansburgh apartment building gained the development rights from the city of D.C. in exchange for building and donating the Lansburgh Theatre for use solely by the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Also established was Lansburgh Theatre, Inc (LTI) a specialized non-profit charity that only exists to support STC and serve as our landlord. By law, as long as the Shakespeare Theatre Company performs its charitable purpose, LTI lacks the power to terminate either STC’s status as the supported organization or STC's/our right to occupy the Lansburgh Theatre.

In the current dispute, LTI has demanded a rent increase of 700%, a demand that we feel is unfounded given the unique relationship of an organization that exists only to support STC. Additionally, through these discussions, it has become very clear that LTI is not operating and abiding by the charter by which it was created and the best course of action was to allow a court to resolve these matters.

We are very confident that a judge will honor STC’s long standing and clear rights to perform at the Lansburgh Theatre. Please be assured, this will not affect any of our current performances and the best thing for you to do is support STC in the same ways you have for the past 25 years. If you are a theatre-goer, keep subscribing and attending performances and if you are a donor (or want to become one), we are grateful for your continued contributions.

We will update our website with any new information and will be sure to send out updates to you as we progress in resolving this matter.

Thank you for your continued support.

Chris Jennings
Managing Director
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Merry Falstaff of Windsor

Next up on my cultural calendar is Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare Theatre Company's beautiful Sidney Harman Hall. I also scheduled a Meet-Up for an upcoming performance and hope to meet some of my fellow D.C.-area Shakespeare Explorers.

Because the Shakespeare Readers' season has ended, I haven't had the opportunity to read this play in advance. So I did a quick search for plot summaries and came away frustrated and confused by pedestrian descriptions of Shakespeare's plot-twisted humor.

What you need to know: Falstaff is in it. Everyone wants to marry Anne, Falstaff needs money, tricks are attempted, tables are turned, and Anne marries the one she wants. STC calls MWOW "A bawdy and riotous romp," a genre at which this venue excels.

And scrolling through the cast list, I see a couple of names I recognize as actors who will ensure this riotously rompy outcome: Tom Story (of whom I have written previously in Hosaa's Blog) portraying Doctor Caius, and Hugh Nees, a DC-theater veteran from way back, portraying Nym. (I once dated a friend of Hugh's, and he almost performed in a reading of one of my plays. Almost. His friend and I stopped dating before the reading was to occur. I don't hold that against Hugh.)

L-R: Kurt Rhoads (as "Page") and Hugh Nees ("Nym") in rehearsal for the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s 'The Merry Wives of Windsor,' directed by Stephen Rayne. Photo by Nicole Geldart.

Well, now, this preview is becoming a bit Shakespearean in its plot twists. Till next week ...

In Bard We Trust -
Cindy

The Spring of the Shrew

"I come to wive it wealthily in Padua!" (I,ii) 

The final reading of our 2011-12 season is Taming of the Shrew, which has been a popular selection among theater makers this year. Productions have recently closed in London and New York, and Synetic's rendering at Shakespeare Theatre Company's Lansburgh Theatre closes April 22.

And there is still time to see Kate and Petruchio mix it up in Vancouver at Bard on the Beach's Shakespeare Festival and, closer to home, at Folger Shakespeare Library's Elizabethan Theatre.

The lady may "lose" this particular skirmish in the age-old battle of the sexes, but Petruchio's approach is more like the breaking of a bronco or, as he implies, the training of his falcon. Domestication of the shrew, he would argue, is in both partners' long-term interest.

Ay, and amid this hurly I intend
That all is done in reverend care of her;
And in conclusion she shall watch all night:
And if she chance to nod I'll rail and brawl
And with the clamour keep her still awake.
This is a way to kill a wife with kindness;
And thus I'll curb her mad and headstrong humour.
He that knows better how to tame a shrew,
Now let him speak: 'tis charity to show.

I confess, though, I prefer a more literal interpretation of the phrase "to kill with kindness."

What: Taming of the Shrew full text (courtesy of MIT)
When: Sunday, May 6, 2012, 1 to 4 p.m.
Where: American University's Bender Library, Room 306
What else: The attending Readers are invited to propose selections for the 2012-13 season, so bring your Complete Works!
RSVP:  Cindy Wagner, e-mail hosaajoy 'at' gmail.com

In Bard We Trust!

"Good Night, Sweet Prince"

Peter F. Warker





The Shakespeare Readers have lost one of our finest voices. A friend writes:

I bear sad tidings. Our dear friend and reader, Peter Warker, passed away on March 30. His death notice was in today's POST. Fortunately, I was able to get over and visit with him for an hour on March 13 at his assisted living facility, Bartholomew House, in Potomac. Joann Dann was there at the time; how wonderful to see her again too.
...
Peter was a prince of a fellow. He preceded even me at the Palisades so he must have been attending for a pretty long time. His death was peaceful, he had had his morphine shot, a favorite helper was with him, he made a sound and then drifted off. Good night, sweet prince.

... and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.