“How I have been transformed”

I first came to Staunton to try the ASC’s summer camp, at the time called YCTC, purely out of curiosity… I had done a bit of film and voice acting before, and I had read/enjoyed Hamlet in my British Literature class, but YCTC introduced me to the world of PERFORMING Shakespeare and brought the magic of theatre to me like I had never seen it before… needless to say, my life would never be the same.

The friends, connections and experiences I gained under the tutelage of the ASC’s amazing crew of actors and academics were invaluable, and I loved the experience so much that, when I heard Stuart Hall (the building YCTC was held in that year) had a Shakespearean acting program in cooperation with the Blackfriars Playhouse, I ended up moving from my home in VA Beach all the way to Staunton just to go there.

In my time there I played Richard III, Oberon, and even some parts in an MFA production of Timon of Athens; and the summer after I graduated I had the opportunity to play Charles IX in a production of A Massacre in Paris at the Blackfriars Playhouse for the American Marlowe Society’s annual conference, a once in a lifetime experience I cherish to this day.

The friends and memories I’ve made through Shakespeare are the best I’ve ever had, and getting to bring these amazing stories to life for a modern audience, on the Blackfriars Playhouse stage no less, was a dream come true for me. As a dedicated ASC audience member, it would always make my day when the actors from the ASC would come to support our productions, as well!

My time in Staunton has transformed me in every way, and it’s all been because of the ASC. The Shakespearean scholars and enthusiasts I’ve had the amazing privilege of working with here at such a young age have given me an entirely different outlook on my craft and on my life. The feeling of taking on a myriad of pages that to many are just a bunch of fancy words, becoming the historical heroes and devils on those pages, and turning the whole thing into a moving breathing performance that makes people who have never understood Shakespeare say they loved it and understood every word… that’s one of the best feelings in the world, and I can think of nothing more exhilarating to do for the rest of my life.

I’ve gone from wandering aimlessly to knowing I want a career doing Renaissance theatre, and my experiences here have given me the confidence and knowledge to tackle that goal head-on. I’m currently pursuing a degree in Pre-Professional Acting at Emory and Henry College, and it makes my day whenever I see someone walk by me on campus wearing an ASC shirt.

I only hope that when I graduate I can get a job living in the Bard’s world again, and that someday I can have the amazing honor of bringing the magic of Shakespeare to a new generation of actors and dreamers in the life changing way the ASC did for me. Thanks to everyone involved with the ASC for all you’ve done and continue to do in my life!

– Rob Cantrell

Enjoying Every Shakespeareance

Longtime Shakespeare fans who have taken in productions everywhere my wife’s Air Force career took us, we heard of the then Shenandoah Shakespeare and its Blackfriars Playhouse from my nephew when my wife was assigned to the Pentagon in 2004. We fell in love with the theater, and the quality of the acting blew us away – it was on par with anything we’d seen in London, New York, Chicago and the Stratfords.

It was Pyramus’ death by foot odor that hooked us. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bottom playing Pyramus in the spirit of great overacting used all sorts of mechanisms to kill himself, but then the actor crawled across the stage to a woman on one of the gallant stools who had taken off her shoes. Bottom picked up the shoe, put it to his nose and inhaled deeply, then fell over dead. That is the essence of the Blackfriars Playhouse experience: great acting and great interacting with the audience creating singularly great moments.

My wife was transferred to Utah soon after, but when, upon her retirement, we moved back to the DC area, one of the first things we did was reconnect with the now American Shakespeare Center, where we found that the talent level had reached an even higher level of sustained excellence.  And their dedication to text-centric productions takes Shakespeare himself to a higher level of sustained excellence, too.

– Eric Minton of Shakespeareances.com

Shakespeare Without Borders

I first saw the travelling troupe when they were still called the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express and I was an English undergraduate at the University of Ottawa. That was about 20 years ago. I had read A Midsummer Night’s Dream in high school but had no idea how funny it could be until I saw the SSE perform it and my cheeks hurt from laughing. That’s the performance from university that stands out for me.

Last March, my husband, 10-year-old daughter, and my in-laws visited Staunton. We saw all three plays: Julius Caesar, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and Henry VIII. I’ll never forget the look on my daughter’s face as Caesar was ‘killed’ right in front her. She’s hooked.

I had such a great time that I went back in April for a teachers’ weekend. It was the best Professional Development of my teaching career. I’ve shared what I’ve learned with some colleagues and built it into my classes. The ASC’s techniques make Shakespeare’s characters and plots come alive – even in a classroom.

The closest place the travelling troupe gets to my house is Canton, N.Y. We’ll be making the trip to see them as often as we can.

– Tania Meldrum

“Met together to rehearse a play”

On Sunday June 18th, 2006, I arrived in Staunton for my first day at what was then called YCTC, or Young Company Theatre Camp.  With no idea who anyone was, and no idea what I was in store for, I headed for the Blackfriars Playhouse for the first of many times.

Doreen Bechtol led the 36 of us through some basic viewpoints exercises, and as the evening drew to a close, she asked us to pick a place in the theatre and to speak a line of Shakespeare.  At some point, one of the campers said the first line of Puck’s last speech from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “If we shadows have offended.”

The next camper to take his place said the next line: “Think but this and all is mended.”

The next person the next line, and the noise and the energy grew.  By the end of the speech, we were standing all over the theatre, all speaking together, the words ringing out through the space.  We all knew the words, of course.  Many of us were strangers, but right then it couldn’t have mattered less.

That was the beginning of the greatest summers of my life.  I would never give up a moment of the fifteen weeks I spent as a teenager in Staunton rehearsing, performing, learning, and growing through art I am proud of and friends I still hold dear.

The Blackfriars Playhouse and its devotees have shaped my life permanently, and for those gifts I can’t thank the ASC enough.

– Jessie Cohen

Growing up with the ASC

My son Philip saw his first Shakespeare play when he was about eight years old, at a performance of Shenandoah Shakespeare Express at the JMU Arboretum.  We sat on tarp-covered hay bales.  The actors wore black shirts and pants, and used minimal props- masks, wands, cloaks – to convey the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  He was enchanted.  A few weeks later, I went to the library and borrowed the classic film version of the play, and invited him to watch with me.  There was wonderful scenery, fancy costumes, and famous actors.  He lasted ten minutes, and left.  When I asked him why he didn’t want to watch any more of the play he had previously enjoyed, he told me, “Mommy, I liked the real-people one better.”

So we kept on going to “real-people” Shakespeare.  When he was thirteen or so, we went to a rollicking performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor that had us laughing so hard our sides hurt.  Afterwards, he asked me, “Are there any Shakespeare comedies that we haven’t seen yet?”  I told him that there were still a few, but I would make sure that we would see them all.  And we have.

Philip had his favorites among the actors in the resident troop, and could discourse knowledgeably about who played which part when, and how the actors developed over the years.  He’s now 22 and living in Boston, but he still enjoys Shakespeare plays.  And when he comes home to visit, we always make a point of seeing a play at the Blackfriars Playhouse.

– Ruth Chodrow