Mary Baldwin University Shakespeare and Performance

11/01/2024

While Austin may be a first-year MLitt student, there's nothing new for him when it comes to Mary Baldwin! Austin is a BaMLitt student completing his final year of undergrad in MBU's theatre program while simultaneously starting his first year with S&P! You may recognize him from the MBU undergraduate theatre's production of CUPID AND PSYCHE that performed last year. Outside of school, you can find Austin creating his next DnD character ready to jump into a new campaign.

10/31/2024

Something thesis-related this way comes. . .it's Thesis Festival for our second-year MLitt students! There will be three sessions of presentations: Considering Craft, Reconsidering Relations, and Subverting Structures. Our student presenters will spend 15 minutes discussing their research and then have a 5 minute facilitated Q&A session with the community. Join us at the Blackfriars Playhouse this Monday 9:00am - 5:30pm. Have no fear, there will be an hour long lunch break and a three hour dinner break between sessions. Come hear our MLitt students share their scholarly efforts!

10/25/2024

Everyone say a warm hello to Rachael! Rachael has been busy performing in several scenes this semester for the Directing Class, and we are all excited to see her perform as Cassius in the upcoming Directing Showcase on December 9th! When off the stage, you can catch Rachael baking sweet treats for her fellow cohort members.

10/24/2024

Where does the magic happen? Here! In Gray's thesis - an exploration of the use of beds on the early modern stage. Currently, second-year students are preparing for the upcoming MLitt Thesis Festival at the Blackfriars Playhouse on November 4th. There, students will have the opportunity to share their thesis research, answer questions, and celebrate their ongoing work with the community. We hope to see you there!

10/18/2024

It's Halloween season, which is Madeleine's time of year because she loves pumpkins! She is supporting the S&P community by being involved in some Directing Class scenes this semester. You can usually find Madeleine enjoying cozy sweaters and sipping on coffee, preferably if it's pumpkin flavored.

10/17/2024

Our very own Matt Davies has been busy traveling between S&P and Transylvania this semester as the director for the American Shakespeare Center's production of DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS. The Pay-What-You-Will performance is tonight at the Blackfriars Playhouse starting at 7:30pm, and it officially opens tomorrow evening; the show runs until November 24th! S&P's Doreen Bechtol also choreographed some of the fantastical movement for the production. So, take a quick trip to Dracula's castle this October and see some of our faculty's supernatural skills on stage.

10/11/2024

Meet Irene! Irene has jumped right into the S&P community by acting in Directing Class scenes, and will also be performing in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW shadow cast as Janet at the Visulite Cinema on October 24th!

10/10/2024

As we celebrate the Streetlight MFA's recent opening of education shows, we want to take a quick stroll down memory lane and revisit a time when S&P reveled in the joy of PERICLES. Here you can see the REN 531 production from 2022, featuring many students who would go on to be a part of the Meadowlark Shakespeare Players MFA company.

10/04/2024

Starting off our First Year Friday, say hello to Austin! We have a large incoming cohort of grad students this year who have enthusiastically jumped into a variety of artistic roles to support the S&P community. You can see some of Austin's directorial work for a RICHARD II scene during the end-of-semester S&P Directing Showcase (more details to come).

10/03/2024

Say hello to Joan! Our second-year MLitt students have been reading and free-writing for their thesises the past few weeks, and now, they are integrating academic references into their work. Keep your eyes out for Joan's exploration of musical dramaturgy at the S&P Thesis Festival later this year. If you want to learn more about early modern music before Joan's presentation, join us this Friday for Dr. Simon Smith's 2:00pm S&P workshop at the Wharf and his 5:00pm lecture at the Blackfriars Playhouse for Friday Night Lights On!

09/27/2024

The S&P community welcomes guest artist Simon Smith. Dr. Smith is offering us two—yes, two!—early modern music workshops! They both will take place on 10/4, the first at 2:00pm in the Wharf, the second at 5:00pm for Friday Night Lights On at the Blackfriars Playhouse.

To name only a few of his achievements: Dr. Smith works on early modern theatre, music, and sensory culture. He has worked as a historical music, theatre and language consultant for Shakespeare’s Globe, the BBC, the Independent and the RSC. Current projects include an edition of TWELFTH NIGHT for Cambridge Shakespeare Editions, a Leverhulme-funded monograph on early modern theatre audiences, THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO SHAKESPEARE & SOUND (with Carla Della Gatta), and a short book, SHAKESPEARE AND MUSIC, for the ‘Oxford Shakespeare Topics’ series.

Come on down and bring your instruments and voices!

09/25/2024

Join Streetlight Shakespeare Ensemble () for a double feature of their educational shows, PERICLES and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING!

Get your tickets through the link in our bio. Performances will begin at 5:30 PM on Monday, September 30th and Tuesday, October 1st at the Wharf. One ticket will give you access to both shows. There will be a 30-minute intermission between productions to stretch your legs.

09/24/2024

A hearty welcome back S&P! What better way to kick off our semester than by introducing our new MFA cohort, Streetlight Shakespeare Ensemble!

Streetlight has been busy since August laying their foundational groundwork through intense physical training and devising with Prof. Doreen Bechtol and Prof. Molly Seremet. The past three weeks this ensemble has been rehearsing their educational touring show MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and their theatre for young audiences show PERICLES.

Wish them all the luck and be sure to follow their instagram () for details about their productions and events.

09/09/2024

https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/why-is-co-directing-becoming-much-more-common-in-us-theatre-a-wonderful-world-christopher-renshaw-james-monroe-iglehart-christina-sajous
"...the more collaborative idea of shows being steered not by a singular aesthetic but a more varied look and approach is something that may become more frequent, as the same idea of sharing has come into play with the artistic and management leadership of institutional theatres as well. Perhaps the concept of singular stewards is giving way to a broader team approach."

The directing credit for new Broadway musical A Wonderful World is being shared by three people – Christopher Renshaw, James Monroe Iglehart and Christina Sajous

05/17/2024

What a semester! What a year!

From the first year capstone production of TWO NOBLE KINSMEN to pop culture inspired second year showcase productions to all the amazing shows produced by the MFA and of course the brilliant thesis projects our students produced and defended, we are once again so impressed by the work our students have done over the last year.

Enjoy this little walk down memory lane and share some of your favorite moments from the semester and year in the comments!

05/15/2024

We are so excited to announce a project that has been three years in the making: The S&P Content Notification Archive, which includes content notification list for each of Shakespeare's plays!

This resource, spearheaded by graduating MFA student Jean Roche, will help increase accessibility for Shakespeare's works by letting audiences make fully informed decisions about how they engage with his plays.

05/10/2024

Curious about the 90s q***r scene inspired AS YOU LIKE IT our students are performing this weekend? Meet the dramaturg: Tommy Hegarty!

Dramaturgs work with directors to build out and understand the world of the play, giving audiences and actors tools to engage with the story. That could look like all sorts of work, from providing glosses for unfamiliar phrases to conducting research about a time period, like Tommy did for this show!

Read the post to learn more and come to show Monday and Sunday at 7:30pm at the Wharf! Reserve tickets through the link in our bio.

05/03/2024

Some of our students will be crashing this party and joining the ASC's musical celebration!

More party than concert, Band Candy is one of the best nights in town. We'd love for you to join our students at the ASC tomorrow night and be sure to check out the rest of the Staunton Jams events!

Last chance! Tomorrow (Saturday May 4) at 7:30 PM our Spring Season acting troupe is gathering at the Blackfriars Playhouse for Band Candy Concert 2024, a fundraiser like no other—and we want YOU there! With live music at the heart of each production, Band Candy is an ASC tradition to raise funds for the repair and maintenance of our cherished musical instrument collection.

Come enjoy a fabulous concert filled with music from the Spring Season, never-before-heard song covers that almost made the cut, original music from actor Aidan O'Reilly's new album, as well as additional songs from our featured musical guests: Mary Baldwin University Shakespeare and Performance's Meadowlark Shakespeare Players. Help us keep the music alive for years to come!

Get tickets >> https://americanshakespearecenter.com/events/band-candy-2024/

05/03/2024

The semester may be winding down, but that doesn't mean things are quiet!

In addition to their May Term class figuring out what their thesis projects are going to be, some of our first year students have decided to produce a final show of the year: AS YOU LIKE IT. This production, directed by Megan Parlett and Becca Westbrook, invites you to the Forest of Arden: not a wooded space with trees, but instead a grungy 90s bar where you can explore questions of love, family, and identity with this motley assembly of characters.

Visit our Events Hub in the linktree for more details and to reserve your seat!

04/26/2024

Tonight is the final staged reading from the Meadowlark Shakespeare Players!

This new work is written and directed by graduating MFA student Jacob Laitinen.

TALES FROM THE GHOSTLIGHT is a play that tries to explain why every old theatre seems to have a ghost or two roaming the halls. After a performance of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, we find Puck back on stage long after the doors have closed. Puck is introduced to a band of Shakespearean characters known as Echoes. Not long after their introduction, Puck and the group are forced to search for a lost friend in a race against encroaching darkness. Equal parts comedy and ghost story, TALES FROM THE GHOSTLIGHT plays with the idea that performances leave a lasting impression on the theater, as well as the audience.

Find details through the link in our bio!

04/25/2024

The Spring Semester may be over, but the year isn't yet! Our students are busy in the midst of May Term--an intensive three week term that allows students to classes that are a focused deep dive into a topic.

That means our first year students are taking Thesis Symposium with Dr. Pete Kirwan where they will create a road map for their MLitt thesis project. Our rising MFA students are in the midst of a collaboration crash course with Prof. Doreen Bechtol and Prof. Molly Seremet, as they determine what sort of company they want to be for their MFA year.

And finally, we've got a mix of current students and alumni taking clown with Kate Eastwood Norris! She is an expert in Cross Gender Casting, Comic Theory and Practice, and Depth Psychology and Creativity, and she was recognized for outstanding work as a DC theatre practitioner by being one of the recipients of the 2022 Anderson Hopkins Award for Excellence in Theatre Arts.

Her class is a comprehensive study of clown practice with an emphasis on performance-based learning. From Kate: “A willingness to rush towards embarrassment while supporting others in that artistic risk is mandatory.”

04/18/2024

We've got another exciting new work staged reading happening this Friday at the Wharf!

HERO DOGBERRY is a contemporary work by S&P Alumni Monica Cross.

Plot Overview: Hero and Beatrice have been masquerading as the constable of the night watch, Dogberry, and his deputy, Verges, while all the able bodied men of Messina have been away in the Princes' civil war. When the men come home from battle, Hero plans to put her disguise away forever in favor of making a vow of "til death do us part." But when she is accused of adultery at the altar, she puts on her disguise once more to discover the truth.

Reserve seats and find more details through the link in our bio!

04/16/2024

Tonight we have our Directing Showcase featuring work from students in Directing for the Early Modern Stage, taught by one of our guest instructors: Kelley McKinnon!

Her training includes Boston Conservatory of Music, individual voice with Lynda Sharman, acting and directing with John Basil, Shakespeare with John Basil and Patrick Tucker, and more combat and dance classes than she cares to list.

Throughout her 35 year career in and around NYC (including national tours, off and off-off Broadway acting and directing, and tv and film work), she also worked with the American Shakespeare Center and subsequently earned an MFA from Mary Baldwin, where she discovered her passion for teaching.

Besides teaching for Shakespeare and Performance, Kelley spent 5 years in China as the head of an international drama festival and is about to embark on her 12th year as adjunct professor in acting for NYU Tisch summer intensive.

The Directing Showcase is open to the public, happening tonight at 7:30pm at the Blackfriars Playhouse!

04/13/2024

Want a better idea of what final preparations for a show looks like? Pay attention to our stories over the next couple days as Becca Westbrook and Matthias Bolon give us a behind the scenes look for the opening of THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN.

And don't forget to reserve your seats through the link in our bio!

04/12/2024

MEET THE CAST! And check out some fun rehearsal photos while you're at it!

In addition to these performance roles, the students also take on the production roles for the show, from fight team to publicity and marketing to stage management, so it has been a busy semester for everyone!

Don't miss your only chance to see what all that hard work has accomplished: THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN has its one-night-only pay what you will performance at the Blackfriars Playhouse on April 15! Find tickets and details through the link in our bio.