The largest-ever
American theater tour of Shakespeare’s plays is on its way
to Boone.
The Shakespeare in American Communities tour will stop by Appalachian
State University on Oct. 15. The Aquila Theatre Company of New York
University will perform “Othello” in Farthing Auditorium.
Other stops in North Carolina include two dates in Durham at Duke
University and one in Asheville.
In the biggest and most complex production to be sponsored by the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the tour covers 100 small
and medium-sized communities in all 50 states, including more than
1,000 high schools and 16 military bases.
“We’re bringing the finest productions of Shakespeare
on a broad based tour through the U.S. for over fourteen months,”
Dana Gioia, chairman of the NEA, said. “We wouldn’t be
adding much by going into big cities where theaters are already
established.”
The goal of the tour is to ignite interest not only in Shakespeare,
but also in the American tradition of acting troupes touring the
country.
“It has become too expensive to tour. Hopefully with this event
we can try to recreate American touring circuits,” Gioia said.
At each stop, the tour will hold special activities, including artistic
and technical workshops, open forums and educational programs.
The NEA is also hoping that with this tour professional theaters
will become more common by inspiring a whole new generation of play
enthusiasts.
Six acting companies from around the United States and one company
from Vietnam make up the tour, performing a wide range of Shakespeare
plays, including “Julius Caesar,” “King Lear,”
and the first English and Vietnamese production of “Much Ado
About Nothing.”
“Shakespeare was one of the authors who formed American civilization
and the most influential and most widely performed playwright in
the 19th century, and he is still being taught in classrooms today,”
Gioia said. |
