EAST LANSING, Mich. — The largest classical repertory theater in North America, the world-renowned Stratford Festival of Canada, will visit Michigan State University and Wharton Center for Performing Arts from Oct. 30-Nov. 2 for the first of several annual teaching and performing residencies in East Lansing.
The visiting company will include nearly a dozen actors, artistic director Richard Monette, designer John Pennoyer and senior marketing director Anita Gaffney.
Events open to the public include:
Monday, Oct. 30, 7:30-8:30 p.m.
World View Lecture: Richard Monette
Pasant Theatre, Wharton Center
Tickets available through the Wharton Center box office
(1-800-WHARTON or 432-2000; http://www.whartoncenter.com)
Public $20.00; faculty, staff and students with ID in person at the box office free
Tuesday, Oct. 31, 4-5 p.m.
Panel discussion with Stratford Festival actors
Fairchild Theatre, MSU Auditorium Building
Free; no tickets required
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 8-10 p.m.
Readings of new Canadian works by Stratford Festival actors
Fairchild Theatre, MSU Auditorium Building
Free; no tickets required
The Stratford Festival residency will provide MSU students with the opportunity to meet professional theater artists, gain insight into the creative process and explore the works of William Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams. Three different tracks geared to various fields of study will offer participatory learning activities, including master classes and lecture-demonstrations on topics ranging from stage combat, arts marketing and costume design to figurative language, history in performance and set design.
The residency expands on Wharton Center’s tradition of offering master classes, workshops, lectures and other learning opportunities that enhance the understanding and appreciation of performing arts. The residency is a collaboration among diverse academic units including the College of Arts and Letters (the Department of Theatre and the Department of English), the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, the Honors College and James Madison College.
In the Department of Theatre, for example, students in all acting classes are studying one of two plays that are part of the current Stratford Festival season: William Shakespeare’s “Henry IV, Part 1” and Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.” Working with Stratford Festival actors, students in Classical Acting will learn verse analysis of Shakespeare text with a monologue from “Henry IV” while students in Contemporary Acting will prepare scenes from “The Glass Menagerie.” Theater design courses are using “The Glass Menagerie” as the basis for projects that will be shown to Stratford Festival designers for feedback.
Several faculty members in the Department of English are incorporating the visit into their literature courses.
For additional information about the Stratford Festival residency, visit the Wharton Center’s Web site at http://www.whartoncenter.com.
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