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SIGNATURE THEATRE PRESENTS ORIGINAL PLAY SHAKESPEARE, WILL PERFORMED AND TECHED BY STUDENTS FROM ARLINGTON’S WAKEFIELD HIGH SCHOOL
Arlington Students in Signature in the Schools Learn from Professional Playwright and Designers
Free Public Performance of Shakespeare, Will Offered on March 15, at 7:30 pm in Signature’s MAX Theatre
Arlington, VA – On March 15 at 7:30 pm, Signature Theatre’s award-winning educational program, Signature in the Schools, will present a free performance of Shakespeare, Will, a new one-act play by Joe Calarco performed by students from Arlington’s Wakefield High School. In the play, students from an all-girls school accidently invoke a young Will Shakespeare. Finding that his conjurers know more about his work than he does, Shakespeare gains confidence that his destiny is to create immortal characters and reveal timeless truths. His doubting wife, Anne Hathaway, follows him into the future to challenge his aspirations, and in confronting her, young “Will” becomes the “William” of his dreams.
Signature in the Schools is currently in its 15th year of producing world premiere plays that introduce high school actors and crews to professional theater. Each year a different historical or literary subject is explored, and for Shakespeare, this year’s topic, playwright Calarco set out to reverse the conception that Shakespeare's work is dull and reveal the excitement of Elizabethan language to a modern, hip audience.
Wakefield’s student actors include Houda Bekkali, Irene Casey, Jamé Jackson, Alexis Lodsun, Jocelyn Magsumbol, John “Waffles” Morgan, Lintle Motsoasele, and Loreal Watts. Production stage manager Max Rosenberg and backstage manager Amanda Smith are both freshmen at Wakefield. Additional students from Wakefield High School comprise the 2010 technical crew. TC Williams High School senior Brenda Nascimento is also in the cast.
For tickets to Shakespeare, Will, please call the Signature Box Office at (703) 820-9971.
The annual production of an original play is a highlight of the Signature in the Schools program. Students are given unique opportunity to be part of the new play development process, while collaborating with a professional playwright. A professional director, actor, and designers act as mentors and guide the students through their production. In addition to public performances, the student actors also present five matinee performances for their peers in high schools across the region. Each student who attends a production receives an in-depth resource guide, researched and written by Signature’s Education Director Marcia Gardner. Gardner also visits many classrooms, where she teaches students to explore history and theater and enact a scene from the play.
The student cast of Shakespeare, Will started rehearsals in December. In January, playwright Joe Calarco spent three days with the students forming a revised script. Joined by professional actress Anne Veal, the cast read through the play, examined the characters, discussed the pertinent issues and themes, and asked questions about the story and the Shakespearean language integral to the dialogue of the piece. Based on input from the cast and director, Calarco strengthened the conflict and language and created an ending that enhanced the magic and beauty of the entire piece. Afterwards, the cast and stage managers started rehearsing in earnest, leading up to the March 8 opening. Mentoring the students are director Marcia Gardner, assistant director and dialect coach Alexander Strain, set designer Jim Kronzer, costume designer Diana Khoury, lighting designer Mark Lanks, sound designer Matt Rowe, props director Eileen Garcia, and stage manager Kerry Epstein.
Signature in the Schools uses theater to open the minds of local teens to the revelations of history and literature, while creating a living piece of performance art. The program emphasizes learning outside of the classroom and reinforces the Virginia’s Standard of Learning curriculum. A recipient of The Washington Post’s prestigious Community Service Award, Signature in the Schools touches approximately one thousand students each year through theatre workshops, in-class discussions, apprenticeships, and the performance of an original play.
This season’s donors to Signature in the Schools include The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Marpat Foundation, Education Foundation of America, ExxonMobil, Sprint, STG International, Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts, Clark-Winchcole Foundation, Prince Charitable Trusts, Venable LLP, Washington Forrest Foundation, and Dominion Virginia Power.
Signature in the Schools is supported in part by grants from Arlington County through the Cultural Affairs Division of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources and the Arlington Commission for the Arts, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. It is also supported by a generous grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
SYNETIC THEATER TO PERFORM POST’S “BEST OF DECADE” HOST AND GUEST IN NEW YORK CITY
Arlington, VA – On March 11, 2010, the Harriman Institute at Columbia University will present Synetic Theater’s acclaimed production of Host and Guest, recently named one of the top five theater productions of the decade by the Washington Post. Originally produced in 2002 and remounted during the 2008/09 season, Host and Guest is based on the epic poem by Georgian writer Vazha Pshavela and centers around the tragic friendship between two men, one Muslim and one Christian, who befriend one another in time of war. Pshavela wrote the original poem around the turn of the 20th century, and it has become a classic of Georgian literary culture.
This event aims to raise funds to support the Harriman Institute’s growing program in Georgian studies. Among universities in North America, Columbia’s Harriman Institute has an unmatched record of promoting scholarship related to Georgia. It is ideally positioned to bring together Georgia experts from the broader New York area, including from international governmental and non-governmental organizations, universities, and cultural institutions with ties to Georgia and Georgian artists.
Tickets are available for a donation of $100, $200, $500 or $1,000, all tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. A limited number of tickets for the performance only are available for $25 to Columbia ID holders. Tickets are available online at http://www.millertheatre.com or in person at the Miller Theatre, located at 116th Street and Broadway.
“This fall, we set out to build Synetic’s audience, and I am thrilled that this event with the Harriman Institute at Columbia University will allow us to gain wider exposure and expand the reach of the company’s innovative work. Hopefully, we will draw New York audiences down to the Washington area in the future.” – Salma Qarnain, Managing Director
About Synetic
Synetic Theater is Washington DC’s premier physical theater company. Founded in 2001 by the husband and wife team of Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili, Synetic seeks to advance and enrich the theater arts in the Nation’s Capital through its unique performance style, which fuses the classical elements of drama, movement, dance, mime, and music into a distinct form of non-realistic theater. This form is simultaneously avant-garde and accessible, with a broad appeal to a wide, culturally diverse, and cross-generational audience.
Make a Difference in Your Community! Volunteer for the March 13th Stream Cleanup! Wash away winter and waste with the big stream cleanup on Saturday, March 13. Get reacquainted with Arlington's parks and join neighbors who also care about the County's environment. You'll be making an amazing difference in the quality of our community and the health of our wildlife! Join volunteers, ages 6 and older, working at any of six locations around Arlington on March 13 from 9am until noon: Bon Air Park, Bluemont Park, Glencarlyn Park (on the 1st Street side), Arlington Mill Community Center, Barcroft Park and Shirlington. Wear heavy-duty clothes and protective gloves if possible. Call 703-525-0168 or visit www.arlingtonva.us/PRCR for more information. You can also adopt a stream (or street) and commit to cleaning up on a regular basis! Find out how at www.arlingtonva.us/volunteer. ===================== Contact: Gretchen WalshGwalsh@arlingtonva.usMarketing and Special Events CoordinatorArlington County Department of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 414Arlington, VA 22201703-228-0785
2010 Sustainable Urban Agriculture Lectures Virginia Cooperative ExtensionArlington County Is This Stuff Organic? Food Labeling for Consumers Join specialists from Virginia Cooperative Extension and representative of Animal Welfare Approved to learn more about what food labels like 'certified organic', 'free range', 'natural' or 'certified' mean. Special attention will be given to the labels and requirements of the Arlington Courthouse Farmer's Market. Thursday evening, March 4th from 7-9 we will hold the first of 2010 Sustainable Urban Agriculture Lectures series at the Fairlington Center, 3308 S. Stafford Street, Arlington 22206. This lecture is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is not required but space is limited and you can reserve a spot by calling 703 228 6414 or emailing ex013mg@vt.edu Lecture is free and open to all. . For information, registration and directions call: 703 228-6414. If you are a person with a disability and desire any assistive devices,services or other accommodations to participate in this activity, pleasecontact the Arlington office of Virginia Cooperative Extension (703)228-6400/TDD/PC 1-800-1120 during business hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM to discuss accommodation at least five business days prior to the event. Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all,regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability,political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. An equalopportunity/affirmative action employer. ==============================Contact:Kirsten Conrad BuhlsAgriculture Natural Resources Extension AgentVirginia Cooperative Extension3308 S Stafford St.Arlington VA 22206703 228 6423kbuhls@vt.edu