Utah Camp Shakespeare Day 1

Day 1 of Camp Shakespeare at the Utah Shakespearean Festival

Take Shakespeare’s Southwark, London, transport it to overseas with some magic, and smack it down in the middle of the beautiful red clay mountains, pine trees and brilliant blue skies of Southern Utah, and you’ll understand what the Tony Award Winning Utah Shakespearean Festival is like. Well, of course I’m exaggerating, but not terribly. Through decades of hard work and sheer determination, the masterminds of this festival have managed to create a Shakespearean Mecca smack dab in the middle of small-town conservative Utah—a pretty incredible feat.

I’m at the USF this week (on the campus of Southern Utah University, taking part in what’s known as Camp Shakespeare—a series of classes, workshops, seminars, all designed to invite you into the world of the theater. Included in the package are front or near-front row seating to six stellar performances, seminars, workshops, and classes taught by actors, vocal coaches, scholars, directors, make-up and wig artists, costume designers, and more.

The jewel in the crown of the USF is the Adams Shakespearean Theatre, an outdoor venue modeled after the sixteenth century Tudor stage. Though it is not a replica in the strict sense as is Shakespeare’s Globe in London (Utah’s version uses modern materials and sports comfortable sports event type seats throughout, even in the pit, rather than the hard wood or nothing seating of the Globe reproduction), the essentials for a Shakespearean experience are there: the classic semi-circle, the raised, extended stage, exposure to the elements. And after the second hour of a play, the modern-sized ballpark seats are much appreciated.

Exposure to the elements is part of the outdoor Shakespeare experience, and last night, this hit home. During the second half of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, thunderheads rolled in (remnants of a hurricane from the south?), the sky opened up, and it started pouring. Those of us with seats in the pit ran for cover (this wasn’t just a London style drizzle, this was a Western U.S. downpour). The voice behind the curtain ordered the actors backstage, and we waited it out.

After about fifteen minutes, the actors managed another scene before the rains returned. Ultimately, they finished the play in the indoor rain stage about forty-five minutes late.

The Festival prides itself on performing the entire canon, which may be why Gents (this little-performed, little-respected early Shakespeare comedy) was chosen this year. Critic Harold Bloom who always prides himself on calling it like he sees it calls this the “weakest” of Shakespeare’s comedies and says that “everything is amiss” (13). But keep in mind that he is comparing this Shakespeare play to—other Shakespeare plays! How fair is that? Of course, if you compare Beatles albums to Beatles albums, you’re likely to find the least impressive of the lot. But is there really a weak Beatles album? Is there really a weak Shakespeare play? Some would say yes, but last night, the acting company brought out the best in this play.

Gents was performed masterfully, in traditional Elizabethan costumes and with little stage scenes—fitting for a Shakespearean open-air theater. The simplicity allows the play itself, the words themselves , to have center stage.

A little about the seminars before I have to go. Yesterday featured a make-up seminar taught by the make-up artists of the Festival; an acting workshop by Iago himself James Newcomb), a literary overview of Gents by Festival dramaturg Michael Flachmann, and lots more I don’t have time to go into now. The days are full here. I’ll check in later with another entry.

(Please excuse the quick grammar and spelling of a fast and loose blog. Thanks! I may edit and add pictures later.)