Memories of Summer Shakes

In 1995 Summer Shakespeare produced its first show, Love’s Labor’s Lost. Tickets were $1, and I was four months old. (Can we just take a minute to marvel at the fact that my parents started a theatre company with a newborn? And yes, when you start kids on Shakespeare that early, British spellings become second […]

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Crab, a Dog

One of our most popular actors this 2009 season has been Toby, the Great Dane-German shepherd mix that plays the part of Crab in Summer Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona. The role of Crab (the only named animal in Shakespeare) is not a demanding one: the only requirements are that he be large (“a dog […]

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Calling All Dog Lovers

Some of you may be wondering about our partnership with the Greenville Humane Society. [Spoiler Alert] If you have already seen Two Gentlemen of Verona, you know that there is a dog in the play. (Crab is the only named animal in Shakespeare!) Knowing this made our director, Jeff Stegall, think that an association with […]

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Seize the Play!

Summer Shakespeare’s 10th season is open for business–and audience and cast are all having a lot of fun! The opening weekend of Two Gentlemen of Verona was a success if the comments of those who attended the performances Friday and Saturday nights were any indication. Here’s a sampling of the feedback we’ve received: “You’ve reached […]

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Opening Night Jitters

Well, here we are. Five weeks into the rehearsal process, and it’s showtime! The creative team is eager to see what was once merely an idea put into action before a live audience. The cast is looking forward to putting the play on the boards. The crew is prepared for any eventuality (including the light […]

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Where’s Will (the Bobblehead)?

Time for a little Summer Shakespeare trivia. In which Summer Shakespeare production did William Shakespeare aka the Bobblehead first appear? (No fair cheating and reading the earlier blog post, “Memories of Summer Shakespeare.”) If you said Love’s Labor’s Lost (2006), you are correct! He appeared as Rosaline’s love-gift from Berowne. You know, the gift that […]

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Who Is Silvia?

In a previous post (“Superlative Obscurity”) I mentioned Franz Schubert’s song, “Who Is Silvia?” taken directly from Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona text in Act IV, scene ii. Now, without any further ado, here is Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s rendition in English. (Watch at your own risk, there are no subtitles here.)

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Superlative Obscurity

Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona is relatively unknown and undone in comparison to his other plays. This even though the play features several Shakespearean superlatives: smallest cast (13 named characters), first appearance of a girl disguised as a boy, most occurrences of forms of the word “love” (225, with Romeo and Juliet a distant […]

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Help for Confused Ears

Ever sat through a production feeling as though if you could just figure out what some particular word meant (forsworn? enfranchise? vouchsafe?) you could make sense of about 85% of the play? Or maybe you’ve felt like Dull the Constable in Love’s Labour’s Lost, who, in response to the comment that he has “spoken no […]

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Memories of Summer Shakespeare

In Henry VI, Part I, Richard Plantagenet tells listeners, “I’ll note you in my book of memory.” Of course, he goes on to remark that he is doing so only to threaten and excoriate them later with the recollection. Summer Shakespeare makes no such threats, but with the tenth anniversary of our troupe upon us, […]

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