***The canceled show from Tuesday, August 28 has been rescheduled for Thursday, August 30 at 7:30 p.m.
The Department of Theatre in the College of Charleston School of the Arts announces its 2012-13 season! Download the pdf file to check out the line-up of works, and get your season subscription today!
Opening the season will be William Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well” as part of the department’s 15th annual Shakespeare Project. The title itself predicts a happy ending to this story, but this play, from late in The Bard’s career, offers an eclectic melding of irony and suspense that is startlingly ahead of its time.
The production will run Thursday, August 16 through Sunday, August 19 with a second run from Thursday, August 23 to Tuesday, August 28. Curtain times will be 7:30 p.m., except both Sunday shows at 3 p.m. only. Shows will take place at the Emmett Robinson Theatre in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 Saint Philip St. Tickets may be purchased at the box office or by telephone (843) 953-6306. Admission is $15 for general admission and $10 for College of Charleston students, faculty and staff and senior citizens 60 and older. Season subscriptions are available. The “talkback” discussions with the cast and crew will take place opening night following the performance.
The story tells of a recently widowed Countess who allows her beloved son to leave her side and be mentored in the court of a King. But, young Bertram’s callow behavior is given encouragement by reckless companions, and Bertram humiliates a brave and skilled young woman named Helena. Helena’s healing arts were passed along to her by her own father, and now she must craft a way not just to fulfill her own heart’s desire but to improve the heart of the man she loves. This is a tale of magic and grace in which the women are both shrewd and undaunted, showing that they are the better mentors to the men around them.
Director and adjunct theatre professor Cristy Landis leads the dedicated and talented cast and crew members. This notion of love achieved through heartfelt reconciliation crosses all time, thus Erin White has created costumes inspired by haute couture fashion within a very romantic palette. Lighting by Carl Barnwell, Jr. will support the roller coaster ride of young love aided adeptly by Scenic Artist Celeste Riddle’s watercolor imbued scenery with a jazz-inspired soundscape designed by Mark Landis.
The cast includes College of Charleston faculty members Evan Parry, Todd McNerney and Brent Laing, College alumni Robbie Thomas, Christian Self, Charley Boyd, Liz Coralli, Noah Smith, Allison Arvay, Matthias Burrell and Dave Beckett, along with current students Meg Buckner, Young Stowe, Kurt Sauer, Ashley Gennarelli, Corey Smiley, Brennen Reeves, Bronson Taylor as well as local actors Lynda Harvey, Paul O’Brien, Christina Leidel, Tori Vaughn, Brian Turner.
Founded in the summer of 1997 the Shakespeare Project at the College of Charleston has presented 27 productions, which includes productions of 22 of Shakespeare’s plays. It is the oldest and longest running theatre group in Charleston regularly producing Shakespeare and has the long-term goal to eventually present at least one production per summer for free and outside on the College’s Cistern yard.
PRESS: The Post and Courier, Charleston, August 12, 2012