I discovered The Reduced Shakespeare Company by watching them myself from a hay bale at The Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Agoura, California. Years later I got to know Daniel Singer personally. We both sang together in The Briton Ensemble as part of a madrigal group led by director James Briton Hendricks. The group performed at
We had survived the tube crisis. We had found the Globe. We had taken the tour, walked the museum, tried on costumes, and stood where the Groundlings stand. By any measure, it had already been a remarkable day. We were not prepared for what happened next. As we finished the museum section and headed toward
The Show That Wasn’t: When Midsummer Met Its Match Read More »
We had a plan. We would wake up at our hotel near Paddington Station, walk to the little family-owned breakfast place a couple of blocks away, enjoy a leisurely morning meal, and stroll three blocks to catch the tube. We had done it the day before as a practice run. We knew the route. We
Holy Ground: My Day at Shakespeare’s Globe Read More »
A tribute to Tina Packer, founder of Shakespeare & Company On May 31st, I watched the online memorial service for Tina Packer, the driving force and founder of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. It was two and a half hours of joy, celebration, tears, humor, respect, and resilience. So many people took a turn
She Built Something That Outlasts Her Read More »
I could feel the rascal in my body. That’s the only way I know how to describe it. The first time I played Sir John Falstaff — in a radio production of Hal and Falstaff — something settled into me that felt less like acting and more like recognition. I felt the girth and the weight. I felt the
Why I Need One More Crack at Falstaff Read More »
Let me get something out of the way right now, before you read another word. I am not a Shakespeare scholar. I don’t have a Ph.D. I’ve never published an academic paper. I can’t read Middle English from a manuscript or debate textual variants over coffee with a roomful of professors. My highest degree is
I’m Not a Shakespeare Scholar — I’m Something Better Read More »