Shakespeare's Blackfriars' Playhouse: The Study, the Stage, and the Classroom

FAIN: EH-50129-07

American Shakespeare Center (Staunton, VA 24401-4273)
Ralph Cohen (Project Director: March 2007 to December 2009)

A five-week institute for twenty-five college and university teachers on Shakespeare, to be held at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Virginia.

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) is proposing a five-week Institute for college teachers during which we will use our celebrated re-creation of Shakespeare's Blackfriars Playhouse, a footprint and stage mock-up of the 1614 "Globe II," our acclaimed resident Equity troupe, and eight significant scholars of early modern English drama to explore how an understanding of the playing space and the playing practices illuminate the text. Participants will hear from visiting scholars in the morning, work on scenes with actors during the day, prepare for rehearsals with a visit to the Folger Shakespeare Library and with easy access to the University of Virginia's Alderman Library, see the ASC productions in the evenings, have a "mini-symposium" of future research work, and produce a full-length production of Antony and Cleopatra (editing, directing professional actors, and acting themselves).