2005
Mainstage Behind the Scenes
 
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| We are thrilled to welcome
the following actors to the Forest Meadows stage
this summer: |
 James
Dunn is Marin's beloved "Mr. Shakespeare."
Just about anyone who has ever studied theatre or
acted in Marin County has probably had the great
fortune to work with Jim. As Artistic Director of
the Mountain Play where he will helm the 2005 production
of Oklahoma, or as a frequent guest artist
at the venerable Ross Valley Players, Jim has worked
all over the county with both students and professional
actors.
In over 40 years at the College of Marin,where he
was Founder and Chairman of the Drama Department,
Jim has directed just about every Shakespeare play...except
Two Gentlemen of Verona. A new James Dunn
take on a previously untackled Shakespeare play
is almost as exciting as it would be to find the
script of a previously unknown Shakespeare comedy
lurking on a forgotten shelf in a dusty library.
But we all know Jim will be blowing the dust off
of Two Gentlemen of Verona and giving us
a high-energy and hilarious production no Shakespeare
fan will want to miss. We're hearing rumblings about
a dolce vita style design -- so watch out for some
slinky dresses and macho stylishness. With Jim,
anything's possible!
- Francis Beaumont and
John Fletcher were the most successful team
of playwrights in the years following Shakespeare's
retirement. John Fletcher is considered to be Shakespeare's
hand-picked successor as the principal dramatist
for the King's Men. Fletcher is generally accepted
as Shakespeare's collaborator on several of the
latest plays : Two Noble Kinsmen, Cardenio
and Henry VIII. First performed around
1607, The Knight of the Burning Pestle was
the work of Beaumont and Fletcher, whose 34 plays
between 1605 and 1612 were published in a Folio
in 1647 with an additional 18 plays included in
the second Folio of 1679. In fact, of all the Elizabethan
and Jacobean playwrights, only four had their collected
plays gathered together and published as a body
of work: Ben Jonson, whose self published Folio
in 1616 was the first of its kind; Shakespeare,
whose Folio followed in 1623; and Beaumont and Fletcher,
whose Folio was also created posthumously by admirers.
The Knight of the Burning Pestle is considered
by some to be the first "post-modernist drama"
and has been likened to Six Characters in Search
of an Author and other 20th century plays that self-consciously
break the fourth wall. It is said to have been written
in just one week, and to have been a theatrical
flop when first performed. Despite its initial reception,
The Knight of the Burning Pestle has been
rediscovered in an age more endeared to satire and
metatheatrical flair, and has become a popular if
still relatively rare offering in the past 100 years.
We are indebted to Ralph Cohen, founder of Shenandoah
Shakespeare Company, for reminding us how fun this
play is and sharing with us his elegantly edited
and delightfully playable acting script.
Verona  is
the home to the most famous lovers in all of literature.
Today, visitors can pretend to be Romeo gazing up
at a balcony above walls strewn with colorful note
notes, or they can -- like Paris -- visit Juliet's
tomb to pay homage to her tragic young demise. Shakespeare
set both of the romantic plays you can see this
summer at Forest Meadows in this city of love, 71
miles west of Venice with its political and international
ties. To Shakespeare, Verona held all the charm
of Venetian art and culture, yet retained a more
homey and natural ambiance. While the Duke of Venice
in Othello plots troop movements, the corresponding
authority figure, the Friar in Romeo and Juliet,
is a botanist who cavorts through the fields searching
for medicinal plants.
It is tempting to think of Venice and Verona as
a metaphor for London and Stratford. The big city
is the venue for law, politics, courts and noblemen.
The town is the place where one first falls in love,
struggles with one's parents, and enjoys the company
of one's chums. Literary historians continue to
argue over whether or not Shakespeare ever visited
Italy. Some of his geographical details are quite
bad, yet he has a well-developed sense of Italy's
nostalgic romance. Whether or not Shakespeare ever
found his way to Verona, it held a fascination for
the playwright and it continues to cast its spell
on visitors to this day.
2004:Behind the Scenes
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