A New Year, A New Endeavor

The Susquehanna Players are gearing up for another great season of study and performance!

There are plans in the works for another recitation contest and auditions for the next play:

This from Paula!

I have begun to plan the Shakespeare Workshop, Recitation Contest and Performance for the upcoming year.

I plan to follow a similar format to last year….but for the Recitation Contest / Audition we will focus on monologues/soliloquies from 4 plays:

As You Like It

Twelfth Night

Merchant of Venice

Romeo and Juliet

During our time together we will explore and discuss a selection of Shakespeare’s memorable monologues and soliloquies…..and we will learn about the plot, characters, and themes of these plays.

We will also participate in activities and games designed to develop memory and presentation skills. Each participant will choose a selection to memorize and present on our last meeting (selections range in length from 12 to 30 lines). All participants will receive a certificate and two winners will receive an official award document from the National Endowment for the Arts.

I plan to start after Christmas. The Recitation Contest Component will comprise of 5 meetings. Then the recitation Contest / Auditions

After that, we will focus on the play intensively for about a month and then plunge into rehearsals.

Opening Night

Thanks Christine! Great Pictures!!!

Break a Leg!

Well, last night was our dress rehearsal for "Macbeth", and the second time around, it went really well, I thought. The whole thing is coming together and it is very exciting.
Paula has done a wonderful job with everything.
The sets are really amazing, thanks to Larry.
The work that has gone into the production on the back end has made it even more polished.

Our first performance is tonight!
The kids know their lines, the sets are all done, the costumes are looking good and the props are ready.
It has been a long road, but that's what it takes to bring it together.
The greatest thing about this whole experience has been seeing the kids working together and the way they have cooperated and become such a great team.
There has been stress, drama (it's theater after all), feelings have been hurt and everyone is tired at the end of rehearsal, but they are such good friends and they forgive and go on.
I am so proud of all of them!

The theater experience, the literature lessons, the hard work, those are all very important. We are very grateful for all the wonderful things that we have learned, but I think the best part, the most valuable of all the experiences, has been the fellowship and generosity of the people that have been a part of it.

An Invitation...

Hi Everyone!

The Susquehanna Players are preparing an exciting performance of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

They performed several scenes on Friday at the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival’s Bardfest and received rave reviews and much adulation.

We hope that many of you will be able to join us for our upcoming performances (Thursday May 13^th at 6:30 at Good Shepherd Catholic School; Saturday May 15^th at 6:30 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church).

Admission is free, however we will be selling refreshments and will accept donations to benefit the churches hosting us.

Please let us know if you will be joining us so we can prepare adequate seating.

Hope to see you at the play!

Paula

Preparing for Bardfest...

The Susquehanna Players are preparing to participate in a Shakespearean Festival down in Baltimore City. The competitors will be Middle-Schoolers from all over the area and each group will perform several different scenes.

We have chosen to do the scene in which the witches conjure several apparitions to show Macbeth what is going to happen in the future, or not...

A scene in which Duncan, the king, has been found murdered,

And the scene in which Lady Macduff is murdered.

A professional actress came to give acting tips and advice on Monday and it was very helpful.

Here are a few pictures of the group and the goings on.

The witches and Hecate, the witch "queen"....


The royal apparitions, waiting to go on...

The third apparition...


Lady Macduff and her child....

Lady Macbeth...a doctor and Macbeth attending her.

Our T-Shirts!

Thanks so much to Nancy Schmidt for her hard work on getting our t-shirts ordered!
When all the kids have them we will take a picture and get it posted.

Costumes and Practice

Today some of the moms and dads that are helping with the production, had a "Costume Brainstorm". A lot of the details were raised and many of them were worked out. This is a rather large cast to outfit for a pretty complicated play. The decision to costume for (mostly) historical accuracy, instead of the Shakespearean manner of costuming in Elizabethan attire, has simplified things immensely.
There is much to do, and less time everyday, but that is the challenge of it!

There were also scene rehearsals and a few changes in the script. That's an ongoing process.
Here is a picture of some of our actors rehearsing a scene in which the news of King Duncan's death is shared.