Mission Meeting May 23

Dear Friends, It's time to get together! Please join us on the afternoon of May 23, from 1-4pm. If you're reading this, it's because Richmond Shakespeare holds special meaning for you. Now, we need your story, your input and your voice. We're in the same theatre together quite often-but we rarely get the chance to interact, to sit and talk to one another. As we launch our 25th Anniversary Season in a new $75 million dollar performing arts center, Richmond CenterStage , we wanted to hear from you! You're a part of that effort. So, consider this your call to action! On May 23, from 1-4pm (this coming Saturday) Richmond Shakespeare will hold a Mission Meeting at Agecroft Hall . What's a Mission Meeting? It's a process we undertake from time to time, but never like this: we'll re-craft, re-write and re-dedicate the very mission of Richmond Shakespeare. Please join me at Agecroft Hall for a gathering of all the many kinds of people touched by the work of this remarkable company over 24 years. From actors to interns and from students to Trustees, we'll gather to hear, to speak, and to write about what Richmond Shakespeare means to each of us. You'll get a sneak peek inside CenterStage and hear a preview of the summer Richmond Shakespeare Festival 2009-you'll also get to meet Phil Brown, returning for year three to play the title role in Henry V [The History Cycle.] The day will be facilitated by Vanessa Womack Easter. A Senior Consultant with the STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT GROUP, LLC., Easter brings 25 years of experience in business operations, marketing and administration management in both corporate and nonprofit environments, performing facilitation and training /development functions, as well as strategic advising and corporate marketing. She comes to us referred by the Center for Non-Profit Excellence. Look for a more detailed invitation very soon! Space is limited, so we'll ask you to register for the meeting now by e-mailing our offices at MissionMeeting@RichmondShakespeare.com . Attending is free, and light refreshments will be provided. Please join us! Sincerely yours, Grant Mudge Artistic Director Richmond Shakespeare 1-866-Bard-Tix Box Ofc 804-232-4000 Admin 804-232-4400 Fax

Phil Brown, 2009

May 10 - Have you seen the 'countdown clock?' It faces Broad Street between 6th and 7th, hung on the construction trailers at Richmond CenterStage. All of us at Richmond Shakespeare are enormously excited about our new theatre---opening in very short time! In fact, I have a little miniature version of the clock on my desk and today, both of them read 124 Days.

In two days, on May 12, at 7:30pm we'll hold our last event of the indoor season at 2nd Presbyterian, a staged-reading of Cymbeline, about which you may already have heard. Daryl Clark Phillips (Falstaff '07 and '08) leads a stellar cast including Ray Bullock, Richard Koch, Vicki McCleod, David Janeski, Billy Christopher Maupin, Asher Nicholson, Brad Tuggle, Lucas Hall, Alan Sader (Exeter in Henry V), Ally Wepplo, and James Wingo. Cymbeline is directed by David White and produced by Liz Blake. Catch Liz herself in this summer's reprsise of Hamlet.

This fall (in four months!), Richmond Shakespeare will indeed move our indoor season to the new Gottwald Playhouse inside Richmond CenterStage. Look for an inaugural season announcement (it's also our 25th Year) right at the start of the summer Richmond Shakespeare Festival.

Those performances come first---we'll continue to bring great summer shows to marvelous Agecroft Hall, beginning this 12th annual festival with the performances we've all been waiting for: Phil Brown's Henry V and the return of Jeff Cole's Hamlet. Sandwiched in between, I'm happy to annouce another return--for a limited run--of Andrew Hamm's critically acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Just prior to the summer festival on Saturday, May 23, I invite you to our first public "Mission Meeting." We'll gather at Agecroft Hall, from 1-4pm, to re-craft, re-dedicate and help to re-write the mission of Richmond Shakespeare. To RSVP and to receive more information, e-mail us at MissionMeeting@RichmondShakespeare.com. Come be a part of charting our next 25 years.

Thank you for joining us on this adventure, and be sure to keep in touch! Call, write, and comment or e-mail me here. Of course, you can always just catch my arm at a performance of Richmond Shakespeare.

Cheers,

Grant Mudge
Artistic Director

Harry's Back!

Henry V
The History Cycle
June 11-28

Jackie Jones on 'Midsummer!'

Local and beloved actor Jackie Jones (also a baker of muchly sought goodies), saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream recently and sent this lovely e-mail:

One is A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at

http://www.richmondshakespeare.com/

Andrew Hamm's Dream cast IS a dream cast and

does the show in all its Shakespearean bawdiness.

Each of the cast portrays numerous characters to

definite distinction. This production really gives its

audience members the flavor of Shakespeare's

fun with words (be forewarned: no joke is left

unturned) without any of the stuffiness sometimes

used to cover it up! I'd say this would be great for

highschoolers, and middle-schoolers - and maybe

even precocious upper-elementary with the right

homework in advance. And there is original (and

traditional) music!

You’ve only five (5) chances left to catch it at

2^nd Presbyterian’s perfectly Elizabethan chapel!

Richmond Shakespeare
804-232-4000 Admin
804-232-4400 Fax
www.richmondshakespeare.com

NOW PLAYING
APR16.09 to MAY10.09 – A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare

ONE NIGHT ONLY
MAY12.09 - Cymbeline, by William Shakespeare (Staged Reading)