Our Play is Preffered: Best Ensemble

Last night, Richmond Shakespeare was proud to sit with the theatre community of greater Richmond and celebrate the achievements of our colleagues. We were also honored with three nominations, including Rebecca Cairns and Annie Hoskins--nominated again for Best Costume an award they won last year.

This year we had two award-winners: a special recognition for Vanessa Passini's terrific fight work in Henry V [The History Cycle], and the company of actors from A Midsummer Night's Dream, who won as a cast for Best Ensemble. Those actors are Sandra Clayton, Brandon Crowder, Kerry McGee, Stacie Rearden Hall and Adam Mincks.

This recognition in particular was satisfying for me, as we set out many years ago to craft a company in which the collective efforts of actors, designers, directors, musicians and volunteers all work together; perhaps more so than any other, the theatre is a collaborative art form.

I first saw the five-actor format (yes 5) of performing William Shakespeare in the early 1990's at the University of Richmond: a program called Actors from the London Stage. Five gifted players create all the roles in a given Shakespeare. My first experience was with As You Like It, which was honored last year in several categories. It's a thrilling challenge, to craft more than one role, often alternating between them onstage—few challenges in the acting world can match it (solo shows of 'full commitment' come to mind), and I'm very grateful these lovely actors were so recognized.

They, and the supporting team behind them were indeed the best ensemble: Andrew Ham, Bryan Laubenthal, Jake Allard, Holly Harris, Holly Lucas, Richard Moxley, David White and J. David White, Rebecca Cairns, Annie Hoskins, Flora Vassar. Congratulations to each and all.

Not a word of me. All that I will tell you is that the duke hath dined. Get your apparel together, good strings to your beards, new ribbons to your pumps. Meet presently at the palace. Every man look o'er his part. For the short and the long is, our play is preferred.

"The Peak Theatrical Experience in Richmond Is Back" Henry V Review, Richmond Times Dispatch

‘Henry V’ ends cycle on passionate, comedic note

HENRY V
Theater review
At: Agecroft Hall, 4305 Sulgrave Road Through: June 28 Tickets: $25 (16 and under $13) Info: 866-BARDTIX

SUSAN HAUBENSTOCK SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Published: June 15, 2009

The peak theatrical pleasure to be had in Richmond is back: summer Shakespeare at Agecroft Hall.

It's a happy mystery how hot, humid days can switch to cool evenings just as the Elizabethan verse gets going, but it seems to happen every time.
This season's opener is "Henry V," the culmination of three years pursuing the Henry cycle. James Alexander Bond has directed all three plays, and Phillip James Brown has played the younger Henry throughout, granting audiences a marvelous artistic continuity.

And again Bond, aided by Master of Verse Cynde Liffick, has brought us a rousing and gripping production, full of action (including Vanessa Passini's fight direction and Cecile Tuzii's movement coaching), passion and comedy.
The formerly roguish Prince Hal is now King Henry, and the English clergy are urging him to seize France as rightfully his. The French dauphin insults him, and Henry prepares for war.

There are combat scenes and interludes of diplomacy; there are remarkable moments when Henry goes incognito among his soldiers on the eve of battle. And there are stirring moments when Henry exhorts his troops -- "Once more unto the breach" and "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers."

Though there are comic and touching diversions, "Henry V" has no Falstaff, so Henry himself is the clear focus -- and Brown is powerful and magnetic enough to keep us riveted throughout. He shows just a few signs of the slacker he was; Brown is regal with a common touch. Wonderfully musical with the verse, he's also an inspiring leader, a steely judge, and a warm and awkward suitor in his final scene with the French princess.

Bond has balanced the production by emphasizing Shakespeare's varied comedic turns. The strongest of these is Bob Jones' Fluellen, the Welsh captain. Jones delights with his mastery of language and his unexpected physicality. Joseph Anthony Carlson, returning as Pistol, is a delightfully comic blusterer, and the pair of Phillip Reid and Thomas L. Cunningham as Bardolph and Nym amuse as well.

The cast of 19 performs 37 roles, with particularly strong supporting performances by Brandon Crowder, Nicholas Aliff, Tim Saukiavicus, Alan Sader, Joseph Sultani, Jamie Rees, Sarah Jamillah Johnson, Jeffrey Cole, Michael Hamilton and Jacqueline O'Connor. J. David White's lighting is dramatic, and the reliable Rebecca Cairns and Ann Hoskins contribute wonderfully detailed costumes.

This "Henry V" is a fully satisfying end to the saga.

Style Weekly

Do you have your tickets yet?

Issue Date: April 22, 2009, Posted On: 4/21/2009 STYLE Weekly review of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' The cast of Richmond Shakespeareare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," at rest. Clockwise from top, it's Brandon Crowder, Stacie Rearden Hall, Adam Mincks, Kerry McGee and Sandra Clayton.

There was a moment during Richmond Shakespeareare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" when I literally could not stop laughing. Near the play's end, the sheer lunatic brilliance of director Andrew Hamm's off-kilter rendering of the Shakespeare classic reached such a fever pitch that I found myself lost in the sea of silliness. I would have been more embarrassed about my guffaws if there weren't several others in the audience doing the same thing. Possibly the Bard's most endearingly romantic comedy, Midsummer's plot involves fairies, love potions, a man semitransformed into an ass, and quite a bit of mayhem. As if that were not enough, Hamm's inspired cast pushes every envelope available. Sensual interludes between lovers stray into serious PG-13 territory. Characters who are supposed to be bad actors are hilariously horrendous. Some of the physical comedy looks downright painful, thanks to fight choreography help by David White. Ensemble members throw themselves into multiple roles with abandon. Brandon Crowder leads this rowdy band, effecting breakneck changes between the regal Duke of Athens to the almost aggressively swishy Flute and eliciting laughs with as little as a well-placed glance along the way. Adam Mincks chews the scenery ravenously as donkey-eared Bottom, who attracts the affection of Fairy Queen Titania (Stacie Rearden Hall) thanks to the juice of a magical flower administered by Puck (Kerry McGee). Hall's lusty looks are bracing while McGee is alternately fervent as the love-struck Hermia and delightfully impish as Puck. Sandra Clayton rounds out the crew ably with several small but vital bit parts. It seems peckish to note that some of Shakespeare's lyrical language gets lost in modernisms such as "Sweet!" and "Awesome!" But Hamm makes up for it by inserting charming musical interludes into the action with a cast (particularly Hall) in spectacular voice. For a show not billed as a musical, this "Dream" sings. David Timberline "A Midsummer Night's Dream" plays at the Second Presbyterian Church, 5 N. Fifth St., through May 10. Tickets are $13-$26. Call 1-866-BARD-TIX or visit www.richmondshakespeare.com.

Zany Cast Makes 'Dream' a delight

Richmond Shakespeare’s season finale a fun one

JULINDA LEWIS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Published: April 19, 2009

“A Midsummer Night's Dream," Richmond Shakespeare Theatre's final production of its indoor season under the direction of Andrew Hamm, roars delightfully into its raucous conclusion, which includes a play within a play and a wedding celebration.

There is something old (the play by William Shakespeare), something new (the cast and the indoor location at Second Presbyterian Church), something borrowed (costumes and props from previous "Dream" productions), and something . . . (well, there's got to be something blue in there somewhere).

With costumes and set kept to a bare minimum, the cast of five takes on 21 roles, resulting in effects and situations that might have surprised the Bard himself.

This "Dream" features a tight-knit and lovable ensemble. Some of the casting contrasts are startling and ingenious. Sandra Clayton is the elitist Egeus as well as the simple carpenter; Peter Quince, leader of the local community of actors, also known as the Mechanicals; Brandon Crowder is both the noble Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Francis Flute, the bellows mender who plays the role of Thisbe in the play-within-a-play.

And while it is not unusual for men to play women's roles in Elizabethan theater, Crowder's over-the-top Thisbe, dressed in a contemporary beauty queen evening gown and some killer black stilettos, leaves an indelible impression.

Kerry McGee gives Robin Starveling, the tailor member of the acting troupe, a round-shouldered, slumped posture, slow movements and delayed reactions that suggest poor Starveling may have either mental or chemically induced challenges.

The cast is rounded out by Stacie Rearden Hall, who plays Demetrius's lover Helena as well as three other roles, and Adam Mincks, who plays Demetrius, as well as Nick Bottom, who, as the unfortunate object of Puck's prankishness, ends up with a donkey's head and the magically induced love of the fair queen, Titania.

Shakespeare's words, juxtaposed against modern-day clothing and props, and in the hands -- and mouths -- of this enthusiastic and zany cast made 2½ hours in uncomfortable chairs in an overheated chapel fly.

A Midsummer Night's Dream opens next week!

A Midsummer Night's Dream opens next week, with performances Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2:30. (Check out the discounted preview on Thursday, 8pm.)

The actors are (clockwise from Sandra Clayton at top left, Brandon Crowder, Stacie Rearden Hall, Adam Mincks and Kerry McGee. Directed by Andrew Hamm , with costumes by Rebecca Cairns.

April 16 - May 10
Tickets: http://www.richmondshakespeare.com/