American Shakespeare Center to Perform on Campus in March
The Fairmont State University School of Fine Arts and the Department of Language and Literature welcome the American Shakespeare Center’s “Tempt Me Further Tour” to campus in March.
The appearance of the American Shakespeare Center tour on the shared main campus of FSU and Pierpont Community & Technical College is made possible by FSU President Maria Rose, the FSU School of Fine Arts, the FSU Department of Language and Literature and the Office of Student Affairs.
Three separate productions will take place in Wallman Hall Theatre —“The Duchess of Malfi,” “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and “Twelfth Night.” Tickets are $12 for adults. To order tickets, call the Box Office at (304) 367-4240 or order online at www.fairmontstate.edu/tickets.
“The Duchess of Malfi” will be performed at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 23. John Webster’s brutal and astonishing play tells the story of one of the stage’s greatest women and two of its greatest villains. The widowed Duchess of Malfi tragically defies her two powerful brothers by secretly marrying her household steward. When they uncover her deception, the brothers plot a series of horrific events that leads them all to destruction in this dark tapestry of sibling rivalry, forbidden love, unquenchable ambition and ensuing madness.
“Love’s Labour’s Lost” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23. The King of Navarre and his three schoolmates are ripe for an education in love from the Princess of France and her three ladies. Joining the lovers is a brilliantly goofy troupe of clowns, including the love-warrior Don Armado and the lust-sick rogue Costard, who ardently pursue the affections of a winsome country maid — and who perform an unforgettable pageant for the royals. Written around the same time as “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” this giddy and extravagant romantic comedy is Shakespeare’s most exuberant wordfest — a joyful carnival of love, loss and hope.
“Twelfth Night” will be performed at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24. Writing at the height of his powers, Shakespeare provides a feast of language and songs — and a stage full of memorable characters — from the lovesick Orsino and Viola to the alesick Toby Belch, from the acquiescent Sir Andrew Aguecheek to the pompous Malvolio. Sublime and subversive, “Twelfth Night” breaks rules and bends gender to show love in all its guises and disguises.
Located in Staunton, Va., the American Shakespeare Center recovers the joys and accessibility of Shakespeare’s theatre, language and humanity by exploring the English Renaissance stage and its practices through performance and education. The ASC’s Blackfriars Playhouse, the world’s only recreation of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre, is open year-round for productions of classic plays, which have been hailed by The Washington Post as “shamelessly entertaining” and by The Boston Globe as “phenomenal…bursting with energy.” Founded in 1988 as Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, the organization became the American Shakespeare Center in 2005. For more information, visit www.americanshakespearecenter.com.
American Shakespeare CenterMaria RoseCollege of Liberal ArtsLanguage & LiteratureDuchess of MalfiLove's Labour's LostOffice of Student AffairsTwelfth Night
