Shipwrecked, Art Market and More!

Liam Cronin (left) and Dwayne Blackaller star in the comedy Shipwrecked, An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont, by Donald Margulies. Presented by Whistling in the Dark Theatre Company, the play is performed at The Green Room, a new theatre venue at South Campus Gateway. The show, sure to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages, is based on the true story of a shipwrecked British explorer in the late 1800s, whose adventures – along with his trusty dog Bruno – included high-seas tales of giant sea turtles, flying wombats, a man-eating octopus and Queen Victoria herself. With a focus on the power of storytelling, Shipwrecked runs Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through Aug 15. Tickets are available at the door or – at a discount – online here.

The Green Room is sponsored by the Arts Initiative at Ohio State and Campus Partners. The new space, a former storefront in the Arts in the Alley area that also houses three galleries, is the summer home to Whistling in the Dark, which is breaking ground by bringing "sustainable theatre" to Columbus. The company strives to be eco-friendly and cost efficient wherever possible.

Notable News

The Arts Initiative is proud to support the International Kids' Guernica Peace Mural Exhibit, on view through Aug 6 in the former Long's Bookstore at 1836 N High St. The mural exhibit is part of an international children's art project to create peace murals on Picasso's "guernica" size canvas (11.5 x 22.5 feet). The project was started by Art Japan Network in 1995 to design artwork on a global canvas expressing the spirit of peace. Over the years, more than 160 murals have been created in 40 countries. Twelve existing murals from around the world are on display in the space. And, this week, 25 local children from the Somali-American community are working with OSU students to create a new mural. For information, call 688-4703.

This Saturday (July 31), Arts in the Alley at South Campus Gateway presents a Summer Art Market while the Ohio Art League Gallery hosts a food-related art exhibition from Couchfire Collective called Too Yummy! The Art Market will feature live music and artwork from 16 local artists for sale in the alley from 2 to 8 pm. Opening reception for the Too Yummy show is from 6 to 9 pm and celebrates all things related to food and drink (the show continues until Aug 1). Across the alley at the Shoebox gallery is the opening reception for the Intern Show featuring artists Michael Price and Chelsea Boyd. Stop by and join in the fun on Saturday!


On Thursday, Aug 5, Arts in the Alley will come alive from 6 to 9 pm with opening receptions for three new exhibitions, along with refreshments and live music. In the Arts Initiative space, artists Nick Stull and Spencer Mustine present paintings in their show, HumanScapes: A Sense of Place (above). The Shoebox gallery hosts the ARTillery invitational, with works by Ron Abram, Aby Algueseva, Waylon Bigsby, Allison Buenger, Molly Burke, Sarah Fairchild, Brittany Ference, Giovani, Joey Monsoon, Beth Nash, Tristan Seeger, Kristin Patton and Elaine Quave. And the Ohio Art League gallery opens It's Complicated, with works by Clare Fox and Tara Polansky.

RSC Continues Workshops in Ohio

RSC education practitioners Virginia Grainger (above, right) and Rachel Gartside -- who led an inspirational week of educational development in Stratford-upon-Avon two weeks ago for Ohio teachers and Theatre MFA students -- are at Ohio State this week to continue working with the group. They are joined by OSU's Brian Edmiston, who leads the OSU/RSC workshops and educational program in Ohio.

While in England, the group of 20 teachers and 10 MFAs participated in learning the RSC's active, drama-based approaches to Shakespeare. This five-day follow-up week will have the group shift their focus on how to teach the approaches in their own classrooms. While on campus, they are focusing primarily on Romeo and Juliet, exploring the text and its performance, the characters and their points of view, and Shakespeare's themes and language. Yesterday, they were standing in the shoes of the various characters. Below, MFA actors Kevin McClatchy and Hannah Rockey go over an excerpt of the script.

This year's group of teachers is the second to participate in the OSU/RSC Stand Up for Shakespeare America program. The first group of 20 teachers will interact and share experiences with the current group throughout the coming year. A few of the original participants came to Ohio State this week to observe, including Danielle Berring and Tim Wangler (below).

Features

"It's great to be reconnecting with this group now that we're back at home in our Ohio mode. It helps connect what we learned in England with what I can do with my kids in the classroom."
Kelly Simmons, 5th grade math and science, Linden STEM Academy

Among other things, our week in England turned into somewhat of a big blur of wonderful experiences. Coming back and reconnecting as a group helps reinforce and reconstruct some of those moments. The beauty of it is seeing how I can use the techniques not only in the classroom. . . but also in the rehearsal room as an actor."
Aaron Zook, MFA acting student

Notable News

Whistling in the Dark Theatre Company presents Shipwrecked, An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont, by Donald Margulies. It premieres tonight -- Thursday, July 15, at 8 pm at The Green Room, a new theatre venue at South Campus Gateway. The show, sure to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages, is based on the true story of a shipwrecked British explorer in the late 1800s, whose adventures – along with his trusty dog Bruno – included high-seas tales of giant sea turtles, flying wombats, a man-eating octopus and Queen Victoria herself. The show, with a focus on the power of storytelling, runs Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through Aug 7. Tickets are available at the door or – at a discount – online here.

Directed by Kal Poole (above), Shipwrecked's cast includes Dwayne Blackaller, Liam Cronin, Doug Davis, Alison Vasquez and Kayla Jackmon. Musicians are Emily Mills and Joy Wysong.

The Green Room is sponsored by the Arts Initiative at Ohio State and Campus Partners. The new space, a former storefront in the Arts in the Alley area that also houses three galleries, is the summer home to Whistling in the Dark, which is breaking ground by bringing "sustainable theatre" to Columbus. The company strives to be eco-friendly and cost efficient wherever possible.

Virginia and Rachel and Romeo and Juliet. . .

RSC education practitioners extraordinaire Virginia Grainger (left) and Rachel Gartside, who led the five days of intensive leadership training for our Ohio group in Stratford-upon-Avon, finished up the week with Romeo and Juliet. The pair led the group through a variety of active learning sessions exploring the text, which the teachers can take into their classrooms next year. And, on the last night in Stratford, our Ohio troupe had the incredible opportunity to see the RSC production of Romeo and Juliet, which Stage magazine has called a "mind-blowing production" and the Evening Standard said it "positively bristles with invention and bold ideas".

Following the production, the Ohio group had a farewell reception at the Dirty Duck (below), and a few of the cast members stopped by to say hello, including David Carr (further below, second from right), who played Escalus.



In mid-July, the group of teachers and MFA actors will come together for a second week of intensive leadership training in Columbus, and Virginia and Rachel will fly in to town to help facilitate those sessions. In the meantime, it's a little hard to say goodbye to Stratford-upon-Avon. After all, who can't love a town that has its own Baguette Boat? And...ugly ducklings?



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"Kids are so focused on the 'right' or 'wrong' of their answers instead of concentrating on the process, the 'whys' and the 'hows.' The activities we've learned this week will have them learn without thinking about what might be the right answer, by working together and immersing themselves in the text. The ensemble-building games are great -- every classroom should do some sort of these activities to start out the day. It only takes a few minutes and makes a huge difference. I think they'd change the whole climate of the school."

Jill Sampson, 8th grade special education, reading & social studies, Hilltonia Middle School

"This experience has reminded me what it's like to be a student. When we've been embracing new things, sometimes it's a little scary. It's a good reminder that my students can feel that way too. It's good to reflect on that so I can find ways to help them through it. The ensemble-building is so important. Last year, at the end of the school year, I had a student tell me she did not know the names of all the students in our class. . . and there were only 19 kids. So, how can I expect them to share the text, participate with each other and ask questions if they don't even know each other? Now I will do ensemble building first."

Jessica Sharp, 12th grade English, Reynoldsburg High School

Alison, Antony and Cleopatra

Alison Bomber (above, right), the Royal Shakespeare Company's voice coach, worked all day Thursday with the MFA acting students (including Kevin McClatchy and Victoria Matsos, above) and the Ohio teachers. Bomber will be in residence at Ohio State during winter quarter 2011, when she will direct the MFA students in a production of Othello.

The week is quickly winding down in Stratford-upon-Avon, where construction is nearly finished on the completely transformed Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The theatre (above), situated squarely on the banks of the River Avon, was originally built in 1932 and will retain its Art Deco and Victorian features. The rebuilt theatre aims to improve the relationship between the audience and the actor by bringing them closer together and creating a more intimate theatre experience.

Throughout the week, the teachers and MFAs have had plenty of time for reflection and discussion about their experiences with the RSC through morning chats with OSU professor Brian Edmiston (above) and Pat Enciso in the hotel's courtyard.

The Ohio group wound up the day Thursday by attending the RSC production of Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare's captivating tragedy directed by Michael Boyd.

Above, in the theatre lobby at intermission.

Outside the theatre gift shop.

And later, at the Dirty Duck.

Features


"A light bulb went on today, a true 'a-ha' moment. When I heard the word 'iambic' today, I got it. Shakespeare's text is not only based on the sound of the vowels in the words but on the rhythm of the words. That really helps me understand the flow of Shakespeare's text, and it will work tremendously with inner-city kids. They're all about rhythm. They're always tapping their fingers on their desk, tapping their toes. Knowing about the rhythm in Shakespeare's work will really get them engaged. When you can teach them through rhythm, it sticks in their brains. It's amazing."

Rosalind Ebai, 6th grade reading and language arts, Wedgewood Middle School


"As a teacher, I thought I knew how to teach. This is showing me that I didn't -- I never realized until now that the kids should be an ensemble and not just a class. This week, I've loved the experience of being partnered with the MFA students -- they are very supportive of everyone, and that means something. As a writer, I've loved the attention to language and the rhythm of Shakespeare's word. I'm writing a novel and it's helping me see how the dialogue should work, how the motion and the sound of the language should flow."

David Hall, English teacher, the Charles School