Acorn Productions Announces the 2009/10 Season of Naked Shakespeare Events 9/21

Acorn Productions announces that the 2009/10 season of Naked Shakespeare events begins on Monday, September 21 at 6 p.m. with a "Sonnet and Soliloquies" performance in Monument Square in Portland. Recently displaced from the Wine Bar on Wharf Street, the company's monthly venue for the past 3 seasons, Naked Shakespeare actors will re-create the ambience of the Wine Bar under a canopy in the centrally-located Portland park, where audience members will experience "Sonnets and Soliloquies Greatest Hits," a compilation of 16 speeches and 2 short scenes delivered by Acorn Shakespeare Ensemble actors. The more formal performance will be preceded by a series of roving sonneteers who will deliver their pieces in an intimate style to one table at a time. Audience members are encouraged to arrive early and enjoy wine and appetizers during this portion of the evening. The performance is free with a $10 suggested donation requested to support the work of Naked Shakespeare.

"Sonnets and Soliloquies Greatest Hits" is scheduled to coincide with a meeting of the Portland City Council at which they may consider a variance to the ordinance that prohibits the Wine Bar from receiving an entertainment license for Naked Shakespeare performances. Since the company's inception in 2004, Naked Shakespeare has continually offered free performances at both traditional and non-traditional venues throughout Greater Portland. "Sonnets and Soliloquies" is an hour-long free performance of some of the bard's best poetry, presented in a style that is designed to be accessible to all audience members, even those that are not that familiar with his work. The ambience and performance style encourage an intimate relationship between actor and audience that allows the language to take center stage. Actors are cued by contemporary lines written on cue cards read by audience members, allowing for a playful interaction that celebrates the poetry by providing a contemporary context for the text.

While the venue remains in question, Naked Shakespeare plans to continue the "Sonnets and Soliloquies" the first Monday of the month beginning in November 2009. Additionally, the company will be presenting a scene night entitled "Fools for Love" at SPACE Gallery in downtown Portland on January 18 and 19, 2010. The season will continue with an abridged version of "The Tempest" at USM in March and conclude with a full production of "As You Like It" over two weekends in May at Riverbank Park in Westbrook.

The Acorn Shakespeare Ensemble was founded by Michael Levine and Michael Howard in the fall of 2004 in order to provide an opportunity for local professional actors to forge a long-term working relationship designed to deepen their ability to interpret classical text. The company's mission to is to educate its audience about the meaning behind Shakespeare's text by using acting to simply demonstrate the broad range of intricate emotion, theme and language. Naked Shakespeare actors strive to create the world of the play in the imagination of the audience by minimizing the use of sets, lights and costumes and focusing on the imagery contained in the Bard's language.

Call Acorn Productions at 854-0065 or visit www.nakedshakespeare.org for more information about "Sonnets and Soliloquies" or any other programs offered by Acorn Productions.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.