Chesapeake Shakespeare Co Hosts Discussion With Curt Tofteland 4/1

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company will host an open discussion featuring Shakespeare Behind Bars program Founder and Producing Director, Curt Tofteland, on April 1, 2011 (7:00 pm) at Oliver's Carriage House. The Carriage House is located at 5410 Leaf Treader Way, Columbia, MD 21044. Tofteland will discuss his extraordinary experience introducing the incarcerated to the works of William Shakespeare.

The Shakespeare Behind Bars program offers prison inmates the opportunity to develop the necessary life skills to insure successful reintegration into society through rehearsing and performing Shakespeare. Tofteland will share his account of this inspirational process that keenly illustrates the transformation that occurs through artistic endeavor.

Curt Tofteland gained international recognition in 2005 when Philomath films premiered the documentary Shakespeare Behind Bars at the Sundance Film Festival. Chronicling his work with the incarcerated, the powerful film received over 11 awards from the indie festival circuit worldwide. A dynamic theatre professional of over 30 years, Curt Tofteland is known as an Equity actor, director, and Producing Artistic Director of the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival (1989-2008) and solo artist of 400+ shows of Shakespeare's Clownes, a Fools Guide to Shakespeare. His directing talents have been showcased at American Shakespeare Center-Blackfriars Playhouse, Oklahoma Shakespeare, Foothills Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Actors Shakespeare Project, and Theatre of Monmouth. Currently, Tofteland spends most of his time as a free-lance writer illuminating the transformative power of the Shakespeare Behind Bars program.

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is delighted to bring Curt Tofteland to Howard County in this intimate venue. CSC strives to find new ways to connect audience, artists, and community to classical theatre. This candid conversation will give the audience a chance to explore Shakespeare's work and its effect on the human condition. The event is part of CSC's ongoing mission to answer the question, "what makes Shakespeare so great?" It is an exclusive opportunity to meet Curt Tofteland, who gained international attention for giving the most unlikely candidates the opportunity to perform the text of the world's most esteemed playwright.

Mission: The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company creates performances and education programs out of great classic theatre. Classic plays can be awfully good, but only if they speak to their audience and the community in a way that is dynamic, personal, and pleasurable. We do plays that people like, and we perform them in innovative and intimate ways that intensify the connection between audiences and artists. We do this because we want to know what makes Shakespeare so great-and we ask our audience and our community to explore that question alongside us.

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