Franklin Stage Company Announces Shakespeare Video Project

Franklin Stage Company, Delaware County's renowned classical summer theater, has announced alternative digital content in lieu of an in-person season, which was cancelled due to the pandemic. "We're excited to announce our Soliloquies at Chapel Hall Project," said Leslie Noble, Co-Artistic Director, "We wanted to find a way to stay connected with our audience and we sensed folks were a bit weary of Zoom play readings. So we thought these short videos, which are part behind-the-scenes and part performance would offer an interesting alternative."

The video project is a series of Shakespeare monologues performed in unique spaces in FSC's historic home, Chapel Hall, where audiences don't typically see performances. Many of these spaces coincide with planned renovations and recent refurbishments. "Part of our mission is the preservation and upkeep of Chapel Hall," added Co-Artistic Director Patricia Buckley, "and having our origins in classical theater, this project fits right into our mission."

The videos were produced by Noble and Buckley, with Chris O'Connor as associate producer, filmmaker Tom Bergin shooting and editing the videos and Scott Holdredge providing production design.

"We got to work with some of our favorite collaborators", said Buckley, "including Scott Holdredge, design professor at SUNY Cortland, and Chris O'Connor, Artistic Director of Miles Square Theater in Hoboken, NJ", as well as actors Adara Alston, and Woodrow Proctor."

"Chris is also a featured actor, along with his dog Frankie", added Noble, "and we were also pleased to feature one of our interns from last year, Isabella Hotchkin, as well as an impromptu guest appearance by Arturo Hernandez, a student at Molloy College."

The videos will be posted to FSC's website, franklinstagecompany.org as well as to the company's Youtube channel, one every 2 weeks, beginning next week July 27 and continuing throughout August.

A key component of FSC's mission is to offer admission-free programming, and Soliloquies at Chapel Hall is no exception. However, audiences are welcome to donate via the website if they enjoy the content.

Programming at the Franklin Stage Company is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.