CU Acting Tour of MACBETH Hits Under-Served Audiences

Macbeth was performed at Catholic University's Hartke Theater this past weekend. But, students who are cast in the production have been sharing it for more than a week with the Washington, D.C., area community through a new program called CUActing tour. The tour began in area high schools and included a stop at the Blair House transitional shelter in northeast D.C., where residents watched a 45-minute highlight of the show. The tour continues at other high schools and the Sunrise Assisted Living facility in northwest D.C. It will conclude April 26 at D.C.'s Metropolitan Club. To watch an interview with Director Eleanor Holdridge about the production, click here.

The goal of the tour is to give students the chance to perform on various stages to different audiences with an emphasis on the underserved - audiences that either can't afford or no longer have the ability to attend professional theatre performances, said Gary Sloan, co-head of the University's M.F.A. Acting program.

"CUActing tour is in the embryonic stages and right now it's happening out of a performance studio course that we teach for the grad actors but we have long-range and long-distance plans," said Sloan.

"I always think that I became an actor when I was touring for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We [had to be ready to perform] in all kinds of different spaces. It was just the actor and the audience; that's what we're trying to do with CUActing," noted Sloan.

Going on tour increases students' confidence, added Sloan. "It gives them a greater sense of purpose because they are serving the community and increases their abilities at the same time."

Danielle Scott, who plays Lady Macbeth, said that going to the transitional shelter "was a very surreal moment, and it was very humbling to go and do this piece for them. Connection is something that has been a great teacher for the tour."