PHOTO BY GARY ZUPANCIC/WIMBERLEY VIEW A little improv never hurt anybody including Halley Strange, John Kelley and Lila Robbins.
PHOTO BY GARY ZUPANCIC/WIMBERLEY VIEW Treniyah Adair is learning how to sew and is enjoying it.
PHOTO BY GARY ZUPANCIC/WIMBERLEY VIEW 13 year old Ben Goldsmith and the Original Band. Its members entertained the actors– guitarist and lead singer Ben Goldsmith, bassist James Bandini and drummer Jack McDonough.
PHOTO BY GARY ZUPANCIC/WIMBERLEY VIEW Yahva Westbrook works on the background set.
PHOTO BY GARY ZUPANCIC/WIMBERLEY VIEW Hannah Mubarak and actor John Kelley’s soldier sketch.
Shakespeare Under the Stars
At EmilyAnn, Summer Shakespeare is a tradition. It started as a Wimberley High School project, and in 1998 received a new permanent home at EmilyAnn Theatre and Gardens.
Since then, hundreds of kids have learned all their lines before arriving for the six-week course, which is when the real education begins. “It is six weeks of Shakespeare, everyday, Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. We rehearse in the morning for “Anthony and Cleopatra.” We take a lunch break and from 1 to 5 work calls, doing sets and costumes,” Artistic Director Bridget Gates said.
This year there are 37 kids altogether this year. Two other instructors help Gates keep the kids on task, James Pearce oversees sets and crew, and Hannah Mubarak is the head of costume crew, with each actor making their own costume.
EmilyAnn also has experts teach courses, such as a professional expert. The courses rotate to each class, working on the sets, costume making and the class offered this week was given by an improv instructor.
Real acting and theatre experience, for aged 12 through senior in high schools, happens at EmilyAnn. Surprisingly, there’s a lot of returning veterans, where a taste of the greasepaint was not enough, there was way more to be had.
It is four weeks of hot, physical labor, then two weeks of performances. Isn’t that what dreaming about acting is all about, learning the craft from the bottom up. It is a great educational experience, but better than that, it is REAL Shakespeare, Shakespeare Under the Stars. Anthony and Cleopatra, as part of Shakespeare Under the Stars, will be preformed August 1 through 10 (no Sunday show) at the Patti S Harrison Outdoor Main Stage of Emily-Ann Theatre and Gardens.