#theatre&dance

[muhlenbergtheatredance]

“Or,” is really Something!

Hi again!  We've just opened a fantastic new show at Hedgerow Theatre called Or, (the comma is part of the title) and I'm going to tell you all about it.  (Brief refresher: I'm Allie, I graduated in '14 and I'm working in Philadelphia as a company member at Hedgerow Theatre)  It's an amazing, complicated, fast and sexy piece.  Summing it up is a bit tricky but here's what you've got.  Aphra Behn, the world's first female playwright, has been a spy for the British Crown.  She's returned home to her beloved London, still ragged with the great fire, to finally achieve her dream of theatrical renown.  However, it's not an easy feat.  Not only is she juggling writing a five act play in one night, she's also got her ex-lover-current-spy William threatening a dastardly plot, her current lover King Charles the Second determined to love, and a potential new lover, the young actress Nell Gwynne who wants to meet Charles.  Throw in a couple cranky crazy ladies and that's at least a start. As soon as I was handed this script I fell in love.  Not only has Or, been fun, it's a play that I feel really gives the artists behind a chance to say something.  Written by Liz Duffy Adams in the late 2000's, this 1660's bedroom farce is surprisingly modern.  Yes everyone wears a ridiculous amount of ruffles, and don't get me started on the wigs, but it could be taking place today.  Aphra fights for her own happiness against all too recent extreme confines of the Puritanical rule of Cromwell.  She fights to make her own path as a woman and earn equal respect as the men around her.  She fights for the right to love how and who she wants. These are all things people today struggle with on a daily basis.  [Insert joke about choosing not to say "quotidian"]  It's a play that is there to entertain you as any other, but it's also there to push and challenge the way people think.  One of the biggest messages is that love is love no matter what.  It's an important message in 1666 and it's an important message today.  That's why I do theatre, to affect change and that's what this crazy play is doing. What have been the biggest challenges for me are the multiple characters I play in the show.  Oh?  Did I not mention?  There's three people in the cast and 7 characters.  I play Nell Gwynne, a brilliantly witty but foul-mouthed actress, a cantankerous servant (Maria) and a very wealthy and quite possibly unhinged patron of the arts (Lady Davenport).   It's tough giving each character a different posture, age, walk, and voice, but that's what also makes it so fun.  One of the highest compliments I get after a show is when an audience member tells me they had no idea that I played all three women.  It means I've done my job well.   Best of all is, you've still got four weekends to come see it.  We've recently been Barrymore Recommended (meaning judges will be coming to the show to nominate the cast and designers for potential awards) which is tremendously exciting.  It's a truly fantastic show that we've all worked hard on.  Also - if you say I sent you tickets are $10. Seriously.  Come see it.  It's sexy and witty and wonderful.  We run through February 28th!  You can reserve tickets atwww.hedgerowtheatre.org as well as read more about the show or call [phone].  For more on what I'm up to check outallisonbloechl.weebly.com. 

See you soon Mules!

[muhlenbergtheatredance]

Ciao from Italy! - Jillian

Ciao everyone! My name is Jillian, and I am blogging from the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy! Each semester many junior Muhlenberg theatre and dance majors choose to study abroad at ADA, and come back with nothing but positive things to say about the program. After being here for four weeks, I can confirm that the wonderful rumors are true!

I, along with ten other Muhlenberg students and five students from other colleges, make up the undergraduate physical theatre program at ADA. Here with us are twelve music students from Furman University in South Carolina. All of the students live on a villa, right upstairs from all of our classrooms, practice rooms, lounges, and the mensa, which is where we eat all of our meals with the faculty. All of our meals on weekdays are provided, and the kitchen staff (headed by the fun-loving cook, Ricardo) makes the most delicious meals using only the freshest ingredients. The villa was built in the 1400s, and while it has been updated since then, it still has a beautiful, old-fashioned vibe. From the windows of our dorm rooms and classrooms, you can see the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside and the cathedral in the downtown area of Arezzo. Sounds like a dream, right? I’ve been here for a month, and still have not gotten over the view. Sitting outside to watch the sunset over Tuscany is one of the best parts of each day.

Surprisingly enough, Muhlenberg students do not just go to ADA to witness the beauty of Italy. Coming to the Accademia is a great way to continue your acting training while getting an abroad experience. Our core performance classes are Movement, Voice, and Commedia dell’Arte. Movement is exactly what it sounds like; we work on becoming aware of all of the things our bodies are capable of, and finding out how we can relate this to characters we will play onstage in the future. Our voice class is taught by Kevin Crawford, who was a guest artist at Muhlenberg two years ago and directed the mainstage production of Bartholomew Fair. In this class, we use our bodies to help us free our voices, both for speaking and for singing. Commedia dell’Arte is a newer class we have started, in which we study a traditional form of theatre that uses stock characters, improvisation, and masks to tell stories. I will explain this more in depth in a later blog post.

In addition to performance classes, all theatre students are required to take Italian and Philosophy courses as well. These have really helped me to feel more involved in the Italian culture, and have raised some important questions about why it is important to create art.

There are also many smaller courses that meet fewer times throughout the semester, but are still very important and fun! We had a few juggling workshops, and many of the students here picked up three ball juggling very quickly, along with some other fancy tricks! ADA also focuses on circus traditions, and throughout the semester we will be working on headstands and some light acrobatics to add to our juggling expertise! Another small unit is a dramaturgy class in which we learn how to write commedia scripts.

I hope this basic overview helped explain what generally happens at the Accademia dell’Arte! I cannot wait to blog some more about classes, the traditions of Commedia dell’Arte, group travel adventures, and other important villa happenings! (And of course, pizza and gelato!)

Pictures below: All of the ADA students bonding during the first week of classes, and me standing with the Arezzo sign!