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Go Inside Rehearsals for “She Stoops to Conquer”

March 11, 2019 By Jeff Fickes

Directed by Makaela Pollock, this new production of Oliver Goldsmith’s 18th century comedy of manners begins performances March 19 in the Center Theatre.

Featuring five original songs and a live band on stage, our She Stoops to Conquer recreates the comic spirit of the original, but gives the play a new spin for contemporary audiences.

Filled with pranks and hijinks, the play’s brilliantly comic characters deliver belly-laughs by the handful and wraps up with one of the cleverest cross matches in theatre.

The cast of 11 features Shanna Allman (Kate), Julie Briskman (Mrs. Hardcastle), Karen Jo Fairbrook (Stino/Madam Marlow), Basil Harris (Tony Lumpkin), Harry Todd Jamieson (Musician), Lamar Legend (Hastings), Jocelyn Maher (Constance), Evan Mosher (Musician), MJ Sieber (Marlow), Steven Tran (Musician), and R. Hamilton Wright (Mr. Hardcastle).

It’s a Plaid, Plaid, Plaid, Plaid World – She Stoops to Conquer

February 25, 2019 By Jeff Fickes

It’s a Plaid, Plaid, Plaid, Plaid World

Can a practical joke go too far? What if you’re clever enough to use it to your advantage? Seattle Shakespeare Company presents a Restoration Comedy mashup of ska music, hipster bars, gender dynamics, and mistaken identities in Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer. Makaela Pollock directs the production which begins previews on March 19 at the Center Theatre .

“This is a project that’s been in the works for quite some time,” said Seattle Shakespeare Company Artistic Director George Mount. “We did a reading of She Stoops to Conquer three years ago and I’m so glad to welcome Makaela back to helm this funny, funny show.” Director Makaela Pollock staged Seattle Shakespeare Company’s 2015 production of Tartuffe and the 2012 Wooden O production of Twelfth Night.

“This is a show about love and about figuring out who you are,” said Pollock at the first rehearsal for She Stoops to Conquer. “It’s also about generational change, class, and gender politics. It’s about fulfilling and bucking expectations.”

In She Stoops to Conquer, Marlow, a young man that Kate Hardcastle desires, is too shy to talk to well-born ladies. When a practical joke has him believing she’s a working class barmaid, Kate seizes the opportunity. She hatches a plan with her cousin Constance, but it throws the whole household into madcap mayhem in order to conceal her identity. While wrangling her meddling step-mother, blusterous father, and rascally step-brother, can Kate convince Marlow to love her for who she really is?

Subtitled The Mistakes of Night, the action of the play takes place during the course of one day. To try to find a raucous equivalent to the world of Goldsmith’s Restoration Comedy, the design team for She Stoops to Conquer have created a fun and whimsical world where 90s ska music and fashion meets 18^th Century winking bawdiness. The Center Theatre will be transformed into a hipster bar/hunting lodge with an onstage mini-ska band fronted by the character of Tony Lumpkin. Five original songs will be composed for the production. Plaid patterns abound for both the costumes and the set hearkening to both traditional English countryside and the rebellious youth culture of the 90s.

Shanna Allman and MJ Sieber will play Kate Hardcastle and Charles Marlow. They are joined by R. Hamilton Wright as Mr. Hardcastle, Julie Briskman as Mrs. Hardcastle, and Basil Harris as Tony Lumpkin.

Set design for the production is by Julia Hayes Welch, costume design by Chelsea Cook, lighting design by Andrew D. Smith, and original music by Brendan Milburn.

Tickets to She Stoops to Conquer are now on sale.

Wooden O Summer 2019 Plays Announced

February 14, 2019 By Jeff Fickes

Summer Lovin’, Had Me a Blast – Wooden O 2019

Free summer Shakespeare in the parks to include Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet

This summer Seattle Shakespeare Company brings free Shakespeare to our region’s parks with productions of Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet. Both shows will start performances on July 11 and will perform in 15 different park venues through August 11 including a new venue at Wiggums Hollow park in Everett.

David Pichette and Meme Garcia in *King Lear* (2018)

Annie Lareau, Charles Leggett, and Eleanor Moseley in *The Merry Wives of Windsor* (2018)

“In the middle of this snowy, cold winter, it’s been a real treat to begin thinking and dreaming about summer plans,” said Artistic Director George Mount. “Wooden O has always been about a gathering of friends, both old and new. We’re thrilled to have Mary Machala return to our ranks for more fun outdoors, and to welcome Leah Adcock-Starr to the director’s chair. I can’t wait to share these shows with everyone and carry on the great summer tradition of free summer Shakespeare.”

Mary Machala will direct Twelfth Night. Machala previously directed the Wooden O productions of Love’s Labour’s Lost and The Winter’s Tale. Leah Adcock-Starr makes her Seattle Shakespeare Company directing debut with Romeo and Juliet.

View Wooden O 2019 Schedule

Twelfth Night

After a shipwreck separates Viola from her twin brother, so begins a whirlwind of mistaken identities and unrequited love on the coast of Illyria. Ever resourceful, Viola disguises herself, sets out to conquer this strange land, and starts serving as a go-between for two lovesick households. When she falls in love with her employer, Viola gets caught up in a romantic knot that she must untangle. Just when things stretch to the brink of bedlam, her twin appears and the puzzle pieces come together.

Romeo and Juliet

From first shy glance, to a stolen moment away from disapproving eyes, to whirlwind romance that races to a dire conclusion, two love-struck teenagers risk everything to be together. Caught between their feuding families, Romeo and Juliet struggle to overcome generations of hatred and build a world where their love can thrive. Twists and tragedy hinder their desire to be together until they decide to take a chance on a daring scheme that hurtles them to their final fate.

Bluff Your Way Through the Play – All’s Well That Ends Well

January 3, 2019 By Jeff Fickes

We can’t blame you if you’re not familiar with All’s Well That Ends Well. It’s a play that mixes light and dark, joy and melancholy. It uses fairy tale conventions, but gives them a twist. Here are a few pointers to help acquaint you better with the play.

I Called It First

Before Leo Tolstoy found the final tile for his novel War and Peace, he considered calling his epic All’s Well That Ends Well.

Polarizing Protagonist

Victorian theatre artists had mixed feelings about All’s Well That Ends Well. Acclaimed actress Ellen Terry found Helena’s pursuit of Bertram to be predatory and “undignified.” Playwright George Bernard Shaw praised Helena for embodying the New Woman and compared her to Nora from Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.

Ominous Opening

The first recorded performance of All’s Well That Ends Well in 1742 didn’t end so well. The actress playing Helena fell ill on opening night and the actor playing the ailing King of France was ailing himself and died during the run — earning the play a cursed reputation.

A Little of This a Little of That

Shakespeare often borrowed stock characters from the Italian theatre tradition of commedia dell’arte. The character of Parolles in All’s Well That Ends Well would have been immediately recognized by Elizabethan audiences as a variation of the comic braggart soldier El Capitan.

Defying Definition

All’s Well That Ends Well should probably have a question mark tacked onto its title. The fairy tale-like story deals with grief while trying to resolve an ethical dilemma. Mingling comedy with tragedy, it’s a play that defies categories.

How Am I Supposed to Feel?

There are only two Shakespeare plays that give you an indication of how we’re supposed to feel about the play: All’s Well That Ends Well and As You Like It.

What’s Under the Sheets?

The bed trick is a plot device used both in All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure. The most common is when a man thinks he’s having sex with one woman, but without his knowledge a second woman takes the place of the first. While hardly believable, the device does open up the opportunity to comment on relationships.

Mother Dearest

All’s Well That Ends Well is one of just a few of Shakespeare’s plays that features a mother, the Countess of Roussillon, as a prominent character.

Marrying Up

Shakespeare used the device of “marrying above one’s station” to create friction (whether real or imagined) in All’s Well That Ends Well, and the plot twist is just as popular a story line today. From Jane Austen’s heroines to Meghan Markle’s royal wedding to the film and book Crazy Rich Asians, the triumph of love over class is one that continues to resonate.

Foul Papers

Scholars believe that All’s Well That Ends Well was published from a working draft, known as “foul papers.” In the original script the Countess’s lines are attributed variously to “Mother,” “Lady,” “Countess,” and “Old Countess.” Other characters are referred to by title only in the beginning of the script and assigned given names later in the story.

Gender Flip Fairytale

It’s a familiar plot: A hero accomplishes an impossible task and gets rewarded by a king with the princess’s hand in marriage. In the case of Helena, she does the impossible task (healing the king) and Bertram (as the king’s ward) takes the place of the princess.

Go Inside Rehearsals for “All’s Well That Ends Well”

December 31, 2018 By Jeff Fickes

Directed by Victor Pappas, this new production of Shakespeare’s fairy tale of love and war begins performances January 8 in the Center Theatre.

Keiko Green and Conner Brady Neddersen head up a 16 member cast in Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well. Green plays Helena, a young woman who has pinned her heart on Bertram, played by Neddersen. Not only is Shakespeare’s “serious comedy” modern in its discussion about the complicated relationships between men and women, but it’s also rich in examining differing generational views on how to find your own way in the world. The cast also includes Suzanne Bouchard (Countess of Roussillon), David Breyman (Ensemble), Keith Dahlgren (Lavatch, the clown), Brandon Felker (Reynaldo/Duke of Florence), Riley Gene (Ensemble), Heather Hawkins (Widow), Benjamin McFadden (Dumaine the Elder), Hannah Morin (Mariana), Christopher Morson (Dumaine the Younger), George Mount (Parolles), Ayo Tushinde (Diana), Evan Whitfield (French Lord/Soldier/Gentleman), Michael Winters (King of France), R. Hamilton Wright (Lafew).