SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND.Byline: Greg Botonis Daily News Staff Writer William Shakespeare's ``The Tempest'' and ``Twelfth Night'' highlight a three-day festival celebrating the life and times of the Bard. Featuring the Los Angeles-based theater group Will & Company, the Palmdale Playhouse's third annual Shakespeare Festival is the largest to date. A one-man show in 1997 was expanded to two days last year. ``It's a real tribute to the fact that there are quite a few Shakespeare fans here in the High Desert,'' said Theatre Manager Dea McAllister. The festival this year benefits from interest generated by the Oscar-winning film ``Shakespeare in Love,'' which follows recent movie versions of ``Romeo and Juliet'' with Leonardo Di Caprio, ``Much Ado About Nothing'' and ``Hamlet'' with Mel Gibson Noun 1. Mel Gibson - Australian actor (born in the United States in 1956) Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson, Gibson U.S.A., United States, United States of America, US, USA, America, the States, U.S. . ``It's interesting to see these plays come back around. Everything comes back around. It peaks the interest of a new generation, and the movies helped,'' McAllister said. The festival's first feature will be ``Life and Times of the Bard (Not Without Right),'' performed by Will & Company artistic director Colin Cox, known for his encyclopedic en·cy·clo·pe·dic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of an encyclopedia. 2. Embracing many subjects; comprehensive: "an ignorance almost as encyclopedic as his erudition" knowledge of the works and life of Shakespeare. The presentation at 8 p.m. tonight will include hands-on workshops on the writing, acting and presenting of Shakespearean plays. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Shakespeare's only ``American'' play, ``The Tempest,'' will be performed. Set on an island that is thought to be one of the Bahamas, the Bahamas, the (bəhä`məz), officially Commonwealth of the Bahamas, independent nation (2005 est. pop. 301,800), 4,403 sq mi (11,404 sq km), in the Atlantic Ocean, consisting of some 700 islands and islets and about 2,400 cays, beginning c. play follows the deposed Duke of Milan as he devises a scheme to regain his throne as well as teaching the man who overthrew him, his brother, a lesson. ``Twelfth Night Twelfth Night, Jan. 5, the vigil or eve of Epiphany, so called because it is the 12th night from Christmas, counting Christmas as the first. In England, Twelfth Night has been a great festival marking the end of the Christmas season, and popular masquerading parties ,'' which will open at 2 p.m. Sunday, is considered one of Shakespeare's greatest comic achievements, involving mistaken love, pranks and separated twins. Following the performance will be a discussion of the playwright's life and works. An American Sign Language American Sign Language n. The primary sign language used by deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada. American Sign Language (ASL), n. interpreter will also be available at each show for the hearing impaired. The festival began in 1997 with a one-man professional show, Alms ALMS. In its most extensive sense, this comprehends every species of relief bestowed upon the poor, and, therefore, including all charities. In a more, limited sense, it signifies what is given by public authority for the relief of the poor. Shelford on Mortmain, 802, note (x); 1 Dougl. for Oblivion, and then expanded to two days in 1998 with performances of ``Romeo and Juliet'' and ``A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare written sometime in the 1590s. It portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta, and .'' The turnout at the first two events has led to the expansion of the festival into a three-day format with more entertainment added each year. Accompanying the performances will be music by the Madrigal madrigal, name for two different forms of Italian music, one related to the poetic madrigal in the 14th cent., the other the most common form of secular vocal music in the 16th cent. Singers, local singers dressed in Elizabethan costume, who will serenade serenade [Ital. sera=evening], term used to designate several types of musical composition. Opera and song literature yield numerous examples of the serenade sung or played by a lover at night beneath his beloved's window; outstanding is patrons in the lobby and courtyard. The playhouse itself will also be ``costumed'' in banners, and its staff and volunteers will be dressed in Elizabethan style Elizabethan style (ĭlĭz'əbē`thən), in architecture and the decorative arts, a transitional style of the English Renaissance, which took its name from Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558–1603). . ``We try to bring the amateur and the professional together in many of our shows,'' said McAllister. ``It is our way of involving the community in what we do here. Being so close to Los Angeles, there is a tremendous pool of talent to draw from.'' Tickets for each performance are $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens, military and students, and $8 for youth aged 12 and under. Three-day ticket packages are $24 for adults, $18 for seniors, military and students, and $15 for youth 12 and under. Tickets are available at the box office or by calling (661) 267-5685. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Performers from Will & Company will appear in ``The Tempest,'' one of three Shakespeare Festival productions in Palmdale. |
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