King Lear: Synopsis
A Kingdom Divided Upon her retirement, King Lear decides to divide the kingdom among her daughters so that she might “unburdened crawl towards death.” Lear makes her daughters earn their inheritance by performing declarations of flattery. Cunning Goneril and Regan play along, win their portions, and are married off to the Dukes of Albany and […]
Voice of America: “For California Theater Producers,The Show Must Go On, Even During Pandemic”
This is a video story on the state of live theater in California. It features Elizabeth Carter, Director of Free Shakespeare @ Home, King Lear. https://www.voanews.com/episode/california-theater-producers-show-must-go-even-during-pandemic-4341861
All Hail the Queen King: In Conversation with Jessica Powell
We still preform Shakespeare’s plays becasue they contiunue to offer incredibnly insight into human behavior. This has allowed artists and directors to adapt his plays to meet their historical needs. Indeed, since it was first written King Lear has undergone numerous adaptations each unique, special and impactful in their own ways while still retaining the […]
O, for a Zoom of fire: Reimagining Free Shakespeare in the Park
In the prologue to Henry V, the chorus invokes a “muse of fire” by asking the audience to use their “imaginary forces” to see kings, armies, horses, and the battlefields of France, all within the bounds of Shakespeare’s wooden O, the Globe Theatre. Suppose within the girdle of these wallsAre now confined two mighty monarchies,Whose […]
Much Ado About Zooming: Teaching Artist, Robyn Grahn, Discusses the Move to Virtual Theatre Camp
Robyn Grahn is a Resident Artist and Teaching Artist for SF Shakes. She was in the middle of teaching Upstart Crows—a Bay Area Shakespeare Camp for teens that meets on Saturdays—when public health measures turned her in-person performance camp into a distance learning experiment. SF Shakes: Your Saturday Upstart Crows Camp began meeting in January. […]
An Important Message from Artistic Director, Rebecca Ennals
Dear Friends, Hey. Here we are. All of us. It’s been a couple of weeks of shelter-in-place here in California – two weeks of wildly shifting emotions, of rapidly acquired hobbies, of anxiety, of connection, of pressing a giant pause button on our lives and finding out how that feels. For some. For others, our […]
At the Intersection of Theatre and Disability: SF Shakes Talks with Lauren Kivowitz about Shakespeare’s Heartbeat
Success and engagement look different on everyone. And I think it changes every single day for any given person.
SF Shakes Talks with Elizabeth Carter, Director of Free Shakespeare in the Park, The Tragedy of King Lear, Summer 2020.
SF Shakes: I know that you worked with SF Shakes some time ago as an actor and now you’re back as a director. Can you talk a bit about that first SF Shakes experience and how you made the transition from actor to director? Elizabeth Carter: I had done many shows in my mid-twenties, including […]
An Interview with Community Consultant, Jade Blackthorne
This is a transcription of an interview between SFShakes Literary Intern, Lily Goldman, and Jade Blackthorne, our Community Consultant. We first met Jade when SF Shakes conducted a Shakespeare workshop with community members experiencing homelessness in partnership with Project Homeless Connect and Simply the Basics. Since then, Jade has become a valuable member of the […]
The Intern Speaks: The World of Our Play
Enjoy this transcript of a talk delivered by Lily Goldman, the Festival’s Literary Intern, to celebrate the final dress rehearsal of As You Like It: a new musical on June 28, 2019. Lily, a Napa Valley native, is a theater major at Bard College, a lover of vegan ice cream, thrift stores, and inclusive art. […]