Archive for 2012|Yearly archive page
VST Comedy “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” opens Thursday
In Articles on 2012/02/06 at 4:54 PM**UPDATE: Sunday’s show will be at 1 pm.**
By Abigail Demke
William Shakespeare wrote approximately 38 plays, and whether you believe it or not, every single one is included (in some way) in Villanova Student Theater’s one and a half hour performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). If 38 plays condensed to under two hours isn’t impressive enough for you, you should know that the sonnets, of which there are 156, are included as well. Sort of. And if that still fails to impress, you should know that there are 1122 roles in all of Shakespeare’s plays, and although those have been cut down to only the most crucial, there are still a substantial number remaining that are played by a total of three cast members.
“Three actors are the whole show; luckily I have three really great people playing those roles and they’re always game… in general this has been a really fun, smooth process,” says Elizabeth Marafino, director of the show. The talent of Ricky Chan, Monique Cummings and Okichie Davis shines through the beautiful poetry and prose written by the famous bard, even in the bro-ified interpretations sometimes used. A line such as “all the admired bitties of Verona” is probably something you never expected to hear, even from a modernized performance of Shakespeare.
With so few actors, and so many roles, tons of props are needed to help signify the changes in character. “It’s all props: we have a rubber chicken, a blowup doll, foam swords, light sabers… it’s pretty intense,” says Marafino. Just how many props are included in the show? According to the prop designer, Anellia Maduro, “a lot.” Marafino was able to clarify that: “too many.”
If you’ve missed a few more of your literature lectures than you care to admit, you have nothing to worry about. VST has your back. “It’s going to be really fun. You actually learn quite a bit in the midst of all the hilarity,” says Davis, who plays a preeminent Shakespearean scholar, among many other roles. She also would like to remind the potential audience that “it’s an ACS event, so you can have fun while you’re doing your homework.”
Overall, the performance is a whirlwind of tragedy, comedy, irreverent reinterpretation, and inappropriate jokes. The show includes shortened versions of Shakespeare’s tragedies, one large mashup of all the comedies performed at once, as well as some explanation of the background story of the three actors putting on the show.
This play will leave you confused, muddled, maybe even slightly violated. Despite this, the show is engaging and very well performed. You are guaranteed to laugh, whether you are a scholar who understands the true Shakespeare that remains, or if you are young at heart (“young at heart” meaning childish enough to laugh at bathroom humor).
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) will be performed in St. Mary’s Auditorium on February 9, 10, and 11 at 8pm with additional matinee shows at 2pm on the 11 and 12. Student tickets cost $7 and adult tickets cost $10.
Other things to look forward to from VST are A Streetcar Named Desire, playing March 27-31. Also there will be a night of One Acts with VST and VSMT (proceeds will go to charity), as well as improv events and a playwriting competition this spring, so there is plenty to look forward to. VST is completely student run and the shows are always very impressive, so definitely look out for more information about the spring season.
Unseen Work of New York Artist Debuts in Posthumous Retrospective at Villanova Art Gallery
In Articles, Photos on 2012/01/29 at 9:01 PMBy Peter Brakman
Villanova University’s celebration of the art of Ray Sternbergh more than 10 years after his death gives the New York painter, illustrator, sculptor and wood carver an exhibit that the reticent artist never sought in his lifetime. The posthumous show, arranged by his widow and daughter, comprises never before publicly seen landscapes, seascapes, portraits, still lifes, and sculptures.
“Ray Sternbergh – a Retrospective” opens Friday, February 24 with a free public reception from 5 to 7 pm in the Art Gallery in the Connelly Center.
His 1950s classmates at Pratt Institute saw the Korean War-era Air Force veteran as destined for a place of note as an American painter. Sternbergh, then studying on the GI Bill, is recalled as a quiet man whose presence went without much notice – until he engaged a canvas. “There were some very good artists in that class, but he was the best,” remembers classmate Tom Doyle, a retired illustrator.
That Sternbergh didn’t become an acclaimed artist is no mystery to his daughter Jennifer Huth. “Dad wasn’t interested in changing the world with his art. The hustling, dealing with agents, it just wasn’t who he was. He painted for himself. It was pure selfish love and joy,” says Huth, who lives in Bryn Mawr with her husband James and their two children.
After graduating from Pratt, Sternbergh went on to make his living as a comic book and book cover jacket illustrator, an industrial designer, and art director in the marketing and point-of-purchase industries. He saved painting for his private life and never sold or tried to sell one.
With the picturesque harbor of Northport, Long Island, NY, at the end of his lawn, and a small airport nearby, Sternbergh indulged his passions for painting, sailing, piloting small aircraft, sculpting, writing poetry, making toys and furniture, and riding motorcycles, among other pursuits.
As a painter, realism was his forte, notes his widow Nancy. “He painted what was there and he did it incredibly well. He had golden hands. I once asked him to let me represent him as an artist. He wouldn’t; nor would he let anyone else, either. My, he was an incredible artist.”
Retirement in the early 1990s became one of the most prolific creative periods of Sternbergh’s life. With skills honed by classes at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, he produced a large body of paintings, many of which have been selected by his widow and daughter for the exhibit.
Even as he battled pancreatic cancer, Sternbergh was not idle. Jennifer recalls him taking down a large canvas done years before of three clam boats buoyed in the Northport harbor. He noticed that the light reflected off the water appeared brighter than that of the sun, which cannot be. So he fixed it. “He was obsessed with capturing light,” says Huth. He died in 2001.
The exhibit came about when Huth, a graduate student in Villanova’s Theatre Program, met Art Gallery Director Fr. Richard G. Cannuli, OSA, who then also headed the Theatre Department. Invited to the Huth’s Bryn Mawr home to examine Sternbergh’s considerable artwork, Fr. Cannuli, himself a Pratt graduate, liked what he saw: “It was time that someone who had produced such a large body of varied works without ever having had an exhibit, should have one.”
‘Ray Sternbergh – a Retrospective’ continues to April 11, 2012. All exhibits at the Villanova University Art Gallery are free and open to the public. The Art Gallery is open weekdays from 9 am well into most evenings. For extended and weekend hours, and other information, telephone the Art Gallery at (610) 519-4612. Selected works from the Ray Sternbergh exhibit may be previewed at www.artgallery.villanova.edu
2011 in review
In Uncategorized on 2012/01/03 at 7:48 PMThe WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,500 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
