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NESE BRINGS BIG-CITY THEATRE TO ANDOVER
---Heather Durfey, Argus-Champion, July 14, 2004Two and a half years of hard work bring Artistic Director John Goodlin's vision of Shakespeare theatre to area's "doorstep." (More)
NEW SHAKESPEARE TROUPE PREPARES FOR ITS FIRST PRODUCTION: TWELFTH NIGHT
---Tom Hill, Close-Up, Valley News, July 22, 2004Troupe takes “pomposity” out of Shakespeare with wacky, zany production; ambitious project achieves balance between local performers and classically trained pros and attracts experienced design professionals. (More)
ALL THE STATE’S A STAGE: ENSEMBLE BRINGS SHAKESPEARE TO NEW HAMPSHIRE’S SUMMERS
---Anne Ruderman, Arts & Entertainment, Concord Monitor, July 22, 2004New theatre company to fill void in area’s summer theatre offerings. (More)
THEATER TOUTS FAMILY FUN: SHAKESPEARE ENSEMBLE’S PRODUCTION FOR ALL AGES
---Jana Marx, Eagle Times, August 12, 2004The humor of Twelfth Night’s topsy-turvy world reaches all ages. (More)
NESE BRINGS BIG-CITY THEATRE TO ANDOVER
After two and a half years of hard work ... Shakespearean comedy comes to life in Andover this summer ... NESE was created by [Artistic Director] John Goodlin ..."He thought this area wanted and could support theatre that performed Shakespeare and other works that have survived the test of time," said Morris Edwards, a member of NESE's board of directors. One of NESE's goals is to provide the area with quality theatre that is comparable to New York, Boston, and Montreal. ... Included in the Twelfth Night cast is Karen Lynn Gorney, who plays the character Tara Martin on the soap opera "All My Children", and also starred opposite John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever" as Stephanie Mangano. ... The cast includes many other national and internationally talented and accomplished actors. ... The selection of Twelfth Night, a comedy, was to bring a wacky and zany play ... [that would attract] families to the productions. ... "I love the idea of having Shakespeare right here at our doorstep," Edwards said.
---Heather Durfey, Argus-Champion, July 14, 2004
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NEW SHAKESPEARE TROUPE PREPARES FOR ITS FIRST PRODUCTION: TWELFTH NIGHT
| One of the keynote considerations when we were first getting off the ground was to take the pomposity out of Shakespeare, and have a lot fun with it -- while at the same time sharing the language, sharing the story, with compelling clarity," [says Artistic Director John Goodlin,] "Twelfth Night lends itself to that." It might surprise those unfamiliar with Shakespeare's work to learn that Twelfth Night is, in Goodlin's words, "a wacky, zany, topsy-turvy play -- everyone is a little wacko, a bit off-center, borderline. And we have this cross-gender business going on, and love triangles where people are falling in love and turning on a dime." At the same time, the play includes "all of the wonderful language of Shakespeare, including its beauty, romance and irony, the wit, the wisdom, the bawdiness, the regality and the common sense, the musicality, and all of the humanity inherent in the language." It is, he adds, "the most pure comedy that Shakespeare has written." ... From the outset, he wanted his cast to represent a balance between local performers and trained professionals. How do you get the pros to sign on to such an ambitious undertaking? Basically, you advertise -- and stand back. "I placed one ad inBackstage magazine...and I received over 500 pictures and resumes," Goodlin says with a hearty laugh. He conducted auditions in New York City and found no shortage of aspirants who "connected right away with what we wanted to do. ... Then we assembled some very fine actors to supplement the core group. ... It's a very tight, bonded, uplifting ensemble of actors." Behind the scenes, Goodlin put together a troupe whose credentials are [equally] impressive. Costume designer Robina D'Arcy-Fox, owner of Fancy Felix Theatrical in White River Junction, has created costumes for Carnivale in Venice, Edinburgh's Festival of the Fringe... and New York's City Center Ballet. She's working with a "silhouette," in theatrical parlance, of Renaissance Italy. "It's very colorful, and she is free to be as creative as she wants -- to work from the silhouette...without being absolutely pedantic about sticking to period," Goodlin says. Set Designer James Schuyer Wassell of Sunapee created the concepts for Tomorrowland at Disneyland, and did the sets for the film The Rocky Horror Show and the touring show of The Lion King. ... Wassell "has moved the set [for Twelfth Night ] forward," says board member Morris Edwards, "so all of the action takes place right in front of the audience. Twelfth Night is a very frenetic, hilarious comedy, and the physical humor works especially well when the action is close up." Goodlin hopes to be back with two plays next year...If all goes well, the following two years would see three productions each; by 2008, "we would like to enter into a full contractual arrangement with Actors Equity, and join the League of Resident Theatres." Asked about the prospects for failure, Goodlin laughs again. "Our thinking wasn't along those lines," he says. "We want to hold on to the vision, (and not) be frightened of what might happen. The idea is to hold onto the dream, hold onto the vision, and to pull through with it no matter what." ---Tom Hill, Close-Up, Valley News, July 22, 2004 (Next Article) (Headlines) (Prev Article) |
ALL THE STATE'S A STAGE: ENSEMBLE BRINGS SHAKESPEARE TO NEW HAMPSHIRE'S SUMMERS
The brainchild of John Goodlin, a former actor with Canada's Stratford Festival, the ensemble hopes to play to the summer tourist boom in the Lake Sunapee area, taking up where other New Hampshire summer theaters leave off. "There's a lot of summer activity going on here, and something was needed in order to raise the artistic and cultural level of the community and the area," Goodlin said. "We wanted to fill that void as far as summer theater is concerned. That's not to say there aren't other good theaters in the area, but they're a totally different genre."
--- Anne Ruderman, Arts & Entertainment, Concord Monitor, July 22, 2004
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THEATER TOUTS FAMILY FUN: SHAKESPEARE ENSEMBLE'S PRODUCTION FOR ALL AGES
| Priding itself on bringing Broadway to the Granite State, the NorthEast Shakespeare Ensemble has received a positive response for doing so since its first production, Twelfth Night, opened on July 23. "We've had people already writing letters of support," Morris Edwards, a member of NESE's board of directors said....To begin the company's first season with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is to begin on a light note. The topsy-turvy world of gender reversals and mistaken identity set on the Twelfth Night of Christmas, a day when 16th century Londoners shed their inhibitions and suspended social roles, proves to be entertaining for all ages. Something the company hopes to encourage. "We want people to bring their families and enjoy it," Edwards said. "The humor reaches all ages." The idea of creating a Shakespeare company in scenic New Hampshire was a large attraction for top-notch actors...Artistic Director John Goodlin began assembling the cast in January in New York City, where, after receiving more than 500 applicants from a three-line ad in the weekly trade magazine Backstage, he auditioned more than 50 theatre professionals. Auditions were also held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and in Boston as part of the Northeast Theatre Conference. The result is a cast of classically-trained actors, including: Karen Lynn Gorney (best known as Stephanie Mangano in "Saturday Night Fever") as Olivia; Ron Jacoby (actor in more than 150 productions, including Broadway, TV and radio) as Malvolio; Terry Stoecker (director of drama at Proctor Academy) as Viola/Cesario; Daniel Sherman (numerous acting credits with Shakespeare & Company in Lennox, MA) as Orsino; Dan Jacoby (New York roles include Touchstone in "As You Like It" and Tranio in "Taming of the Shrew") as Feste; Steven Biggs (recent graduate of UT-Knoxville with a master's of fine arts in performance) as Sir Toby Belch; Michael Littman (director, actor, and chair of Fine Arts Department at Proctor Academy) as Sir Andrew Aguecheek; and Christine Drayer (graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts) as Maria. ---Jana Marx, Arts and Entertainment, Eagle Times, August 5, 2004 (Headlines) (Prev Article) |
Photo left to right: Steven Biggs* (Sir Toby Belch), Adam Edwards
(Fabian), Michael Littman (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Ron Jacoby*
(Malvolio).
*Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
