Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE-Look forward to energy and surprises with the performance of "Shakespeare's Women" by University of Wisconsin-Platteville students, Monday, April 19 and Tuesday, April 20.

"Shakespeare's Women" is a script compiled by Libby Appel, the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the largest theatre of its kind in the USA and a Tony Award winner. Appel compiled the script from over 15 Shakespeare scripts and two sonnets in order to highlight Shakespeare's female characters.

The traveling theatre troupe was conceived as a device that serves to recruit for the university, offer additional training to students, and bring classical theatre to area high schools that might not produce classics.

"Those who have seen past UWP traveling theatre troupe productions will be surprised to see how much we have grown. The first troupe toured with a few chairs, a few small tables, five performers and a pitcher of water. Now we have a dozen performers in a full production with a large flexible set," said John McCaslin-Doyle, director of UWP theatre studies.

The first season the group toured with a script by Chekhov, the second year with a script written by Moliere, and this year are doing a performance on the subject of Shakespeare.

"It has been a while since the university has produced a Shakespeare script and I wanted the theatre majors to have an opportunity with the language," said McCaslin-Doyle. "The text for 'Shakespeare's Women' is commonly used in script analysis classes and AP high school honors courses for study. Since the traveling theatre troupe visits area high schools it seems to be a great match."

"I also like the theme of the production. So many plays produced on college campuses have limited parts for women and often times put them down. Similar to past UWP productions that I have directed, like 'Antigone,' 'Two Precious Maidens Ridiculed' and the 'Death of Bessie Smith,' this show demonstrates endless possibilities for women," added McCaslin-Doyle.

"The audience probably has some past experience with Shakespeare, so some of the scenes they will recognize. Our high school audiences go crazy for 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' and 'The Taming of the Shrew' - shows they have seen or studied. But there are some other wonderful characters and scenes in this play that they do not know that might encourage future investigation. The current audiences are moved by the two scenes from King Lear and roar in laughter at the scene from the 'Merchant of Venice,' " concluded McCaslin-Doyle.

The UW-Platteville Theatre Department is scheduled to perform "Shakespeare's Women" at 7:30 p.m. at the Center for the Arts at UW-Platteville. All tickets are available for $2.