UND Theatre Arts will present ‘Unrehearsed Shakespeare’ April 21-23
Three different Shakespeare plays across three nights, all with spontaneous performances
The University of North Dakota Department of Theatre Arts will present Unrehearsed Shakespeare, a one-of-a-kind experience full of spontaneity and surprises, April 21-23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Burtness Theatre.
UND students, faculty, and members of the Grand Forks community will present three different, entirely fresh Shakespearean shows.
All’s Well That Ends Well (April 21) explores the notion of love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. Romeo and Juliet (April 22) tells the well-known tale of young love against all odds. And finally, A Comedy of Errors (April 23) features the chaos that ensues when two sets of twins, unbeknownst to one another, end up on the same island.
Guest Director Bill Kincaid, author of Performing Shakespeare Unrehearsed, states that “in an Unrehearsed Shakespeare production, actors are working together on a show for the very first time — live, in front of an audience. Each individual actor has had weeks to study their own lines, but doesn’t yet know what happens before or after they say them. We even take it a step further and keep the cast list secret until the show, so that Romeo doesn’t know who is playing Juliet until they meet onstage. This leads to a performance that is full of surprises for the actors as well as the audience.”
Unrehearsed does not mean unprepared. Unrehearsed actors are actually following a very specific set of guidelines, based upon the grammar and the word choices of the playwright himself — a sort of secret code he worked into his plays to send acting notes to the performers. There was no such thing as a theatrical director in Elizabethan England, so Shakespeare was directing actors through the words he wrote for them to say.
Each story is sure to bring excitement and intrigue to both the performers, who will be making discoveries about their cast mates and the story lines during the performance, and to the audience, who (in true Elizabethan fashion) are as much a part of the experience as the actors onstage are! Come experience UND Theatre’s final production of the season for a night of theatrical excitement you will never forget!
Tickets
Tickets are $20 for general admission and $10 for students. They are available from the online box office at https://burtness.und.edu or by calling 701-777-2587
Production Team
- Director: Bill Kincaid
- Choreographer: Emily Wirkus
- Costume, hair, and makeup design: Camilla Morrison
- Co-costume, hair, and makeup design for Comedy of Errors: Daniel Jung
- Associate costume design: Shelby Hazel
- Scenic and lighting design: Brad Reissig
- Technical direction and sound design: Patrick Reading
Company Members
Bill Chaves, Erin Chaves, Anne Christopherson, Rob Cooper, Tacy Crawford, Amy Driscoll, Veronica Folkedahl, Brigitte Froslee, Camden Gifford, Jessie Grabouski, Nicoy Harris, Tyler Hebert, Otto Lieder, Amy Lyste, Kyle Mason, Andrew Maxwell, Dylan Merritt, Anissa Oveson, Leo Sanzone, Logan Sikkink, Piper Sommer, Stevee Wittlieb
Production Staff
- Production stage manager: Alex Rice
- Properties lead: Brigitte Froslee
- Scene shop assistants: Ariel Long, Grace Rhoads, AJ Waadge, Jake Doll, Andrew Maxwell
- Paint charge: Autumn Horton
- Scenic artists: Daniel Jung, Otto Lieder, Alex Rice, Piper Sommer
- Costume shop assistants: Tacy Crawford, Daniel Jung, Anne Mitchell, Anissa Oveson, Alex Rice
- Wig lead: Anissa Oveson
- Drapers: Daniel Jung
- Light board operator: Alex Rice
- Sound board operator: Autumn Horton
