Tuesday, September 16, 2008 • 7:00 p.m.
HCTC First Federal Center, Hazard, KY
Admission: $15 Adults • $8 Students (Age 6-18) • (Age 5 & under free)

The American Shakespeare Center on Tour is the international touring arm of the American Shakespeare Center. Direct from the stage of the ASC’s celebrated Blackfriars Playhouse, the world’s only re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre, the ASC on Tour boasts nearly two decades worth of global touring experience. This elite troupe stands as one of America’s foremost providers of quality entertainment to performing and fine arts centers on both sides of the Atlantic. The ASC on Tour’s road shows strive to re-create the Blackfriars Playhouse experience at venues across the globe. ASC on Tour productions recognize that the actors are not alone in the theatre, and actively shatter the “fourth wall” between actors and audience. As they do on their home stage, ASC on Tour actors surround themselves with audience members on three sides and perform with house lights on at all times. Thus, actors can see the audience, the audience can see the actors, and, most importantly, the audience can see each other. This inclusive arrangement allows the ASC on Tour to recreate the festive sense of community in which patrons of Shakespeare’s Blackfriars reveled during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. The ASC on Tour artistic staff is fiercely dedicated to high-octane, fast paced, and uncompromisingly focused performances that have rightly earned the American Shakespeare Center on Tour its place at the forefront of classical and contemporary theatre production.

Visit the American Shakespeare Center's website.

Arts Education Programs: American Shakespeare Center’s presents Two-Day Residency Program

Monday, September 15, 2008
Workshop cost: $150 each
Two, one-hour workshops are available to be conducted at your school.

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) on Tour’s unmatched reputation for performance and entertainment is paralleled only by the quality of the troupe’s educational offerings. From community centers to university classrooms, ASC on Tour workshops offer participants an exciting, hands-on learning experience in an intimate setting. Both fun and educational, ASC workshops usually involve quite a bit of audience participation. In addition to title-specific workshops, the ASC on Tour offers proven interactive workshops in areas ranging from acting and auditioning to stage combat and leadership. Each workshop has been custom crafted by the ASC’s Executive Director, Dr. Ralph Alan Cohen, one of America’s leading Shakespeare scholars, and a frequent guest-lecturer at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. If you wish, with enough advance notice, Dr. Cohen and ASC on Tour can custom design a workshop to meet specific needs. Due to the interactive nature of the workshops participation is limited to no more than thirty (30) students.

Some sample workshop titles are:

• Shakespeare on Your Feet – Participants will explore the dynamics of performing Shakespeare rather than just reading it.
• Shakespeare’s Staging Conditions and Theatre of the Imagination – This popular workshop gives participants the opportunity to explore and discuss the ideas behind ASC’s unique approach.
• Shakespeare’s Rhythm and Line – Iambic pentameter and how to use it.

“The Comedy of Errors” Student Matinee Performance

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 • 10:00 a.m.
HCTC First Federal Center
Admission: $2 per student

The American Shakespeare Center -- through its performances and educational programs -- seeks to make Shakespeare, the joys of theatre and language, and the communal experience of the Renaissance stage accessible to all. By re-creating Renaissance conditions of performance, the ASC explores its repertory of plays for a better understanding of these great works and of the human theatrical enterprise past, present, and future. The ASC's Education Center brings Shakespeare's plays to life for teachers, students, and learners of all ages. Their offering of workshops, performances, actor training, and summer programs are specially tailored for you to experience Shakespeare as you never have before. Any school groups also wishing to attend the full-length evening performance of Hamlet will be given special group rates of 50% off the regular student admission price.

Call the performing arts office to make reservations for your school group to attend, or to schedule a workshop at your school. Phone 487-3067 or 800-246-7521 ext. 73067.