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Health & Fitness

ARTFARM and MxCC collaborate on June Shakespeare class series

Middlesex Community College and the Middletown-based theater company ARTFARM are collaborating to offer a three class series focusing on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing on Saturday mornings in June. The classes are offered as part of the College’s Continuing Education Program in preparation for ARTFARM’s Shakespeare in the Grove production of Much Ado, which will be presented on the College campus July 18 – 21 and 25 – 28. “Much Ado About Something: The Shakespeare Series” is designed to better prepare audience members to enjoy and appreciate the July production. It is a part of “Shakespeare on Campus”, a six month partnership between the College and the non-profit theater company, which is funded by a generous grant from the Connecticut Office of the Arts. Classes will be held June 8, 15 and 22 from 10 am to noon. Students are encouraged to enroll for all three classes, but may also register for the classes individually. Each of the three classes addresses a different aspect of the play and ARTFARM’s production. *Part One, held on June 8, addresses “The Story, Setting and Characters”. Taught by ARTFARM Executive Director Dic Wheeler, the director of this summer’s production, the class will focus on the Who, What and Where of Much Ado About Nothing. Participants in the class will receive a broad overview of the plots and sub-plots, the characters and their relationships, the major themes, literary sources, and physical setting of the play. *Part Two, on June 15, is entitled “Unlocking Shakespeare’s Language.” ARTFARM Artistic Director Marcella Trowbridge, who will be playing the role of Beatrice in this summer’s production, will offer students tools to unlock the mysteries of Shakespeare’s language and make both reading and hearing it less intimidating. Topics will include metrical structure, understanding scansion, verse vs. prose, language as “stage directions” for actors, and developing an ear for Shakespeare. This will be an “off the page and on your feet” workshop in which participants will get their bodies, breath, and mouths around both Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter as well as his prose. *The final class, “The Shakespeare Production”, will be held on June 22 and will focus on ARTFARM’s 2013 production of Much Ado About Nothing¬ – the director’s interpretation and production concept; design elements including set, costume, prop, sound, and light design; musical direction; choreography; and the technical aspects and challenges of putting on a professional outdoor Shakespeare production. Participants will get “behind the scenes” insight into how and why certain decisions are made, how a production team works together and communicates effectively, particular challenges posed by this play, and how music and design elements are integrated into the rehearsal process and production. The session will be led by Wheeler, Trowbridge and members of the production design team. Registration and payment is through Middlesex Community College, though anyone with specific questions about class content may contact ARTFARM at (860) 346-4390 or email info@art-farm.org. Tuition is $26 per class. To register for “The Shakespeare Series”, contact The Continuing Education Office at MxCC: www.mxcc.edu/ceinfo, email mx-cehelp@mxcc.commnet.edu, phone (860) 343-5865.

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