\nof Shakespeare\u2019s bloodiest histories holds court<\/em>
\non the Muhlenberg College Mainstage, April 5-8<\/em><\/p>\n
Allentown, Pa. (March 20, 2018) \u2014 Shakespeare\u2019s Henry VI plays \u2014 among his most visceral, most political, and most violent creations \u2014 come to the Muhlenberg College Mainstage this spring in a new world-premiere adaptation by theater professor Holly Cate. Cate\u2019s fierce, provocative adaptation examines what happens when the rule of law collapses and violence becomes the currency of state.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a really kick-ass first season of addictive Shakespearean television,\u201d says Troy Dwyer, who gives a faculty spotlight performance as the ambitious and conniving Cardinal Winchester.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlory\u201d plays April 5-8 in Muhlenberg\u2019s Empie Theatre, in the Baker Center for the Arts.<\/p>\n
The play chronicles the early conflict between the competing houses of Lancaster and York \u2014 a period of simmering political intrigue which would eventually erupt into the Wars of the Roses, one of the bloodiest periods in English history. The production uproots these events, presenting them mostly free from their historical context \u2014 with a distinctly modern sensibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cI began working on this piece in 1993, shortly before the horrific genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda,\u201d Cate says. \u201cI realized that Shakespeare was essentially writing about how quickly and almost imperceptibly society can fall apart. After that, \u2018Glory\u2019 became less about adapting the Henry plays and more about finding where they resonate in the contemporary world.\u201d<\/p>\n
A unabashed depiction of a violent world, \u201cGlory\u201d features plenty of bloodshed \u2014 there are swords, battles, murders, and decapitations, all choreographed by faculty member Michael G. Chin. Chin is among the country\u2019s leading stage combat artists, having worked recently in television series \u201cThe Defenders\u201d and \u201cBlindspot\u201d and serving as fight choreographer in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, among many others.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 40 acts of violence in the first act alone,\u201d Cate says. \u201cIt\u2019s a world that\u2019s saturated in violence. Our rehearsal process has been about raising the stakes, and having the courage to bear witness to that world, which is not easy for the actors. Most of us don\u2019t live in that world.\u201d<\/p>\n
19 Muhlenberg students \u2014 plus Dwyer \u2014 make up the cast, playing characters ranging from blacksmiths and warriors to Cardinals and Kings.<\/p>\n
\u201cCardinal Winchester is very aware that, in this world of political intrigue, the king is not important \u2014 the crown is important,\u201d Dwyer says. \u201cHe wants to be the man who controls the crown, regardless of who wears it. King Henry is particularly easy to manipulate \u2014 he\u2019s young and impressionable. We jokingly call him \u2018the marshmallow with thumbs.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Cate and Dwyer are frequent collaborators, having worked together many times in various configurations of actor and director \u2014 recently in \u201cThen Athena,\u201d with Cate performing and Dwyer directing, and at Muhlenberg in \u201cThree Sisters,\u201d also directed by Cate and featuring Dwyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHolly is very much an actor\u2019s director,\u201d Dwyer says. \u201cShe\u2019s an actor herself, so she speaks our language. She really loves density and complexity on the stage; she sculpts every scene down to the molecule.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve known Holly for 12 years, and in one of the first conversations we ever had, she told me about this project \u2014 I\u2019ve read drafts of all three plays along the way. I\u2019ve always been a booster. \u2018Glory\u2019 has always felt really connected to my own artistic project,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlory\u201d is the first play in a trilogy by Cate, encompassing Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cHenry VI,\u201d parts 1-3 and \u201cRichard III.\u201d Part two of Cate\u2019s trilogy, “O War,” is tentatively set to premiere next season on the Muhlenberg stage, with Dwyer at the helm. Part three, \u201cMeaner Creatures,\u201d is penciled in down the road. Cate has focused on streamlining the story and keeping up a headlong, tumultuous pace; but, she says, the poetry is all Shakespeare.<\/p>\n
\u201cShakespeare\u2019s history plays are really the action movies of his time,\u201d she says. \u201cMy goal is to make it accessible without stripping away the beauty of Shakespeare\u2019s language.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result is 25 years in the making.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to describe the feeling of having carried something in my imagination and my heart for so long, and of seeing all these artists come together and bring it to life,\u201d she says. \u201cWith the exception of Mike Chin and Matt Gill, our music supervisor, I\u2019m working with an all-female production team, which has been incredible. Along with a terrific group of actors, they\u2019ve made this experience a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n
The production features design work by scenic designer Susan Zeeman Rogers, costume designer Grier Coleman, and lighting designer Christina Watanabe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be visually stunning,\u201d Dwyer says. \u201cMuhlenberg is really fortunate to bring in really top-shelf, interesting guest designers. The scenic design is big and conceptual and it really feels to me like the largest set I\u2019ve ever seen in this theater.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cate and Dwyer recognize that some audience members may find Shakespeare\u2019s histories a little intimidating, but they promise that this adaptation will be anything but dull.<\/p>\n
\u201cHolly has gutted the idea that Shakespeare is boring,\u201d Dwyer says. \u201c\u2018Glory\u2019 moves quickly. It\u2019s vivid. It\u2019s epic. It really does model the sprawling, multi-year, multigenerational epic of sword-and-crown intrigue. It\u2019s hard to not get into that if you\u2019re made of western culture. It\u2019s hard not to feel it \u2014 the size of it. It feels mythic.\u201d<\/p>\n
“I’m interested in making Shakespeare sexy \u2014 sexy and slick and dynamic,\u201d Cate says. \u201cI\u2019m hoping that \u2018Glory\u2019 will feel like the start of our very own almost-cinematic Shakespearean miniseries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGlory\u201d plays April 5-8 \u2014 Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Regular admission tickets are $15. Tickets for youth and LVAIC students and staff are $8.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlory\u201d is for mature audiences.<\/p>\n
Tickets are available online at muhlenberg.edu\/theatre or by phone at 484-664-3333. Performances are in the Empie Theatre, in the Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, 2400 West Chew St., Allentown.<\/p>\n
Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is a highly selective, private, four-year residential college located in Allentown, PA., approximately 90 miles west of New York City. With an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, sciences, business, education and public health. A member of the Centennial Conference, Muhlenberg competes in 22 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.<\/p>\n
Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg\u2019s theater program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theater and dance.<\/p>\n
\nInformation Provided By:
\nScott Snyder
\nMarketing Manager
\nMuhlenberg College Department of Theatre & Dance<\/p>\n
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