Local schools and arts organizations celebrate the life and death of William Shakespeare by Jessica santina
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et out your party hats and raise a cup of mead. April 23 is believed to be the date of both the birth and death of William Shakespeare, who is credited with introducing nearly 3,000 words to the English language and having written at least 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and a number of other poems. This April marks the 400th anniversary of his death in 1616. Surely if any city ought to be marking this occasion in grand style, it’s Reno. After all, it’s home to Eric Rasmussen, chair of the University of Nevada, Reno English Department and one of the world’s preeminent Shakespeare scholars. In fall of 2014, as Rasmussen and his wife, Victoria Hines, were discussing ways to commemorate this “death-iversary,” they came up with an idea for a citywide festival and dubbed it WillPower 2016.
love’s lAbour Hines, who took the helm as executive director, explains that as Reno rebounds from the recession with tremendous energy in its business and arts and culture scenes, the timing felt right. 16 | RN&R |
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“We had this huge occasion and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to get the whole community together to rally around this concept and have a festival?’” Hines said. “It just seemed the stars were aligning.” One of their goals was to bring different parts of the community, including the university, local arts organizations, and the school system, together to collaborate and support one another, with Shakespeare as their shared territory. WillPower 2016 could be a groundswell of events that begin in April and run through September— perhaps, ideally, all 37 plays? In March 2015, Hines filed nonprofit paperwork to establish the Northern Nevada Cultural Coalition, an umbrella organization focused on bridging those gaps between arts organizations, the university, K-12
schools and the community at large. WillPower 2016 would be its kickoff event—hopefully the first of many such efforts. She and Rasmussen assembled a board of volunteers from around the community, and together they began brainstorming ways participating groups could get involved in WillPower. Rasmussen recruited Ian De Jong, a Ph.D. student in the English program whose study emphasis is Shakespeare, as an executive board member who would serve as a university liaison in event planning. “The next step was getting community support,” said De Jong. “It was a bit challenging to convince people that it was something worth doing. But it’s paid off. There are some exciting things happening that wouldn’t have happened without WillPower and inspiration from Eric and Victoria.”
All the world’s A stAge WillPower’s effort to “Bring the Bard to Our Backyard” has not necessarily targeted traditional Shakespearean productions. “It’s about what Shakespeare means to us today,” said Hines. “There are a lot of interpretations out there, and we love that.” What’s resulted is an alreadyimpressive roster of local events: Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival will produce of The Comedy of Errors at Sand Harbor, running in July and August. (www.laketahoeshakespeare.org/) Joe Atack, education director for the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, directs Goodluck
Macbeth’s King Lear, running April 22-May 21. Atack’s interpretation takes us to 16th century Russia and the reign of Ivan the Terrible. GLM will convert its space into a dark, cavernous winter wasteland complete with lowered temperatures and manufactured snow. Talkbacks and lectures from knowledgeable scholars will take place throughout the run, and period costumes and treasures will be displayed. (www. goodluckmacbeth.org) In April and May, Brüka Theatre will present Lambs’ Tales, four staged readings of Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales From Shakespeare, which are children’s prose adaptations of Shakespeare’s work. The annual Brüka Prom on May 21 will be themed as a Shakespearean ball. (www.bruka.org) Running now through April 24 is Lee Blessing’s Fortinbras, a comedic “sequel” to Hamlet, at Reno Little Theater. (www.renolittletheater.org) On Saturday, July 30 at Wingfield Park, the Reno Jazz Orchestra will offer a free performance of Duke Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder, a 12-part suite based on the work of William Shakespeare. On May 15 and 20, vocal ensemble Bella Voce will present Poets: Great and Small, a free concert featuring a trilogy of songs based on three of Shakespeare’s sonnets; a song based on a poem by Christopher Marlowe entitled “The Shepherd to His Love”; and a song called “Ban, Ban, Caliban,” a drinking song from the tempest. (www.bellavocereno. com/) The UNR library’s Special Collections & University Archives department will host a display of important items pertaining to the work of Shakespeare in Nevada, including an original folio copy of The Merchant of Venice. Wooster, North Valleys and Hug high schools will all produce plays by Shakespeare. De Jong has helped arrange several other events on campus, including an April 7 screening of the film Macbeth, as well as an early April undergraduate field trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He’s currently hard at work establishing a week-long Shakespearethemed summer camp for area high-schoolers. “We want to show high-schoolers that Shakespeare can be enjoyable and stimulating,” De Jong said. “His work pushes me, challenges me. It’s not so easy to get your hands around it, but when you do, it’s worth it. And we want to share that with a wide range of people.”
