PRISM Theatre - Shakespeare in the Park

We have a new website! Look Ma, I'm a real theatre company! We want to make it easier for you to to learn about PRISM and what we're up to - visit prismtheatre.com for directions, pictures, contact info, and more.

This summer's production is Taming of the Shrew, and you still have time to see it - shows continue on the 16th, 17th, and 18th next week. Make sure you see this talented young company do what they do best against the starry backdrop of Annie Williams Park.

(photo credit: Zander Sherman, our gifted photographer)

In other news, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, Ontario, continues their trend of copying PRISM's plays (we jest! But the sequencing is uncanny) with this summer's Twelfth Night. Will we see Kat and Bianca grace their stages next summer? Who knows... until then, play on.

Thanks once again to everyone who helped out during the show or came to see it - we're so thankful for your support! We put on a wonderful show, and we could not have done it without everyone who read a line, stitched a costume, hooked up a mic, or laughed from the audience.

Zander Sherman has taken some wonderful photographs of our run - you can view them here.

Here are some of the highlights:


All is ready backstage!

( If music be the food of love, play on )

And we have begun! Twelfth Night is now playing in Annie Williams Park in Bracebridge, beginning at 7pm every night this week. Entry is only $5, and our actors are in fine form! We hope you'll come out to support theatre in Muskoka (and to enjoy yourself, of course). Shows are on August 11th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 18th, and 19th, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to see the play.

Come out to enjoy a wonderful night on the river, and let us know what you thought of the performance!

Performance photos and reviews to follow.

Here are some rehearsal photos to tide you over:


Malvolio (Brodie Cooper) attempts to woo the Lady Olivia (Clare Hutchinson) while Julia (Celine Wright, left) and Maria (Jessica Brown, right) look on.


Sir Toby Belch (AJ Comeau) and Maria (Jessica Brown) watch their plot unfold.


The Lady Olivia (Clare Hutchinson) interrupts the fight between Sir Toby Belch (AJ Comeau, left) and Sebastian (Nick Kulchar, right)

Opening night is arriving quickly - the set is completed and assembled in the new outdoor theatre at Annie Williams Park, costumes are nearly done, and cast headshots have been taken! See below the jump for cast headshots and a full cast listing.

Photo credit to Zander Sherman.

Shipwrecked and Roaming - "It is perchance that you yourself were saved"


jessicaWRIGHT - Viola; twin sister to Sebastian, in love with Orsino

( sat like patience on a monument )

It is less than a month until opening night! Our actors are well into the play, and all the props (cross-gartered yellow stockings included!) are being gathered. Below is our official poster, seen all around Muskoka - designed by a high school student at BMLSS - and a few photos of actors in rehearsal. Enjoy!



Robin Clipsham directs Maria (Erica Wright), Olivia (Clare Hutchinson), and Malvolio (Brodie Cooper):


Maria (Erica Wright), Sir Toby Belch (AJ Comeau), and Malvolio (Brodie Cooper) practicing their lines:


-c

Rehearsals are well underway for Twelfth Night! Thus far an accordion and unicycle have been added; stay tuned for more details. PRISM has also learned that Stratford Festival - one of Canada's premiere theatre festivals, well-renowned for their Shakespeare performances - will be performing Twelfth Night in the summer 2011 season. They seem to have a habit of taking their cues from us, with this year's performance of The Tempest (starring Christopher Plummer) garnering rave reviews.

Want to know more about Twelfth Night? There are several film performances that our actors and potential audiences can use to familiarize themselves with the play, characters, and interpretations.
Trevor Nunn's 1996 production (starring Imogen Stubbs as Viola, Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia, and Ben Kingsley as Feste) remains faithful to Shakespeare's original text, and renders a delightful movie (despite the first few slightly awkward scenes). Feste's performance is particularly interesting, as is the chemistry between Orsino and Viola.
Neil Armfield's 1987 production (starring Geoffrey Rush as Sir Andrew and Gillian Jones as both Viola and Sebastian) also remains faithful to Shakespeare's text, and gives a classical rendering of the play.
Andy Fickman's 2006 adaptation, titled 'She's the Man' (starring Amanda Bynes as Viola and Channing Tatum as 'Duke' [Orsino]) is a teen film that uses none of Shakespeare's dialogue but attempts to translate the same plot to a modern-day college setting, with Viola posing as a boy in order to play on a boy's soccer team and cover up her brother's trip to London.

Rehearsal photographs and recaps coming soon!

PRISM will perform Twelfth Night at Annie Williams Park in Bracebridge August 10-13 and August 16-19. You can RSVP or find more information at our Facebook event.

It's that time of year again! AUDITIONS for this summer's play (Shakespeare's Twelfth Night) are being held tonight and tomorrow night at BMLSS, and callbacks will be held next week.

Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's best-known comedies, and involves mistaken identities, twins, misplaced flirting, forged letters, and, uhm, crossdressing. A synopsis of the play can be found here.

We hope to see all PRISM members (and awesome new people. We like new people) out at the auditions and rehearsals! Stay tuned here for more information throughout the summer, including pictures, rehearsal reports, and other interesting tidbits - and let us know what you'd like to see!

Much love, and break a leg,
-PRISM and mcollinknight (aka the PRISM Web Elf)

Well, our revels now have indeed ended - the past four months of hard work, dedication, and lots of fun have come to a close. Three out of the five nights had perfect, sunny weather in the park, one show was performed in the Rene M Caisse Memorial Theatre while a real-life tempest (tornadoes!) raged outside, and Saturday's finale was performed in the park amid soggy skies (there never was an audience so brave).

Once again, a monumental thank-you to everyone who attended, performed, helped out, and offered support - there are so many people who were never seen on the stage without whom this production would never have happened or been as wonderful and experience as it was. Our set-builders, producers, backstage directors, sound crew, musicians, board of directors, parents, and volunteers: we bow to you.

As a parting gift until next summer, we'll leave you with some pictures of the performances, as well as a small essay/summary of our production. As Prospero would say, "Let me not, since I have my dukedom got, and pardoned the deceiver, dwell on this bare island by your spell."

Or, as Stephen Fenn would say, "Adieuadieuadieu."

All pictures were taken by either Jeremy Clipsham or Chris Hutt - more can be seen at Jeremy's photobucket album, or on facebook.

( 'How many goodly creatures there are here! How beautiful mankind is!' )
As in every production - musical, theatrical, or otherwise - there are things the audience will never notice (or worse, notice and not understand). These are little touches that have usually been meticulously rehearsed, only to fit so seamlessly into the play only the most eagle-eyed observer will spot them. Every company has their own personal techniques, signature moves, or ways of expressing subtle details. Ours is no exception. Below are a few such things we've included in the production; if you want to get the most from your PRISM experience, or you're interested in the subtleties of both Shakespeare and Robin's expert direction, then lay on Macduff (oops wrong play).

( Echoes and Islands... )

Time for some promotional photos! We've been getting some wonderful publicity in Bracebridge, both from What's Up Magazine in both Bracebridge and Gravenhurst, and from The Weekender. We've also got a truly beautiful program (designed by our own Jeremy Swinarton) in our hot little hands.

-The article in What's Up (we're on page 24) can be read on their website. Here's the picture they took:

"Ferdinand, played by Brodie Cooper, plays reaching out to Clare Hutchinson as Miranda in The Tempest, a play directed by Robin Clipsham. Watching from the background are Josh Harris as Prospero and Jessica Wright as the sprite Ariel."

-The Weekender had a picture on the front page, and an excellent article and photo on page 8. You can read it here on their website. Credit for the haunting photos goes to Matt Driscoll from The Bracebridge Examiner.

"Things turn heated as Jessica Wright, as the sprite Ariel, and Josh Harris as Prospero accost Jordan Ratanadawong as Caliban as they rehearse for an upcoming performance of The Tempest."


( Three more pictures below... )
This is also a reminder to the cast of set-up and the rehearsal tomorrow in the park, and to practicepracticepractice!

Last Thursday the cast had their headshots taken by Jeremy Clipsham - take a look below for pictures of all our wonderful cast, as well as a cast list! Opening night is less than one week away \o/

This is also for the cast to see everyone else's picture and save a copy of their own. Remember to keep practicing your lines! :)