Monmouth College hosts touring Shakespeare troupe Release Date:
January 30, 2006
MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Blackfriars Stage Company (formerly the Shenandoah
Shakespeare Express) will visit Monmouth College Feb. 7-8 as part of its 2005-06
“Atomic Fission” tour to present two performances.
The stage company, which is the international touring arm of Shenandoah
Shakespeare of Staunton, Va., will present “Return to the Forbidden Planet,” a
loose, rock and roll, sci-fi adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” on Feb.
7, and another Shakespeare adaptation of “Much Ado about Nothing” on Feb. 8.
Both performances are at 7 p.m. in the Dahl Chapel and Auditorium and are free
and open to the public.
“Return to the Forbidden Planet,” written by Bob Carlton, won the 1990 Olivier
Award for Best Musical. It is based loosely on “The Forbidden Planet,” a science
fiction movie with strong themes from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”
In the musical, mad scientist Doctor Prospero is banished into hyperspace with
his infant daughter, Miranda, and lands on the uncharted planet, D’Illyria. Rock
and roll hits of the ’50s and ’60s, sci-fi fantasy and dialogue from the
greatest plays ever written all collide to keep the audience laughing and
jamming.
In “Much Ado about Nothing,” Shakespeare presents the glittering wit of Beatrice
and Benedick and the heroic bumbling of Dogberry and company. As the villain Don
John devises a scheme to shatter the wedding of young lovers Claudio and Hero,
the friends of Beatrice and Benedick conspire to trick them into admitting their
much-denied love for one another. In this comedy, Shakespeare makes the audience
members laugh but also breaks their hearts and magically puts it all back
together again.
For more information about the touring company or their performances at Monmouth
College, contact Marlo Belschner, assistant professor of English, at
309-457-2377 or mmb@monm.edu.
Released
by the Office of College Communications
Barry McNamara, Associate Director of College Communications
Phone: 309-457-2117
Fax: 309-457-2330
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