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On Devising Theatre: The Dark Lady of the Sonnets

On Devising Theatre: The Dark Lady of the Sonnets

“This is the very coinage of your brain: this bodiless creation ecstasy” - Hamlet: Act 3, Sc. 4 The greatest challenge that the artist can face is to create something out of nothing. Every new project puts you in this liminal place of fear and uncertainty. It is the inevitable confrontation with the unmarked script. It is intimidating in its uncertainty yet it is liberating in potentiality. The ultimate expression of freedom. The true gift inherent in working on devised

Frequently Asked Questions about The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company

Frequently Asked Questions about The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company

This blog is the first in a series in which Pigeon Creek Executive Director answers questions that audience members and regional actors frequently ask about the company. 1. What is the difference between a venue and a producing organization? We get this question a lot because Pigeon Creek is a touring company. We produce and perform plays, but we don’t own or operate a performance venue ourselves. The confusion comes because “theatre” can refer both to the physical space, but

Meet the Cast of Henry V: Michael Hays

Meet the Cast of Henry V: Michael Hays

As an outsider joining the Pigeon Creek family for the first time, it's hard to find the words to describe what a wonderful experience this has been!! Beginning with the completely "open-arms welcome" I received from the very beginning, the members of PCTC have made me feel entirely comfortable, which is so very vital for an actor to produce his/her best work for the all-important audience. In addition, in my 26 years of theatre experience, I have NEVER encountered so many in

A Tweetingly Honest Look at Henry V

A Tweetingly Honest Look at Henry V

Hi, I'm Josh Fremer and I play various noblemen and soldiers in Henry V. As part of my character work, I contacted the crack research team here at Pigeon Creek Shakespeare World Headquarters. They were able to unearth these long-lost tweets from 1415. Now we can finally hear the story in these characters' own words! Warning! Plot spoilers ahead. @soldierWilliams: fell off my horse into the mud. spent all day at work shining boots. king died. kids won't stop fighting. #

“Upon the King”:
The Duty of Playing Henry V

“Upon the King”: The Duty of Playing Henry V

In 1995, I found myself performing four Shakespearean shows in repertory on an international tour with Shenandoah Shakespeare (now known as the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia). I had recently learned that the company’s next season would include my second-favorite play (and role) in Shakespeare’s canon—Henry V—and I wanted it. Badly. I determined to do everything in my power that season to prove I was the perfect choice to play the following year’s Hero-King

On Opportunity

On Opportunity

After nearly a year, it is so wonderful to be back at Dog Story with some of my favorite Shakespeareans. Though my Shakespeare training really began with Pigeon Creek, I've been blessed to train with, work with, and perform with a number of Shakeapeare companies over the past couple of years. Over this past year, have been working and training with the Atlanta Shakespeare Company and have had so much fun bringing my training home for another run at Dog Story. In traditional c

Contrasting Character Studies

Contrasting Character Studies

For this blog post, I’d like to reflect on the two characters I play in Henry V, the Duke of Exeter and Captain Fluellen. To be more specific, I want to touch on the challenge and reward of bringing to the stage two rather different roles. I’ve worked with Pigeon Creek on several productions and only once was I limited to one role. Performing with this group, therefore, usually assumes multiple characters. In the current case, the Duke of Exeter is Henry’s uncle, one of hi

A Director's Journey

A Director's Journey

I’m Francis RTM Boyle. We’ll get to the RTM part later; I assure you it is relevant. My journey towards directing Shakespeare’s King Henry V began at 10 pm Eastern Standard Time on New Year’s Day, 1990. I was seven years old and waiting for the next episode of my beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation to begin. Instead of the bridge of the Enterprise-D, I was transported to a night scene: a camp with a pavilion tent (seven year old Francis, a precocious boy, knew what a pavil

An Actor's Challenge

An Actor's Challenge

One of the questions that we hear all the time in one form or another is, “How do you remember all those lines…?” Well I’m going to let you in on a not-so-well-kept, dirty little secret amongst Shakespeare actors – It’s a lot of work… Actually, it’s a piled-high-wheelbarrow-of-proverbially-smelly-fertilizer lot of work… We actors tend to hedge a little when answering this question, saying, “Well – the meter & the rhyme in the verse, and blah-blah-blah…” But at the end of the

Behind the Curtain: Working with The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company

Behind the Curtain: Working with The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company

Hi, I’m Steven Schwall, and I am playing the Constable of France and a couple of English extras in Pigeon Creek Shakespeare’s upcoming production of Henry V. I have worked with Pigeon Creek in several productions over the last several years, as both an actor and fight director. There are two things about working with this dedicated group that never cease to impress me. The first is scholarship. Granted there are a couple of Masters of Letters holders on the board, but many

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