SiP Untethered
This summer, Shakespeare in Paradise slips its location leash and travels.
Prague
To be honest, SiP has been travelling here for about five years or so. As early as 2019, executive members Patrice Francis and Jovanna Hepburn have been travelling to Prague to attend the Prague Shakespeare Summer Intensives. Starting right after the lockdowns ended, SiP recognized the opportunity and began to seek ways to make it possible for some of our actors to take advantage of the programme. To date, in conjunction with the Prague Shakespeare Company, which offers us tuition bursaries, we’ve been able to offer assistance to the following people (helping them to cover airfare and board):
Dion Johnson and Craig Smith (2023)
T-Day and Sarah Burnett (2024)
Kentario McKenzie (2025)
Since 2023, too, Patrice and Jovanna have been returning as SSI faculty. Last year, Philip and I were invited to give a short talk to the students.
We caught the bug.
This year, we’re here for four weeks, directing Macbeth for the SSI. We have a cast of 9 students and we are getting ready to present what we’ve worked on next Friday. We have been rehearsing in a range of spaces, each of which has its own character. We’re performing in PSC’s home theatre, Divadlo na Pradle, but we rehearse all over.
We have rehearsed Macbeth on the na Pradle stage, in the Bez Zabradli theatre—on stage, in the cafe, and in the lobby—in two rooms in the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU)—in a dance school, in two teaching studios.
Jovanna, Patrice, and Kentario are each in different shows. Jovanna plays the lead in Timon of Athens. Patrice has two roles in As You Like It, and Kentario is playing Edmund in Queen Lear. SSI presents these in showcase, one night after another. The end of next week will have Bahamians on stage in Prague on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Orlando
But wait! That’s not all!! There’s a Shakespeare company in Orlando that’s a fellow member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA), and we have been talking about exchanges for years. This year, though, talk has become reality.
Our show, Music of The Bahamas, which was seen by the members of STA during the 2023 Conference in Nassau, is travelling to Orlando during the August 1 weekend.
Orlando Shakespeare Theater operates in conjunction with University of Central Florida, producing top-quality, year-round programming for the Orlando area. At the moment, they are geographically the closest member of STA to Shakespeare in Paradise. We are so happy to be featured as part of their summer Concert Series!
Here’s a clip from the company in rehearsal, gearing up to go to Orlando, courtesy of musical director Adrian Aarcher.
