Springfield Regional Arts Council

The Bard is Back!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Skinny Improv Creative, Stonegate Creative Group, and UpSide Down Creative Group announces the 2nd season of The Springfield Shakespeare Festival.

The Springfield Shakespeare Festival will be presenting William Shakespeare's classic comedy A Midsummer Nights Dream directed by Stacy Parker. A Midsummer Nights Dream will be presented at beautiful Jordan Valley Park May 29-June 8 starting at 8:15 pm Thursday thru Sunday. Pre-show will start at 6:15 and it is FREE. Box-Dinners will be available for purchase along with other concessions. Come, bring a blanket or chair and enjoy A Midsummer Nights Dream under the stars. This innovative take on Shakespeare's classic and witty show will surely entertain newcomers and veterans to Shakespeare's works.

The Pre-Show starting at 6:15 will feature jugglers, singers, musicians, Elizabethian performers and more entertaining performances.

2008 Springfield Shakespeare Festival will be presented in part by Springfield-Greene County Park Board, Missouri State University, Springfield Regional Arts Council, Liberty Bank, Stonegate Creative Group and The Skinny Improv.

This year's production features Equity actress Sara Buffamanti as Titania, Queen of the Fairies. Sara is an actress, singer and dancer residing in Brooklyn. She has toured internationally, performing in Edinburgh, Germany and Korea (Twelfth Night), Bologna (Premio Dames Festival, House of Bernarda Alba), and most recently in Southeast Asia with the Broadway Asia Tour of Spongebob Squarepants the Sponge Who Could Fly. In the US, Sara has toured from coast-to-coast as a member of the Santa Barbara based, actor generated ensemble Woven, and Theaterworks USA (Ramona Quimby). She has also worked with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera, and Moonlight Amphitheater in San Diego, CA. Sara graduated from the MFA Acting Program at Columbia University in 2006. Since then, she has performed with The LITE group, Vortex Theater, Target Margin Theater, and Judson Church Theater. Sara is the creator and solo-performer of Eleanor alla Barre, a clown piece that premiered at the New York Fringe Festival in 2006.

About the Director: Stacy Parker Joyce is a director, actor and educator who has worked in both Chicago and New York City. She has an undergraduate degree from Illinois State University and recently received her MFA from Columbia University. While at Columbia she studied for three years with Anne Bogart, Kristin Linklater, Brian Kulick, Andrei Serban, and Nikolaus & Ulla Wolcz. She is a member of AEA and has worked professionally with companies including Famous Door Theatre, Profiles Theatre, Noble Fool, Target Margin, Electric Pear, Spectre Box, Peculiar Works Project, and the Mint Theater. She is a company member at Strawdog Theatre in Chicago where she appeared in numerous productions including Hurlyburly which won the Joseph Jefferson Citation for Best Ensemble. She has toured nationally and internationally with the productions of House of Bernarda Alba directed by Karin Coonrod (Best Ensemble 2004- New York Observer) and Crocodile Eyes directed by Eduardo Machado. She has worked as a teaching artist with Classic Stage Company, PL 115, Columbia University School of Continuing Education, and the Northwestern University Cherubs Program in addition to her years as a private acting coach.

The Full Cast:
Titania- Sara Buffamanti
Puck- Chelsea Russell
beron- Josh Hartman
Hermia- Whitney Ice
Helena- Cassie Tweeten
Lysander- Allan Ansell
Demetrius- Tim Lee
Theseus- Nathan McVay
Hippolyta-Jennifer Eiffert
Egeus- Tim Caldwell
Philostrate- Kaci Wilhoit
Bottom- Nathan Shelton
Mechanicals- Heath Hillhouse (Peter Quince), Adam Hoelscher (Flute), Adam Callahan (Snout) Jordan Fox (Starvling), Jason Van Cleve (Snug)
Fairies- Doran Schmidt (1st Fairy/Cobweb), Miona Harris (Mustardseed), Sayward Ferguson (Peaseblossom)

This drama is one of the great comedic works of William Shakespeare. The play revolves around the adventures of four young lovers, a group of amateur actors, and their interactions with the fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest. The story takes place in Midsummer and is a complex farce featuring Hermia & Lysander and Helena & Demetrius. Their romantic intrigues are confused and complicated further when they entering the forest where Oberon, the King of the Fairies and his Queen, Titania, preside. Puck (or Robin Goodfellow) is another significant character who is full of mischief and tricks. Other visitors to the enchanted forest include Bottom, the weaver and his friends Snug, Snout, Quince and Flute, the amateur dramatists who want to rehearse their terrible but hilarious version of the play Pyramus and Thisbe.

The Springfield Shakespeare Festival exists to bring quality, educational, and innovative classic works of theatre to Springfield and the Ozarks. The Springfield Shakespeare Festival will be an annual event held in Jordan Valley Park and will feature works by William Shakespeare and other classic playwrights. Through quality performances and educational outreaches The Springfield Shakespeare Festival will work to compliment the already strong arts community in Springfield.

The Springfield Shakespeare Festival is a part of UpSide Down Creative Group a 501(c)(3) community theatre agency providing quality entertainment, education, and artistic development to individuals, businesses, and organizations in the southwest region of Missouri.

For more info or Sponsorship information contact Jeff Jenkins at 417-832-5233 or email info@theskinnyimprov.com