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Here’s Twelfth Night!

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The recording of Merry Wives is now here!

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It’s been a while, but we’re not dead! The recording of Merchant is here!

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The cast of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Great job, guys!

Two comedies down, one to go! Don’t miss Twelfth Night tomorrow!

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The Merchant of Venice was amazing! Here’s some screengrabs from the videos. Full album at https://imgur.com/a/Xf88Iws.

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That time of year has snuck up on us once again. That’s right: CORPS PERFORMANCES! This is obviously a last minute post (Paul tends to be terribly delayed with show promotions), but it is one of TERRIBLE IMPORTANCE!

The Merchant of Venice is JULY 16. The Merry Wives of Windsor is JULY 17. Twelfth Night is JULY 18.

JOIN US FOR THREE NIGHTS OF SHAKESPEAREAN COMEDY!

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Humans of The Corps: Owen--

“Octopus. It has eight legs!”

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King Lear is here! (hear, hear!)

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Soon...

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Photos from early summer 2017.

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Scansion Stories. (from Troilus and Cressida)

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From Facebook.

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The cast of Troilus and Cressida (2017). (Photo courtesy Ron Heneghan.)

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Corps Stories Spotlight: Mac and Beth

Today, we have a spotlight on a project a number of Corps alumni have worked on: the webseries Mac and Beth! More after the break.

Mac and Beth is a queer webseries adaptation of Macbeth created by and starring several Corps alumni. The series was written by Roan Runge and Corps alumna Casey Radner. Corps alumni that star in the show are Casey Radner, Noah Allen, Lydia McCaw, Austin Spafford, Danni Vitullo, and Matt Vitullo.

Here’s a trailer for the series:

From the description, 

Based on the Shakespeare play of similar name, Mac and Beth follows the lives of a house of film students at Dunsinane college, who are collaborating on their own film. While some students are content to keep the jobs their director assigns them, others hunger for more. As ambition spirals out of hand, the students must decide how far the bonds of friendship stretch, and what they are willing to sacrifice for prestige.

You can find the first episode here:

and watch the whole series at their Youtube channel. They also have social media presences on Tumblr and Facebook.

[If you know of a project Corps members/alumni have worked on, feel free to let us know at cscorpsstories@gmail.com.]

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The Corps: A Retrospective

I wrote this as an essay first, and then I made it into a video. Here is the original text. ~ Paul Ocone

This summer, I completed my final year acting with the Chesapeake Shakespeare Corps. On July 11th, I finished my final performance; On July 16th, I attended my last meeting; and on July 17th, I celebrated my last cast party. It wasn’t until that latter date that I truly felt the finality of it all. The ending of the Corps was rather like the ending of high school—abrupt and emotional. There was no senior-itis, however, and there was much more emotion. In a way, the ending of the Corps was really the cap of high school, the end of adolescence. At that cast party, I gave an impassioned farewell speech, the tenor of which is reflected here. I’m not sure that I can put into words how much the Corps means to me—I attempted this in my college essay, and I’m not sure that I succeeded—but I will try to here.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that the Corps changed the direction of my life. At the end of eighth grade, I planned to partially move away from theatre. I had been a theatre magnet at a performing arts school and had performed in many shows, but I didn’t really think I could become an actor. The Corps changed all that. Little by little, I became more passionate about acting; I discovered that I have a talent for Shakespeare; I improved my acting skills beyond their middle school mediocrity. I was surrounded by a supportive community—both members and teaching artists—that wanted nothing more than to see me succeed and fill my potential. All the workshops and exercises and master classes provided transcendent acting moments—brief glimpses into the true power and beauty and spirituality of acting, snapshots where I realized what theatre could be. Now, Shakespeare is one of my deepest passions. Now, I aspire to be like those in the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. Now, I enter my college life at UMBC as a theatre major with a $10,000 arts scholarship for pursuing that aspiration. The Corps made that all possible.

Five years of passion and pain and iambic pentameter: 

My first year was Comedy of Errors. We came up with a concept at the last minute that was chaotic and insane, but it made everything click together. 

Love’s Labour’s Lost, my second year, was pure, unadulterated fun. I have some of my fondest memories from that year with our crazy antics and our steam/cyber-punk theme.

 My third year, I was in Taming of the Shrew, which was great at times, and also not-so-great at times, but I had a lot of enjoyment in playing up the love-struck silliness of my character and finding his relationship with his more sensible servants.

My fourth year, The Winter’s Tale, despite a slip-up that still stresses me out, I had a ridiculous amount of fun developing our college fraternity concept and seeing a happy ending come after tragedy.

And this past year, my fifth year, I had a blast working with our small-but-mighty cast to put on an amazing, hilarious, emotional production of Troilus and Cressida.

There are other programs like the Corps out there, and they may even put on better performances than our rehearsal-starved shows, but I think that one thing that really sets the Corps apart and makes it special is the community. Everyone’s so incredibly supportive of each other, and through collaboration, true friendships are forged. The teaching artists are not distant instructors, but mentors who are accessible at all times of the year. People return to the Corps year after year, which develops the Corps into a shared community and culture that transcends the boundaries of each individual summer. The community also extends into the broader Chesapeake Shakespeare Company; I’m starting to think of the Corps as an extension of CSC, rather than merely a program. CSC is founded on a deep love for Shakespeare and a desire to spread that love; the CSC community, including the Corps, is built on and through this love. Over the years, I have felt more and more a part of this community—not as much in my first two years, but in my third year, I really started to open up, and I found some of the best friends I could ask for. I’m still learning to open up and reach out to people, but when I do, even after graduating, the Corps community is there for me. Like I said, it’s impossible to communicate how much the Corps and its community mean to me

But to the people I wish I got to know better…

To the teaching artists and mentors: Jamie, both Katies, Jane, Lizzi, Gerrad, Bethany, Caitlin, Ron, Robby, and Bobby;

To everyone at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, especially Ian Gallanar and Lesley Malin, who believed in sharing the love of Shakespeare, and in doing so, made the Corps possible;

And lastly to every single member of the Corps: past, present, and future;

Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. I love you all more than words can express. 

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Expectation whirls me round... Troilus and Cressida is finally here!

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Light-writing, Corps-style! From the 2015 cast party--photos by Kelly Myslinski.