In preparation for the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, former Newnan Theatre Company Artistic Director (and founder) Dale Lyles will give an introduction on “Acting Shakespeare” at the McRitchie-Hollis Museum next Tuesday, Mar. 22, at 7:30 p.m.
The museum is located at 74 Jackson St.
Lyles has directed numerous Shakespeare productions, including “Winter’s Tale,” “Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” “Henry VI, Part III,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “Comedy of Errors.” This workshop is intended to prepare prospective entrants for next month’s “Shakespeare Smackdown” at the Newnan Historic Depot. Both events are sponsored by the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society.
“One of my favorite memories at Newnan Community Theatre Company was our 1995 production of The Winter’s Tale,” said Lyles. “Our Hermione was a professional actress from Atlanta, Equity even, whose personal goal of playing all of Shakespeare’s queens overrode her concerns about union rules. (She did perform under an assumed name.) She was amazing to work with and had a great time with us.
“At the cast party after our last performance, I was looking at my large cast running around enjoying themselves, congratulating themselves on a job well done, and Jen walked up and said fondly, ‘They don’t know they’re not supposed to be able to do this, do they?’
“’No, they do not,’ I replied. And they didn’t. They had no clue that tackling one of Shakespeare’s late romances was out of their league. But I had provided the opportunity, and not knowing any better they jumped into the deep end without a second thought. And they did it!”
Lyles said just about anyone can tackle Shakespeare’s immortal texts, with the right introduction and training. There’s no need to feel intimidated, he said.
“Give yourself permission to create,” said Lyles, who is writing a book on the subject.
He gives himself that same permission all the time, he said.
“One reason I chose Winter’s Tale was its very unfamiliarity to audiences. How would they take a sprawling play that they didn’t know anything about?” Lyles said.
He took a risk, and it came off marvelously. He plans to share some of his hard-won experience with others next Tuesday.
You can sign up for the April 21 “Smackdown” at the Shakespeare Smackdown event page on Facebook. Anyone can enter.
