Three years ago, a small group of undergraduates banded together with me to adapt and reduce Shakespeare\u2019s Macbeth for a performance in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the playwright\u2019s death (April 23, 1616). We joined students from the Spanish Department and Professor Stephen Hesselm as it was also the 400th anniversary of Cervantes\u2019s death. They translated a Cervantes play for their portion of the evening; my group produced a dramatic reading, complete with audience participation, to a lovely crowd at the Kennedy Public Library. The event was a success and several of my students decided this should become an annual event. We dubbed ourselves the Dead Shakespeare Society, and this week we are preparing for our third-annual dramatic reading.<\/p>\n
The group has expanded to include undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni from various Ball State departments. Each year, a devoted crew works tirelessly to reduce our chosen Shakespeare play to an hour or less. The actors, with the exception of a few lead roles, take on multiple characters.\u00a0This year, we once again join forces with the Spanish Department to present a night of Renaissance drama titled \u201cCalder\u00f3n & Shakespeare: Dreams & Nightmares.\u201d The Spanish Department undergraduates are presenting their translation of Pedro Calder\u00f3n\u2019s La vida es sueno\/Life is a dream<\/em> (1635) and the Dead Shakespeare Society will be reading our reduced version of Richard III<\/em>. Together we will serve up dramas that ask you to reflect on power structures, history, propaganda, fitness to rule, and fake news\u2014the stuff of dreams and nightmares! The performances will be held from 5-7 p.m. this Friday at the Kennedy Public Library. All ages are welcome.<\/p>\n –Dr. Vanessa Rapatz<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three years ago, a small group of undergraduates banded together with me to adapt and reduce Shakespeare\u2019s Macbeth for a performance in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the playwright\u2019s death (April 23, 1616). We joined students from the Spanish Department and Professor Stephen Hesselm as it was also the 400th anniversary of Cervantes\u2019s death. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":14618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[115,268,865,890,920,1155,1283,1345,1395,1560],"class_list":["post-14617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-events","tag-anniversary","tag-calderon-shakespeare","tag-kennedy-public-library","tag-la-vida-es-sueno","tag-life-is-a-dream","tag-pedro-calderon","tag-richard-iii","tag-shakespeare","tag-stephen-hesselm","tag-vanessa-rapatz"],"yoast_head":"\n