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    GCAC Presents: OSU Takes on British Theatre

    In August 2010, Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor of Theatre Lesley Ferris led a group of eleven undergraduate and seven graduate students on a five-week long study abroad program in London, England. Resident Director Ferris was assisted in-country by Assistant Professor of Theatre Kristine Kearney and three Department of Theatre graduate students Jarod Wilson (MFA), Melissa Lee (PhD), and Ian Pugh (PhD). The group took up residence in central London and attended 23 performances as part of the program’s required full academic course load.

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    Ferris and Kearney co-taught Theatre 674, “Contemporary British Theatre.” Designed to take advantage of the diverse British theatre scene, the course balanced classroom work with theatre-going, exposing students to the full spectrum of performance and production, from new works to classics, from West End commercial production to fringe and experimental theatre. Highlights include a new English translation and reimagining of the Puccini opera La Bohème; new plays by Howard Brenton, Alan Bennett, Moira Buffini, and Anya Reiss; and The Great Game: Afghanistan, a three-part, nine-hour cycle exploring the social and political complexities of Afghan history.

    There was also a rich offering of Shakespeare, including productions at the reconstructed Globe Theatre on London’s South Bank and a two-night trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. In Stratford, the group attended four RSC productions, including Michael Fentiman’s innovative version of Hamlet designed specifically for younger audiences, part of the RSC’s Stand up for Shakespeare Campaign. Following the performance, students participated in a workshop led by Fentiman where they worked with RSC actors Dharmesh Patel and David Rubin, who played Hamlet and Claudius respectively. While in Stratford, students who will work on OSU’s production of Othello in Winter 2011 were able to meet with RSC’s Alison Bomber who will join the OSU Department of Theatre as director-in-residence to produce Othello featuring OSU’s MFA acting students.

    London’s Notting Hill Carnival, which takes place the final Bank Holiday weekend in August, was another focus of the program and provided additional opportunity to combine classroom study with hands-on experience. In the pre-departure course at OSU Spring 2010, Ferris focused on the history of the Trinidadian-derived carnival tradition in London and its performative roots. In London, the group paired up with Fox Carnival Band, a children’s “mas band” and took to the streets of Notting Hill enjoying soca music, parading children’s art, and promoting Fox’s 2010 theme of “A Sea of Just People!”

    Students also pursued their own research through various internships. Several students were full-time interns at Fox Carnival Band, while others, doing advanced graduate work, were able to conduct interviews with British theatre artists and do archival research. MFA designers interned at the Royal Court Theatre and spent a one-on-one session with designer Jo Town, a former associate at the Royal Court. Other guest lecturers included Carnival Studies specialist Adela Ruth Tompsett on the roots of Notting Hill Carnival; playwright and actor Kwame Kwei-Armah on Black British theatre; Jatinder Verma, Artistic Director of Tara Arts, on multiculturalism; and Matt Woolf, theatre critic for the International Herald Tribune, on the state of British theatre.

    The trip culminated in a workshop production of The Camouflage Project: Disguise and Deception—The Making of an SOE Secret Agent at Theatro Technis on September 1. Part of a larger collaboration between the OSU Department of Theatre and the Advanced Computing Center for Art and Design (ACCAD), co-project director Ferris teamed up with British theatre director Peter Cutts to work with the student ensemble over the London program’s five weeks to devise an original work based on Special Operation Executive (SOE) oral histories, interviews, and military documentation. Following the performance, there was a panel discussion which included Ferris, Cutts, and Nicholas Rankin, author of Churchill’s Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945. The Camouflage Project will have its world premiere 12-27 May 2011 at OSU.

    For more information about OSU’s Department of Theatre, and to view their 2010-2011 season, visit them on the web.

    GCAC Presents is a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council – supporting art and advancing culture in Columbus – in partnership with theColumbus Arts Marketing Association, a professional development and networking association of arts marketers. Each column will be written by a different local arts organization to give you an insiders look at the arts in Columbus.

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