In acting shakespeare tours to blanchardstown
'Pemberley Productions & The Lime Tree Theatre present 'From Fishing to Shakespeare ', one man’s extraordinary story, at Draiocht Blanchardstown, on 15th October.
‘In Acting Shakespeare’ is a superbly engaging one-man show, arriving on tour in Ireland this October following a two-month sold out run off-Broadway in New York City.
It is a funny, touching and uplifting story of one man’s discovery of Shakespeare, acting and language. Freely adapted, with permission, from Sir Ian McKellen’s ‘Acting Shakespeare’, James De Vita tells his own story of a young fisherman searching for a new career. This fun, fervent tribute to one man’s personal journey, deftly weaves some of Shakespeare’s most famous monologues with James’ days as Long Island fisherman and his nights as a classical actor. This is a show for anyone interested in Shakespeare or theatre.
‘In Acting Shakespeare’ will tour Ireland from 8th – 24th October opening in Limerick before touring to Ennis, Kilkenny, Cork, Blanchardstown (15 October), Dun Laoghaire, Waterford, Galway, Portlaoise, Roscommon, Sligo and Thurles.
http://www.jamesdevita.com/FRMvideos.php?choice=trailer
http://www.jamesdevita.com/FRMvideos.php?choice=testi
JAMES DEVITA
A native of Long Island, NY, James is an author, actor and company member at American Players Theatre and lives in Wisconsin. He has toured the United States with 'In Acting Shakespeare” culminating in a two month off-Broadway run at the Pearl Theatre on 42nd Street. A recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship for Fiction, Jim has had two novels published, The Silenced and Blue (HarperCollins), and is also a widely published playwright, writing for both adults and young audiences.
IRISH TOUR OCTOBER 2014
October 8th & 9th - Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick.
October 10th - Glór, Ennis
October 11th - Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny
October 13th & 14th - Everyman Palace, Cork
October 15th - Draiocht, Blanchardstown / Booking 01-8852622 or www.draiocht.ie
October 16th - Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire
October 17th & 18th - Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford
October 20th - Town Hall Theatre, Galway
October 21st - Dunamaise, Portlaoise
October 22nd - Roscommon Arts Centre, Roscommon
October 23rd - Hawkswell Theatre, Sligo
October 24th - The Source, Thurles
http://www.jamesdevita.com/FRMvideos.php?choice=trailer
http://www.jamesdevita.com/FRMvideos.php?choice=testi
READ FULL REVIEWS HERE
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/review-bard-comically-humanized-broadway
MORE ABOUT THE SHOW:
QUERY: 'Dear Sir: I have an interest in adapting Sir Ian McKellen's script Acting Shakespeare for performance. Might the rights be available? Respectfully, James D.'
REPLY: 'James, Ian McKellen is happy for you to perform your version of Acting Shakespeare. All best wishes. Louise H., Secretary to Sir Ian McKellen. Dec. 2006'
In Acting Shakespeare began with the above correspondence regarding Sir Ian McKellen's one-man show, Acting Shakespeare, an amalgam of personal reminiscences, theatrical lore and selections from Shakespeare. I had very little expectation of an actual reply, so I was thrilled when I received Mr. McKellen's blessing to move forward with the idea.
The original concept for the adaptation was to re-create McKellen's show (which I had seen him perform in 1983), as well as pay tribute to him and his work. This idea, however, was short-lived. Performing another actor's one-man show proved detached and impersonal — a clever trick rather than a play. After the third draft, I abandoned the idea. What followed was a complete re-imagining, two years of research and revisions, and eleven more drafts.
I began by replacing the Shakespeare selections with ones which spoke deeply to me, expanding on the theme of Shakespeare's childhood, and incorporating contemporaries who had actually known him or had worked with him.
Still, with each new draft, the director, John Langs, kept encouraging me to push myself to make the play more personal, and not hide behind the mask of McKellen's play. I began to substitute more of my own personal experiences in acting Shakespeare for those of McKellen's, and that was when the story became its own play.
Some of Mr McKellen's structure and wonderful writings remain, but what rose to the surface with each succeeding draft was less and less a re-creation of the original show, and more a story about one person's journey towards meeting Shakespeare and discovering the beauty of words — and their potential — which began one night twenty-five years ago when I watched, with more than a little awe, Sir Ian McKellen in Acting Shakespeare.
Draiocht Blanchardstown, Wednesday 15 October 2014, 8pm
Tickets: e18/e14 conc / e10 Student Groups
Booking tel: 01-8852622 or online www.draiocht.ie