Patrons are invited to the 12th season of the Arkansas Shakespeare
Theatre, which will open Friday at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and continue through July 8. This year’s theme is “transformation.”
The season includes The Winter’s Tale, Henry IV, Part 1 and Much Ado About Nothing, all by William Shakespeare, and My Fair Lady, based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.
Rebekah Scallet of Little Rock, AST producing artistic director, said all four shows feature characters that undergo major changes — some for the better and some, perhaps, for the worse.
“We have approximately 100 cast and crew members coming together for these shows,” said Scallet, who is in her seventh season as AST’s artistic director.
The season will open at 7:30 p.m. Friday with The Winter’s Tale outdoors on the lawn of McAlister Hall at UCA. Lerner and Loewe’s musical My Fair Lady will open June 15 in the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall at UCA, and Henry IV, Part 1 will open June 22, also at Reynolds. AST’s family-friendly adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing will open June 28 at Reynolds and will also tour the state in June and July. Shows at Reynolds are presented onstage, with no reserved seating.
Following is a look at the season’s offerings and some of the actors appearing in the shows.
The Winter’s Tale
Nisi Sturgis returns home to Conway to direct The Winter’s Tale, which, Scallet said, is not done a whole lot.
“I love the story,” she said. “It’s one of Shakespeare’s late romantic plays. It is a rarely produced Shakespeare gem.”
Sturgis, who is a 1996 graduate of Conway High School and a 2000 graduate of UCA, is making her directorial debut with this play, although she has performed in several past AST productions. Sturgis now lives in Urbana, Illinois, with her husband, Jordan Coughtry, who is also an actor, and their 4-year-old son, Owen.
The Winter’s Tale follows the story of King Leontes, who grows jealous of his wife, Hermione, leading him to make a series of terrible mistakes.
“I’m really excited about directing this show,” said Sturgis, who is a daughter of Peggy Sturgis of Conway and the late Harold Sturgis. “It’s amazing to get to come home and make art for the people who helped make me an artist.
“This play is like a memory play. … What can happen if we go down the wrong path? … Can we ever come back?” she said. “We have a wonderful youth ensemble that leads us through the story. They help us heal, help us remember. It’s like a contemporary fairy tale, dealing with truth and self-doubt.”
Sturgis said that after reading the play several times, she had “images of shadows.”
She said she contacted Katie Campbell at the Arkansas Arts Center’s Children’s Theatre and Adam Frank of the UCA Honors College, who have both directed shadow-puppet plays. They helped design the shadow puppets that will be used in the play.
“I have a wonderful cast and crew,” Sturgis said.
Paige Reynolds of Little Rock, a UCA faculty member and AST’s dramaturgy supervisor, plays Hermione in The Winter’s Tale.
“This has been one of my favorite Shakespeare plays ever since I read it,” she said. “I always wanted to be in it but never knew if I would have the opportunity. I am so glad we are doing it this year.”
Reynolds, who has been involved with AST for 11 years, also plays two male characters in Henry IV, Part 1 and Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady. Her 14-year-old daughter, Anna, is in The Winter’s Tale’s youth ensemble.
Aidan Eslinger of Conway, the 12-year-old son of Nadia and Lamar Eslinger and a student at Carl Stuart Middle School, plays Mamillius, the son of Leontes and Hermione. This is Aidan’s first time to appear in a Shakespeare play.
Other Conway students in this show’s youth ensemble — known as The Groundlings Co., under the direction of Sharon Combs of Conway — include Bryton Butler, Josie Ghormley, Jackson Karl, Mallorie Keaton and Piper Wallace.
UCA student Latavian Johnson appears in this play, as well as in Henry IV, Part 1, and Augustine Nguyen, also a UCA student, appears in this play and in My Fair Lady.
UCA graduates Matt Duncan and Taylor Galloway appear in The Winter’s Tale, as well as in Henry IV, Part 1.
The Winter’s Tale will be presented again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and on June 17, 24, 28 and 30 and July 4 and 6.
Every show is pay what you can, with a suggested donation of $15 per person. Vendors will be on-site to provide food and drinks, and several artists will be on the lawn displaying works for sale during these performances.
Henry IV, Part 1
“This is the story of Hal, the young prince,” Scallet said. “It’s a coming-of-age story. It features Prince Hal (Henry, Prince of Wales), who prefers spending time in the tavern with his fat and jolly friend Falstaff to time spent in the castle with his father, the king (King Henry IV). It’s about Prince Hal’s relationship with Falstaff and with his father and which world the prince will be in.
“Robert Quinlan of Peoria, Illinois, directs this show, and AST favorite Dan Matisa of Bloomington, Illinois, plays Falstaff, the same part he played in AST’s 2010 production of Henry IV,” Scallet said.
Ethan Hemphill of Conway appears as a member of the youth ensemble in this production.
Henry IV, Part 1 will be presented at 7:30 p.m. June 22, 23, 26, 29 and 30 and July 5; and at 2 p.m. June 30 and July 8.
Much Ado About Nothing
“This is our family adaptation of a work by Shakespeare,” Scallet said. “It has a cast of just eight people and will be presented as a one-hour show. Enrico Spada of Bloomington, Illinois, will make his directorial debut with AST for this touring production.
“Much Ado About Nothing is a romantic comedy with the great Shakespeare couple of Beatrice and Benedick at its center,” she said. “It will be performed onstage at Reynolds, along with stops at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain, the Hot Springs Farmers Market, The Joint in Argenta and The Griffin in El Dorado.”
UCA graduate Sydney Stoner and Hendrix College graduate Michael Goodbar appear in this play. Shauna Meador, UCA graduate and UCA associate professor of theater, is the show’s costume designer.
Much Ado About Nothing will be presented at 2 p.m. June 28 and July 3 and 5; and at 10 a.m. June 29 and July 4 and 7.
My Fair Lady
Scallet directs this classic musical that tells the tale of Eliza Doolittle, a flower girl who wants to transform her status by changing the way she speaks and goes to Professor Henry Higgins for assistance.
“This is the first time I have directed a musical,” Scallet said. “It’s a lot of fun. I’m finding out that it’s not a lot different from directing a work by Shakespeare.
“The script retains so much of Shaw’s original language, along with Lerner and Loewe’s glorious songs. I’m thrilled to be able to bring it to life for Arkansas audiences.”
Clarksville native Robert Frost of New York City is the musical director. He is quick to note that he is kidded a lot about his name.
“It’s a family name,” he said, smiling.
Frost, 26, is a 2009 graduate of Clarksville High School and a son of Julie Hilliard Frost and John Frost of Clarksville, both graduates of Hendrix College. Robert Frost has a degree in theater from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and studied at the National Theatre Institute at the O’Neal Theatre Center in Waterford, Connecticut. He is now a freelance music director and an adjunct voice instructor at New York University.
“This is my first time to be involved with the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre,” he said. “I am proud to be back in my home state. I’ve always loved My Fair Lady. I love these Golden Age musicals.”
Local actors [not already mentioned] in My Fair Lady include Holly Ruth Gale of Russellville, a music instructor at Arkansas Tech University, and Johnny Passmore of Conway, drama teacher at Conway Junior High School.
Local members of The Groundlings Co. who are appearing in the musical include Zane Brewer, Isabelle Garrett, Jack Ghromley and Maddie Meek, all of Conway.
My Fair Lady will be presented at 7:30 p.m. June 15, 16 and 27 and July 1, 3 and 7; and at 2 p.m. June 24 and July 1, 4 and 7.
Other local actors involved in the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre include Geneva Galloway, a UCA graduate, who serves as general manager; Zoe Allison, a UCA graduate, company manager; Ian Martin O’Dwyer, a UCA student, assistant company manager; and Sidney Kelley, Mikala Hicks, Micah Patterson and Jillian Gregory, UCA students serving as costume interns.
For tickets or more information on the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, call (866) 810-0012 or visit
www.arkshakes.com.