Monday, October 8, 2012

Week of 10/8

Well, we at 810 had a pretty restorative week off last week, although we still had classes, rehearsals, meetings and paperwork to keep us plenty busy.  We hope that you all had a wonderful week, too, and before we go on, can we get a WHO DAT?! and a big congratulations to UL Lafayette who defeated Tulane during the ULL homecoming weekend!

Now, down to business:  This weekend at Theatre 810 is the Acadiana Repertory Theatre's reading of Cody Daigle's Stratford Boy.  This piece is the first in a trilogy of plays exploring the life of William Shakespeare and his fictional sister Judith (a creation of Virginia Woolf in "A Room of One's Own"). The second play, The Elizabethans, is coming soon; and of course, we all remember the third, William & Judith, which was produced at 810 almost exactly one year ago, to much acclaim. 

In Daigle's own words, Stratford Boy presents William Shakespeare "...as a beleaguered young man trying to find his purpose in life. His shotgun marriage to Anne Hathaway has already produced a child and another is on the way. And he's been secretly teaching his sister Judith to read -- and write.  When a childhood friend, Will Kemp, comes through Stratford with a band of traveling players, a door opens in Will's life that could take him away from Stratford. It's a door Judith wants to walk through as well..."

We can't wait to get a glimpse of Cody Daigle's new work, but in addition to the reading, ART will be discussing the plans for their upcoming 2013 season.  The reading/season preview is free of charge, and is only happening twice this weekend, so make your reservations pronto.  See you there -

Monday, October 1, 2012

Week of 10/1

Wow, Lafayette!  Thank you so much for coming out to support the UL student production of Proof!  We had full houses with lovely, receptive audiences.  So lucky for us and for our next generation of theatre artisans!

As far a performances go, we are taking a breather this week, before heading into FIVE STRAIGHT WEEKS of performances for the Lafayette community!  AUI's Dracula will continue to rehearse in both Space 806 and Theatre 810, and The Tea Sippers' Theatre Company will also be rehearsing in Space 806 from time to time.  Their show, Seventy Scenes of Halloween by Jeffrey M. Jones opens October 18th.  The Tea Sippers are a teen run theatre company in Lafayette and they produce, direct and design all of their own productions; supporting their work is vital to building a vibrant, relevant arts community.  Mark your calendars now, arts lovers!

In other news, Theatre 810 is also working on a myriad of new events and projects that we will be announcing over the coming weeks.  One monthly event that we will start to host is the 810 Readers Theatre.  What is "readers theatre?" Once a month, anyone interested will meet at 810 and read a play together. We will divvy up the parts when we get there, and there will be scripts available for those who don't already have a copy (you may have to share with a neighbor, but that's part of the fun!) There will be plenty of time afterward to discuss and interpret the play, too.  Theatre artists, avid readers, supportive community members - come one, come all!  Our first monthly gathering will be Monday, November 12 and our first play is Lanford Wilson's The Rimers of Eldritch, so dig out your copy now if you already have one!

We will have more information soon about that and more...as well as updates regarding our next five weeks of productions!  Gotta run for now, but stay tuned to our Facebook page and keep going to shows!