Many are at least a little intimidated by the works of William Shakespeare. Shippensburg University students and ACT V directors Robert “BJ” Hile and James “Jimmy” Wright may have found the ideal solution to make these timeless works more accessible.

In fact, they may have underestimated their success, as Wednesday’s audience continued to swell and exceed the number of available seats, creating a scramble to locate and provide additional chairs more than once.

Wright, Hiles and SU’s student theater group ACT V, presented six bite-sized pieces of Shakespeare’s plays in their production of “An Hour with William Shakespeare.” Performances were held in Henderson gymnasium on April 16 and 17. Hiles says they came up with the performance to provide an opportunity for those students who may be interested in acting, but might not want to appear in a musical.

Wright describes their concept as a way to “share Shakespeare with the campus” and with the community via scenes that are fan favorites and that also serve as good examples of the bard’s work.

One of the big challenges was finding a way to tie six scenes from six different plays together in a sensible and cohesive way, according to Wright. He and Hiles use the idea of presenting the entire performance as a commemoration of the retirement of Ms. Jeanette Oliver (an imaginary person) from the Shakespeare Co. of Shippensburg (a non-existent organization).

Actor Alexandra Jones, a sophomore English major here, connects the scenes for the audience. She plays four different narrators, each one a member of the company, who set up the scenes and explaining how they tie in with Ms. Oliver’s tireless efforts at keeping Shakespeare relevant.
There was not a bad performance by any of the nine actors. The lines were difficult to read, let alone speak, but each performer exhibited not just a familiarity with the words, but a high level of comprehension of the meanings.

Several performances in particular deserved to be singled out. Senior Carissa Strohecker’s portrayal of Cleopatra (“Antony and Cleopatra”) was passionate and emotional. Paul Deichmann’s hilarious Petrucchio, from the “Taming of the Shrew,” was a cut above, but Kimberly MacAlister and Paul Okum definitely held their own. Petrucchio is the focal point of the scene, so it’s not a fair comparison.

All four actors in the death scene from Romeo and Juliet deserved commendation. The directors chose to have the actors overact amateurishly, which is much harder to do than most people realize. It is very difficult to be terrible on purpose, but Paul Deichmann, Kimberly MacAlister, Troy Okum and Ryan Krulewicz showed great talent at playing actors with no talent.

Professor Paris Peet also deserves recognition for his work at choreographing the fight scene. Hiles pointed out that for many of the cast, stage fighting is a brand new experience. The clash and clang of swordplay mere feet from the audience, in combination with the energetic movements of Emily Maust and Ryan Krulewicz, brought a wonderful realism to those scenes. Maust and Krulewicz never drop a beat, a sword or a word in their scene from “Coriolanus.”

The performances were staged as “theater in the round,” meaning the scenes were performed with the actors surrounded by the audience. It provided a remarkably intimate experience, almost as if the audience members were townspeople or passers-by witnessing the action. No additional lighting or sound was used, reinforcing that impression.

Check out ACT V’s performances in the coming semesters. Student run, ACT V puts on several shows each semester, and it is well worth attending them.

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