Upcoming Thursday Theatre Talk!

Interested in a little behind the scenes information on the upcoming Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival? Then make plans to attend the Thursday Theatre Talk on May 14th at 5:30 pm at the Gilbert Street Theatre. It's free, open to the public, and I guarantee you'll learn something.

Join directors Ron Clark and Kristin Horton as they discuss A Midsummer Night's Dream and Richard III with Shakespearean scholar Miriam Gilbert. And hey... there will probably be some actors there. You can get a sneak peek at them too!

Hope to see you Thursday!

Claudia McGehee on "Scratching the Bard"

After an overwhelmingly positive response to this year's festival artwork, we asked artist Claudia McGehee to write about her process creating the peice for us. Enjoy!

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When Riverside Theatre contacted me to work with them on their Shakespeare Festival 10th Anniversary campaign, I was thrilled. They already had a great idea to creatively spring off from- to illustrate the Bard surrounded by woodland creatures and fairy folk, all enjoying a twilight play at the Riverside Theater. I’ve spent many a summer evening myself in those seats at Riverside. The exceptional performances and the enchanting atmosphere of the open-aired theater are magic memories. Making this illustration would be a pleasure!

How does the illustration process begin for a project like this? First, I research some of the images I’ll be drawing. I take photos of the theater itself, look at the few images of Shakepeare that exist, read a little Shakespeare to really get me in the mood, and then start drawing!

I start with a pencil sketch first. I wanted to have a wide variety of creature companions- recognizable North American woodland critters like the bobcat, bear, ducks, squirrels, deer, opposum, etc. When Jody Hovland told me about how occasionally, a frog or two from the City Park pond find their way to the theatre on play night, I knew I had to include them, too! A few sprites inspired from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the theatre box office, a glowing sunset and twinkling stars complete the sketch.

Next, I transfer the sketch to a piece of scratchboard, my favorite art medium. Scratchboard has a white clay under layer which is covered with black ink. The artist scratches off detail with a sharp tool, like an exacto-blade. They “scratch” off what they want white and leave what they want black, with results that mimic a woodcut. Later, the white areas can be colored. Here are a couple photos of the Shakespeare piece in the process of being scratched out.

When the scratching is complete, I have a black and white image that I then scan into Photoshop on my computer. I may “clean up” a few details here (erase lines I don’t like, add a few that might help “punch up” an area). Then I print this image onto watercolor paper. At this point, it’s like a page from a coloring book; I color in the image with watercolor and dyes.

While I paint, my board is covered with lots of stuff; paint bottles and palettes, an extra piece of paper to play with colors, samples of other pieces I have done to give me ideas for color combinations, a water bowl, a coffee cup, and sometimes a visiting cat!

The actual rendering of the final art takes several steps that I do over a couple days. The initial research and composition work stretch over a couple weeks.

All in all, it was a very satisfying project. I like how the moon turned out, almost like an audience member itself! I loved drawing the many different animals, the rabbit and owl and frogs especially. And I hope the Bard doesn’t mind having luna moth colored tights on! I really enjoyed the opportunity to be part of this wonderful Iowa City icon.

- Claudia McGehee

For more information about Claudia, or to see more of her work... visit her blog at http://claudiaillustration.blogspot.com/

More Will Power Photos...

Enjoy a few photos from the Will Power stop at North Central Junior High:

Shakespearean Insults... Middle School Style

This week and last week, our team of Will Power Actors/Teachers have been visiting classrooms in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. They've been engaging the students in voice, movement and improvisation activities to help them learn about Shakespeare's language and characters. They also do a short performance of a scene from the upcoming festival production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

One of the activities the students have really enjoyed is the "Shakespeare Insult Generator" that's included in their Will Power Play Guide. Some of our favorites?

"Thou goatish rump-fed dewberry"

"Thou yeasty dizzy-eyed bugbear"

"Thou spongy onion-eyed canker-blossom"

Now that you've been thoroughly insulted... enjoy some photos of Northwest Junior High students during their Will Power visit!

Student response to Raising Medusa....

Earlier this week, we had students from Tate, Mt. Vernon, and Washington High Schools attend a matinée performance of Raising Medusa. They seemed to enjoy themselves, and those that stayed after the show for a talk-back with Barbara Lau and the actors asked intelligent questions and seemed to have been very engaged with the production.

While I don't have photos of the students... enjoy a few photos of the artwork on display in the lobby (created by Mt. Vernon HS art students) and a few of the comments on our tag board response wall.










Please... feel free to add your responses to the play after you see Raising Medusa. There are still six performances left. Reserve your tickets now by calling 319-338-7672. Hope to see you at the show!

Reviewing Medusa...

Still trying to decide if Raising Medusa is a show for you? Check out some of the reviews below.

In his review for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Rob Cline called Raising Medusa "a loving and lovely examination of a mother and teenage daughter struggling to connect." Read the full review here.

Vicki Krajewski called the play "a well-written, skillfully-voiced carnival of language both poetic and dramatic that will leave you thinking about your own family drama" in her review for The Iowa City Theatre Blog. Click here for the full review!

According to James Trainor and his review on CorridorBuzz.com, "what’s remarkable about Raising Medusa is that it puts forth both perspectives (mother and daughter) boldly, with humor and pathos, even as the tension degenerates into brutal conflict." Read his full review here.

Come experience Raising Medusa for yourself - now through April 19. For tickets, call the box office at 319-338-7672 or order online at www.riversidetheatre.org!