Shakespeare production features local playwrights

Six local playwrights recently accepted a Shakespearean challenge: to pen a one-act play based on one of the Bard's sonnets. The result of their work is an original collage titled 'The Marriage of True Minds,' the final event in Grand Valley State University's 2003 Shakespeare Festival.

The plays, like Shakespeare's sonnets, range from comedy to tragedy and examine themes of love, lust, and compassion ¿ but in a modern context. The six acts have combined to make a delightfully entertaining, fully-staged production. Performances are October 30, 31, and November 1 at 7:30 p.m. and November 2 at 2 p.m. in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center on Grand Valley's Allendale Campus.

Tickets are $12 general admission, $6 for all students, available at the door or by calling the GVSU Box Office at (616) 331-2300 or TicketsPLUS at (800) 585-3737. Due to adult language and situations, the play is not be suitable for all ages.

The original one-act plays and their authors include:

'Blunt the Lion's Paws' by G.M. (Bud) Thompson of Grand Rapids;

'Matt & Meg' by Grand Valley alumna Tanya Eby of Grand Rapids;

'Equity' by Grand Valley alumnus John Rich of Grand Rapids;

'God Among Geeks' by Tori Schroeder, a GVSU writing major;

'If This Be Error, No Man Ever Loved' by Jimm Sommerfeldt of Grand Haven; and

'A Rose is a Rose' by former GVSU writing professor Bob Mayberry, formerly of Grand Haven.

The six acts present such 20th and 21st century situations as friends playing games and doing homework, a husband watching the Super Bowl, and Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas confronted by a visitor. They are connected by an original music score composed by GVSU student Garret Bielaniec and a reading of the sonnet each play is based on. The company of actors includes 20 GVSU students and two alumni, directed by theater major Trinity Bird.

This fall marks the 'Twice Five Years' (10th anniversary) celebration of Grand Valley's Shakespeare Festival. For more information, please see www.gvsu.edu/shakes.