KNOXVILLE — The Medieval and Renaissance Semester at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, turns to the dramatic during Shakespeare Week.
Actors From The London Stage, a touring ensemble of five British actors, will be on campus Oct. 15-21. They will perform Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” offer classroom workshops and participate in lectures.
The Medieval and Renaissance Semester was created as part of Ready for the World, a long-term initiative at UT to better prepare students to compete in a global economy by offering more international and intercultural experiences.
The events of the semester were planned by UT’s Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. All events are free.
“The plays of William Shakespeare occupy a central place in the public culture of the English-speaking world for good reason,” said Robert Bast, Riggsby Director of the Marco Institute. “Few authors have matched his ability to probe the human psyche while exploring great and enduring questions about what it means to be human. Shakespeare managed to do so in brilliant and entertaining language that has captivated many generations.”
Actors From The London Stage will perform “Macbeth” three times at Clarence Brown Theatre:
• For students of Knox County Schools at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17
• For Clarence Brown Theatre patrons at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 18
• For the UT campus and Knoxville community at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19
People wishing to attend the play on Oct. 18 and 19 should call (865) 974-5161 to reserve tickets in advance. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.
The actors also will participate in a program as part of the “Sacred Beauty: A Millennium of Art, 600-1600” exhibit of religious art and artifacts at McClung Museum. The program discusses a reliquary — a container in which relics are kept — in the exhibit that is purported to contain a tooth of Mary Magdalene, the first witness to the Resurrection. The discussion will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 16, in the McClung Museum auditorium, and the actors will perform a dramatic reading.
They will perform another dramatic reading for Albert Braunmuller’s lecture on “Macbeth” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17, in the McClung Museum auditorium. Braunmuller is a distinguished professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Actors From The London Stage was founded in 1975 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, by several renowned British actors that included Patrick Stewart of “X-Men” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fame. The program now is run by the University of Notre Dame and tours twice a year to universities and performing arts centers across the U.S.
For more information about the Medieval and Renaissance Semester, go to http://web.utk.edu/~semester/.
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Contact:
Elizabeth Davis, UT media relations, (865) 974-5179, elizabeth.davis@tennessee.edu