The famed Actors from the London Stage opened their two-day performance of William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" last night in the Moore Theater.
According to the Hopkins Center, the group is comprised of the best actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, and the BBC Shakespeare Series and other major English dramatic companies.
They will enact the Bard's witty and thoughtful tale of two youthful couples who must confront social convention in order to marry. While the central purpose of their visit to the College was the production of "Much Ado About Nothing," the group has also spent the last several days on campus discussing their work.
In an appearance in Brace Commons in the East Wheelock cluster on Monday, Greg Floy, a distinguished London actor and member of the Actors, presented a series of written works titled "Souls in Chains," which chronicle tales of torture and prison life.
Floy said the actors in the group are winding down from a three-month theatrical tour of the United States. They spend much of their time practicing and performing "Much Ado About Nothing."
The unique thing about their approach is that they stage the production themselves -- without the help of a supporting cast, directors, or producers.
In addition to these duties, the individuals must teach and give self-designed lectures on topics pertaining to theater. A.C.T.E.R. (A Center for Theater and Educational Research) is the organization which organizes and supports this five-person teaching/acting troupe.
Floy's presentation was part of this effort to enhance the intellectual experiences of students by performing and lecturing around campus this week. The various prison writings which Floy read ranged in time from the Spanish Inquisition to the Beirut hostage situation.
Sociology Professor Steven Cornish, the dean of the East Wheelock cluster, said the presentation was yet another thread with which to "[weave] the seamless web of learning."
In "Souls in Chains," Floy presented works which captured "the power of the human spirit to overcome" by relating specific stories of individual prison experiences.
During the hour-long recitation, Floy recited an abbreviated version of the fall of the Knights of Templer, William Blake's "Song", a selection from Brian Keenan's book "An Evil Cradling," and Oscar Wilde's "Ballad of Redding Jail," among other selections.
Each piece is much more than a mere factual account of the subject's prison experience -- they are probes into the psyches of inmates drowning in their own minds.
The various styles and modes of writing presented were powerfully accented by Floy's dramatic interpretations.
The "centerpiece" of the evening, as Floy called it, was his 20-minute recitation of Wilde's "Ballad of Redding Jail."
This piece, written by Wilde while he was in prison, is profound in its own context, yet Floy's brilliant interpretation enhanced the readings -- pulling in closer the attention of the already captive audience.
Keenan, one of the Beirut hostages, set down in print the horror of his experiences in "An Evil Cradling." Floy selected a forceful passage in which Keenan describes his initial horror, and subsequent amusement at the co-inhabitants of his cell -- ants.
The themes of human anguish and the soul's triumph over such obstacles were easily recognized and well bridged between selections.
"Souls in Chains" was a success. The emotion encoded on this dry paper was translated and brought to life superbly by Floy.
The troupe's second and final performance is tonight.
