John W. Harding
Before Joseph Papp brought
Shakespeare to Central Park, or
the Folger Library ever
dreamed of opening its own theater. a
band of Nigerian student actors were
taking Shakespeare to the people of
Africa. With a replica of the Old Globe
theater mounted on a 32-foot flatbed
trailer, the troupe travelled across
4,000 miles of grassland and villages,
spreading the joy of the Bard of Avon.
Now some 21 years later, the Old
Globe takes to the road again. The man
responsible for that first cultural trek is
readying an even greater challenge:
bringing Shakespeare to the parks,
ports and streets of l985 America.
The man is William T. Brown, the
chairman of the UMBC theater department
since 1970. The show is a UMBC
production of A Midsummer Night's
Dream, which will travel to eight
Baltimore area locations in August and
September.
"It worked very well. We played to
audiences of four or five thousand at a
time in schoolyards and stadiums and
open courts. The interest and
enthusiasm were tremendous. It was all
in English, of course, and people could
understand it because their early training
at the missionary schools often
focused on English literature and
Shakespeare.
"Ever since then, I've felt it was
something that could work here in the
United States, too." But Brown was
unable to find anyone interested enough
to support it. That changed this summer
when the university's directors of summer
sessions grew enthusiastic about
Brown's idea and promised to fund it.
Working from Brown's designs,
construction engineer Terry Cobb and a
student crew welded and hammered
together a slighty larger version of the
African model. "The new 40-foot trailer
provides more backstage area for the
cast of 22, and adjustable legs will
ensure a level stage no matter what the
playing area.
"I know everyone was a little
doubtful at first. They saw the slides
and pictures of our African production,
Back in the early '60s, Brown was
lured away from Howard University
with a two-year contract as technical
consultant to help Nigeria's University
of Ibadan start its own school of drama.
The idea of a developing a traveling
stage had actually came up quite informally.
A group of students, newly
excited by their interest in drama,
began using their holiday breaks to
travel around in their station wagon and
put on short scenes for the outlying
communities.
This happened to coincide with the
400th anniversary of Shakespeare, and
one day an English professor said casually,
"Wouldn't it be interesting if we
could somehow bring Shakespeare to
the people?"
"I found it a fascinating idea"
recalls Brown. "I began putting
thoughts together, and I came up with
the idea of mounting a replica of the
Old Globe theater on a portable flatbed
trailer."
Working with a grant from the Rockefeller
Foundation, the program was
eventually called Theater on Wheels.
But they didn't really realize the size of
it all. As we began to put it together, the
actors were amazed at how sturdy it all
was and how much like a real stage. I
knew that it worked before and that it
could work again."
Brown figures that the crew of volunteers
and students working for
academic credits can set up the stage in
a couple of hours. "We can take this
anywhere," he says. "The only requirement
is that we have a space that's
relatively level and enough electricity
to power an amplifier and some general
lighting."
With direction by UMBC's talented
new professor of theater, Sam
McCready, and with a new batch of
beautiful costumes by the college's
gifted Rumanian designer, Elena
Zlotescu, Brown believes it will make
interesting viewing even if audiences
don't understand it all.
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"We're hoping that if it goes well
we'll be able to get grant funding for
next year and make this a continuing
summer activity."
Since the program is an extension of
the academic curriculum, all the
production costs and travel expenses are
totally funded by the university. The
performances, of course, are free. "We
like that very much," adds Brown.
"We want more of the public to see
what we're doing here."
"It's a play that has something for
everyone," he says. "It has the fantasy
of the fairy world, the romance of the
lovers and the comedy of the mechanicals.
Overall, il's a very funny and
very beautiful play, and it shows
Shakespeare's genius in its fullest
range."
Suddenly growing practical, he adds,
"Besides, the scenes are short enough
to hold everyone's attention."
He also had to keep in mind that his
audiences would be sitting outside. "If
we were doing the play in an
auditorium, one might go for some
subtle interpretations or unusual
effects. But I'm aware that what we do is
going to have to compete with all the
distractions of contemporary life."
Another of the things that immediately
excited him about the prospect of
a touring production was the opportunity
to explore and teach his actors new
performing skills. The voices will get
some additional amplification from offstage
microphones, but McCready is
training his actors in particular
techniques for performing outdoors.
"Playing outside requires a clarity in
the performance," insists the director.
"It requires the actor to call attention to
himself and cope with distractions. The
actor has to have a much finer
concentration, hecause not only will the
audience be distracted but he could be
distracted."
Since they would be performing on a
replica of an Elizabethan stage, one of
the things McCready wanted to explore
was how the play might have been
done in its own period. "I'm interested
in a popular approach to the play, but
over and above that, one of the things
that intrigues me about the play is its
setting -- the whole element of nature.
"The lovers and other characters are
all taken into the woods where they go
through almost a purgation. They
discover things about themselves and
change their views about things. I think
Shakespeare was saying something
very important for us today: that we are
out of touch with nature and we must
get back in touch with some belief in
the world of spirits
Above all, I'm emphasizing the fun
and fantasy in the play. Most recent
treatments of the spirit world tend to
paint it as a dark and grotesque place.
As you may have seen in our fairy
costumes, we're going for the beauty of
nature and the good that nature does
rather than the evil."
But it's the spirit of the Old Globe
itself that is on the minds of those
involved in Shakespeare on Wheels.
Most actors, after all, only get a run; at
UMBC, they are getting a ride.
The Shakespeare On Wheels
presentation of A Midsummer Night's
Dream will make its debut in a Gala
VIP dinner theater performance on the
UMBC Quadrangle Friday. Aug. 9.
The general public is invited to the site
the next evening, Saturday. Aug.10, at
7 pm., and to any of the other free
performances in the coming weeks.
All performances begin at 7 p.m.
unless otherwise noted. For comfortable
seating, feel free to bring
blankets and folding chairs; picnicking
is welcome. For more information, call
455-2065. The dates and locations of
the other scheduled performances are:
Aug.11: Lake Kittamaqundi (Columbia);
Aug.13: Charlestown Retirement
Community (Catonsville); Aug.
14: Harborplace (Baltimore); Aug.
15-16 at 7 p.m. & Aug. 17 at 2 p.m.:
The Village of Cross Keys' Gate House
(Baltimore).
Aug.18. Lake Kittamaqundi (Columbia);
Aug. 21-21: Wyman Park
Dell (Baltimore); Aug. 23: Baltimore
City Hall, Aug.24, 25,31 & Sept. 1-2
throughout the day: Maryland Renaissance
Festival (Annapolis); Sept. 6:
UMBC Quadrangle (CatonsviIle).
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