The Hilo Community Players, the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Department and the UH-Hilo English Department’s Droste Foundation are working together to present Shakespeare Pacifica: A Visit with the Bard, including a series of free public workshops.
The Hilo Community Players, the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Department and the UH-Hilo English Department’s Droste Foundation are working together to present Shakespeare Pacifica: A Visit with the Bard, including a series of free public workshops.
At the heart of the initiative is the appearance of William Shakespeare himself, in the guise of Chuck Wilcox, an award-winning actor, director and weapons expert who has appeared in 36 of Shakespeare’s 37 plays. He and his wife, Lola, will be offering workshops in acting, stage combat and play writing with support from the Hilo Community Players and the Droste Foundation. He brings decades of experience to his dynamic and masterful impersonation of the Bard for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in Boulder in a pre-performance program dubbed “Will on the Green.”
As Shakespeare, Wilcox will welcome and talk with Hilo patrons coming to see the Shakespeare in the Park production of “Measure for Measure,” a three weekend run between July 9 and 25. Further interchange will happen between The Bard and the cast of the show as the evening progresses.
Wilcox will offer a master class for actors from 6:30-9 p.m. Wednesday, July 15in UH-Hilo’s PB8AR, the music rehearsal room. High school and older participants will work one on one and as an ensemble with Wilcox on pieces from Shakespeare’s canon to explore text, diction, articulation, movement and performance preparedness.
Stage combat will be the next hands-on session with Wilcox from 2-6 p.m. Saturday, July 18, also in UH-Hilo’s PB8AR. High-schoolers and older are invited, whether beginners or experienced combat performers. Wilcox will teach the techniques to make a theater fight look real and the difference between stage, movie and real violence.
The final workshops will cover three sessions with Lola Wilcox from 7-9 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, July 20 and 22, and 9-11 a.m. Saturday, July 25. Novices and experienced playwrights are welcome to learn from and work with an experienced playwright who asks, “What is your dream about becoming a playwright?” Wilcox will work on character, plot, text and production for plays in progress, while reading and commenting about already written plays.
To sign up for the workshops and receive further information, contact professor Jackie Pualani Johnson at jpjohnso@hawaii.edu or call 937-6600.