On Friday, October 9, in McCain Auditorium’s Kirmser Hall, the McCain Conversations series returned as faculty and students shared a series of lightning talks on Shakespeare in advance of the performance of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing that same evening at 7:30 p.m. by the Actors From The London Stage.
The actors had already had a full week in the Little Apple visiting K-State classrooms in English and Theatre, thanks to the residency that forms a key part of a visit by the Actors From The London Stage.
The five actors touring the country this fall with their production of Much Ado About Nothing — Pamela Flanagan, Grace Lilley, Chenise Lynette, Hayden Mampasi, and Alex Phelps — shared their expertise in dialogue, language, and performance with introductory and advanced classes, ranging from ENGL 269 “Introduction to Creative Writing” to THTRE 171 “Fundamentals of Acting” to ENGL 345 “Drama” to ENGL 435 “Linguistics for Teachers” to Classics 501 “The Trojan War.”
ENGL 345 “Drama” student Katelyn Willemsen with actor Grace Lilley
Deborah Murray, instructor for ENGL 345 “Drama,” with actor Grace Lilley
In between class visits and preparation for their performance of Much Ado About Nothing, the actors were able to sample life in the Little Apple, including Liquid Art Winery.
To help students, faculty, staff, and community members prepare for Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, faculty and students in English shared some “Shakespeare Lightning Talks” in advance of the performance. The event was organized by the Department’s Graduate Concentration in Literature, and the presentations revived, with the help of McCain’s Terri Lee, the McCain Conversations series.
Below is a brief glimpse of the talks enjoyed by 60+ people in attendance at the event.
Shirley Tung, Associate Professor and Coordinator for the Graduate Literature Concentration, welcomes the crowd and introduces our speakers.
Kimball Smith, Associate Professor of English, “Going from Bored to Bard: How I (Really) Learned to Love Shakespeare.”
I didn’t always love Shakespeare, but I remember precisely when that changed. It was a college production of Much Ado About Nothing. For the first time I realized how appealing Shakespeare could be, how easily he could offer up that bouncy, syncopated, back and forth, of real people talking, people I might actually like. For me, that was the moment when Shakespeare became true.
Kara Northway, Associate Professor of English, “Much Ado About Not-ing: Touring Actors’ Letters from 1598”
I explored the emotional reactions to letter-writing represented onstage in the language of Shakespeare’s characters, as well as offstage in the real lives of the actors who played those kinds of roles.
Jaidyn Koehler (BA ’27), undergraduate student in English and French, “‘A bird of my tongue’: Louise Labé as an Early Modern Prototype for Shakespeare’s Beatrice“
French feminist poet Louise Labé becomes an Early Modern prototype of Shakespeare’s Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing when comparing their bold outspokenness against the patriarchy and their display of sexual agency.
Cariana Kut (MA ’26), graduate student in English, “Hamlet, ‘The Mousetrap,’ and Detective Fiction“
In my talk, I argue that Hamlet can be considered detective fiction through “The Mousetrap” scene with the ways it adheres to common tropes of the detective fiction genre, including recreating the crime scene, Hamlet having a detective method, and addressing the topic of crime and entertainment.
Rachel Koontz (MA ’27), graduate student in English, “”
I analyzed the connection between proximate audiences to the Jacobean actors within the historic practice of stage-sitting. This practice resulted in contested authorship between audiences who paid heavily for their preferences and playwrights who desired to perform within the commercial playhouses which continues to manifest in today’s theaters.
Many thanks to our faculty and graduate student presenters, to the McCain Performance Series and its Director Todd Holmberg who sponsor the AFTLS residency and stage performance, and to the Actors From The London Stage for a memorable week of Shakespeare in the classroom and on stage!
— Karin Westman, Department Head
