Showtime in the Shenandoah

Varlets, harlots, kings, and fishmongers! Staunton's Blackfriars Playhouse will make you fall in love with Shakespeare.

This is not the Shakespeare I know. During a fast-paced scene from The Merry Wives of Windsor, a buxom young lady plops down in the lap of a theatergoer and delivers a particularly saucy line. She strokes the patron's balding head, gives him a bandy wink, and leaps to her feet as the crowd roars with laughter.

As I look around the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Virginia, I imagine that I've run upon some insanely modern adaptation of the Bard's verse. Instead, for the first time, I have experienced authentic Shakespearean theater as the playwright himself would have seen it--on a simple stage with the lights on and without the elaborate sets.

This new theater and its in-house troupe, Shenandoah Shakespeare, have certainly put Staunton on the map. Visitors sit on wooden benches, and lighting comes from wall sconces and period chandeliers. Dominating the room is a basic stage, crafted of white oak and ringed by balconies.

Shenandoah Shakespeare cofounder Ralph Cohen and his troupe of actors seek to rid audiences of "Shakesfear." An English professor at nearby James Madison University, he discovered years ago that few people truly enjoy the playwright's works.

"Most of us know the word 'Shakespeare' before we can read," Ralph muses. "We believe the language is too hard to understand. Every time we're confronted with Shakespeare, it's like taking an SAT test."

Nothing could be further from the truth, Ralph insists. When you strip away the elaborate costumes and gaudy sets, the stories become more accessible. "Shakespeare is for the ear, not for the eye," Ralph explains. "People in Shakespeare's time didn't walk around London talking like that. Playwrights were inventing words all the time. People went to the theater for the ear candy, for the new language."

Ralph's ultimate goal is to develop the Shenandoah Valley as a theater destination, and he believes small-town Staunton is the perfect vehicle for that lofty goal. The city has embraced the playhouse, and plans to build a replica of London's outdoor Globe Theater are already on the drawing board. If the town continues on this path, there will be much ado about Staunton for years to come. CASSANDRA M. VANHOOSER

Blackfriars Playhouse: 10 South Market Street, Staunton, VA 24401; (540) 885-5588 or www.shenandoahshakespeare.com.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Feb 2003
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