As the end of the year approaches all of us here at FST would like to take a moment to reflect on the last twelve months as well as give you a glimpse of the exciting year ahead. FST continues to advance its mission of providing high-quality Shakespearean and classic theatre productions, actively contributing to the Fairbanks arts community, deepening appreciation and expanding and diversifying the audience for Shakespeare and classical theatre in Interior Alaska, particularly among young people, encouraging and supporting young people in performing Shakespeare, and building the capacity of Alaskans to perform Shakespeare and classical theatre.
Our 2010/2011 season opened with the critically acclaimed production, Of Mice and Men, which was held over by popular demand for an additional weekend and was host to over 100 students at a special matinee. February brought us Bard-a-thon XII, our annual round-the-clock reading of Shakespeare’s plays, which drew over 200 students, was broadcast over the internet, and had call-in readers over speaker phones and Skype from around the country and across the globe. In March we produced an irreverent romp through the bard’s plays in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged. We hit the road in April with a state-wide school tour of Twelfth Night, as part of the NEA’s Shakespeare for a New Generation initiative bringing Shakespeare and free arts education to over 3,300 students. The touring company was an accomplished blend of local Fairbanks artists and returning guest artists.
Summer brought The Comedy of Errors and long time company member and professional set designer Kit Mayer’s fantastic set to Jack Townshend Point on the UAF campus. Once again this production was met with both popular and critical acclaim. We were able to continue our “Under 18 Free” policy for Thursday and Sunday performances and over 200 young people (including a group from Upward Bound) took advantage of the opportunity. The Groundlings and Fledglings Summer drama camps culminated in performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the original work Fledglings’ Dreams in the Empress Theatre. In addition to our own events, we were able to share the Empress Theater with others for an affordable rate (sometimes for free), further supporting the commercial and cultural life of downtown Fairbanks. Our brand-new, more comfortable and less squeaky seats (acquired second-hand from Regal Cinemas, and hauled to our theatre by volunteers) will make the Empress an even more attractive venue in the coming year.
Our 20th season of Shakespeare is well under way, opening with an extremely successful production of Macbeth. All local high schools brought students and several UAF classes attended one of the two student matinees or performances. Many teachers and students expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to supplement their Shakespeare curriculum with a live performance. We received a Helen Walker Performing Arts Touring Fund Grant to support Big Wild Comedy (a version of Anchorage Community Theatre’s production of Fourplay: Four Short Plays by Alaskans) for two public performances in November. We were proud to support original work by Alaskans, including Fairbanks playwright Tom Moran.
This year’s Bard-a-thon will be a celebration of the thirteen years we have been able to provide this event for the community and for the first time will be a fund raiser, giving our loyal Bard-a-thon supporters and local businesses a chance to show their support and become active sponsors of this beloved community event. Our spring production will be Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Rebecca Eddy. Spring Break Drama Camp will return in 2012, along with the Fledglings and Groundlings Summer Drama camps. Tom Robenolt has signed on as Education Coordinator and will be directing the student shows. Jack Townshend Point on the UAF campus will provide the venue for our 20th summer Shakespeare performance! This year’s production will be Henry IV, Part 1, directed by Graham Watts, who will be returning to Fairbanks to direct his ninth production for the company.
Even as we continue to diversify our funding through grants and partnerships, we rely heavily on donations from individuals and businesses in Fairbanks. I believe that all of us here in the Interior are incredibly lucky to have such a well-regarded theatre company (locally, nationally, and internationally acclaimed) in our midst. With the direction of a few talented company members and the participation of scores of community members every year, Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre continues to enrich the cultural life of Alaska. Times are hard right now for many people, and some cultural icons of the Fairbanks arts community have disappeared in the last few years. But Fairbanksans have also stepped up to donate generously to good causes even in the roughest economic times. I would like to ask you to take a minute and consider supporting Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre. There are many ways of showing your support, including sponsoring one of our new seats (recognized with your name printed on a plaque installed on the arm of a theatre seat) or sponsoring one of the plays for this year’s Bard-a-thon, or by becoming a “Friend of FST”. Any donation you make would not only recognize the great performances of the last twenty years, but would also help us continue to offer quality dramatic performances and theater education for the next twenty and beyond.
Happy New Year and I’ll see you at the theatre.
Gary Graves
Board President
Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre
