Wellesley College Presents WOMEN OF WILL, 10/15-16

The Boston-area premiere of Tina Packer's acclaimed performance of "Women of Will" is the centerpiece of Shakespearean Character on Trial, a two-day series of events that brings together some of the most recognized theater producers and academic authorities on Shakespeare. Sponsored by the Susan and Donald Newhouse Center for the Humanities at Wellesley College, it will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct.15-16. All events are free and open to the public.

Carey Perloff of The American Conservatory Theatre and Marjorie Garber of Harvard University kick off the debate over what "character" actually means Oct. 15. Following that discussion, Tina Packer presents her "Women of Will" performance, exploring Shakespeare's treatment of female characters, to the Boston area for one performance only.

Packer follows up the following morning alongside feminist scholar and theatre historian MerEdith Anne Skura of Rice University to discuss how Shakespeare's women developed over the course of his writing. NYC's The Public Theatre Artistic Director Oskar Eustice and JoAnne Akalaitis of Bard College compare notes on this elusive notion of character, followed by a hands-on workshop by Tiffany Stern of Oxford University, and Diego Arciniegas of Wellesley College and The Publick Theatre, Boston, on original rehearsal techniques and how to marry the historic with the contemporary.

What is a Character?

Keynote Lecture by Marjorie Garber, Harvard University, and Carey Perloff, American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco

Friday, Oct. 15 - 4:15 p.m. - Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall, Wellesley College

No aspect of the theater seems as simple and indispensable as the characters on stage, and yet the question of character has been subject to much revision, challenge and even hostility in both the theater and academia. The keynote lecture will address this issue as two of the leading figures from the worlds of theater and academia share the stage: Carey Perloff, artistic director of The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and Marjorie Garber, professor of English at Harvard University. In a prolific career defined by continual innovation, Perloff has directed award-winning productions around the world of contemporary plays as well as classics. Garber is the author of more than a dozen distinguished books on Shakespeare as well as contemporary culture, including "Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety and Shakespeare and Modern Culture."

"Women of Will": A Performance by Tina Packer, Founding Artistic Director, Shakespeare & Company

Friday, Oct.15 - 7:30 p.m. - Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall, Wellesley College

A true tour de force of performance with just a bit of crowd participation, "Women of Will" is the much-anticipated, masterful summation of Packer's 40-odd years of deep investigation into all things Shakespeare. The Oct. 15 performance at Wellesley will be the only Boston-area performance of this acclaimed night of theater exploring Shakespeare's heroines.

"Packer combines the performance of scenes with the discussion of themes to create a dazzling and illuminating piece of work," wrote Louise Kennedy in The Boston Globe of the work's performances at Shakespeare & Company (www.shakespeare.org) this past summer. "For anyone who cares about women, Shakespeare, or especially women in Shakespeare, it's not to be missed."

Packer and Shakespeare & Company favorite Nigel Gore, who have starred opposite each other in celebrated productions including "Antony and Cleopatra," "Hamlet" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," present a series of scenes from Shakespeare's canon, providing insight into the chronological growth of his portrayal not only of female characters but also of the qualities traditionally considered feminine. This comprehensive overview combines themes from the full, five-part opus, and covers the full breadth of Shakespeare's works.

Symposium on Theater Criticism and Practice

Saturday, Oct. 16 - 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. - Collins Cinema, Wellesley College

Through panels and a hands-on workshop, scholars and practitioners will continue to explore the construction of Shakespeare's characters. Panels will address playing Shakespeare's female roles on Contemporary Stages as well as alternative, innovative approaches that rethink how character is created. The workshop will give audience members the opportunity to experience playing roles the way Shakespeare's actors did - with only individual "parts" that demand spontaneous response and action. Participants in the symposium will include some of the most recognized and dynamic figures in their fields: Tina Packer (Shakespeare & Company), MerEdith Anne Skura (Rice University), Oskar Eustis (The Public Theater), JoAnne Akalaitis (director and professor of Theatre, Bard College), Tiffany Stern (Oxford University) and Diego Arciniegas (Boston Publick Theatre and Wellesley College).

Founded in 2003 by a generous gift from Susan Marley Newhouse '55 and Donald Newhouse, the Newhouse Center for the Humanities generates and supports innovative, world-class programming in the humanities and arts. The Newhouse Center's mission is to create a dynamic and cosmopolitan intellectual community that extends from Wellesley College to the greater Boston-area community and beyond. For more information, visit www.wellesley.edu/NCH/ or call 781-283-2698.

The Wellesley College arts curriculum and the highly acclaimed Davis Museum and Cultural Center are integral components of the college's liberal arts education. For decades, various departments and programs from across the campus have enlivened the community with world-class programming - classical and popular music, visual arts, theatre, dance, author readings, symposia, and lectures by some of today's leading artists and creative thinkers - most of which are free and open to the public.

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 75 countries.

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