Gamut Theatre Presents CLASSICS FEST

Gamut Theatre Group presents Classics Fest: Five shows, over five nights, for $5 tickets each. Classics Fest is a week-long festival of plays and staged readings that celebrate diversity and classic works.

Hosted by Gamut Theatre Group, Central PA's only professional theatre dedicated to telling classic stories in new and exciting ways, the festival features local playwrights and actors along with guest artists from around the country. The festival coincides with Gamut hosting the international Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA) Conference in Harrisburg, PA.

I Don't Speak Spanish, a staged reading at Gamut Theatre, kicks off Classics Fest on January 3 at 7:30 PM. This work by local playwright David Ramón Zayas follows a Mexican-American family line across the last 100 years and seeks to reframe that statement, "I don't speak Spanish," in the context of generations of struggle with assimilation, race, and class. It closely looks at three chokepoints--a dinner in 2019, a street fight in 1943, and an impossible choice in 1915--where the inherent duality of the family's Latina/o experience is forced to be contended with. All of the stories told in the play are based on true historical events. The research into those events began with Zayas looking into his own family history and subsequently conducting personal interviews with over 30 people about their own family's experiences with language, identity, and race.

On January 4 at 8:00 PM, Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender will play at Whitaker Center's Sunoco Theater. Internationally renowned actor Lisa Wolpe has arguably played more of the Bard's male roles than any woman in history. From cross-gender exploration to the unforgettable story of her life and the discovery of her Jewish heritage, Lisa triumphantly illustrates that Shakespeare's insight into the human condition is as relevant as ever. Finding celebration and solace in the words and enchanting power of Shakespeare, Wolpe explores the courageous, often tragic, always fascinating history of her troubled family-weaving in glorious passages from Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale, Twelfth Night, Richard III, and Romeo and Juliet.

Debra Ann Byrd joins the festival on January 6 at 8:00 PM with her production Becoming Othello: A Black Girl's Journey at Whitaker Center's Sunoco Theater. The show is a 90-minute, 5-Act, tour-de-force, living memoir about a young woman's trials and triumphs with race and the classics, her memorable experiences growing up in Spanish Harlem and her gender flipped journey on the road to becoming Shakespeare's noble, flawed general Othello. Complete with moving songs, and lyrical language from Black women playwrights, William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, Harriet Tubman, Toni Morrison and the King James Bible; the solo show is a personal, poignant and powerful story of perseverance, tragedy, triumph-and ultimately unconditional love.

On January 7, Classics Fest returns with a staged reading of a local author's work. Paul Hood's The African Company: The Mystery of the African Grove Theater presents at Gamut Theatre at 7:30 PM. The African Company tells the story of the legendary African Grove Theatre as told from Vaughn Jefferson, a young theater educator living in Harlem. After Vaughn and his longtime partner, Cameron Hodge, attend a revival of Othello, a frank observation by Cameron Sparks a heated conversation about the difference between black and white theater-goers, which leads Vaughn to recall elements of his MFA Thesis on race relations in regard to the history of theater. As Vaughn recounts findings from his research, the true story of how the legendary African Grove Theater succumbed to the perils of racism during the 1800's comes to life as the two learn about the cultural differences between white and black Theater Artists of the past and how their actions shaped theater today.

Ending the Festival is an original performance by the Olive Branch & Laurel Crown, the Veterans' Performance Ensemble at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. The Ensemble will present its newest production: And To Be A Soldier. The anthology tracks the collective experience of soldiers through the works of Shakespeare with acts focused on the precursors to war (Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida); battlefield conflicts (Henry IV, Cymbeline); alliances, betrayals, and desertions (Richard II, Henry V); the plight of prisoners of war (King Lear, Two Noble Kinsmen); and the adjustment back to civilian life (Richard III, Sonnets). This original production features the members of OB&LC: Christopher Bennett, Zachary Fellers, David Hanauer, Matthew Imholte, Sharon Preator, Gary Pullen, and Richard Wirth. There will be a post-show discussion with the actors following the performance.

Admission per show is $5 each. Shows at Gamut Theatre provide access to Peggy's Pub for drinks and refreshments during your visit. Please visit classicsfest.org for more information and to buy tickets, or call the box office at (717) 238-4111.

Face masks are required for all patrons at all Gamut Theatre performances. Please consult Gamut's Health & Safety Protocols before purchasing a ticket. For high-resolution publicity photos or to arrange interviews, please get in touch with Carolina Nicholson at pr.gamut@gmail.com.

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