Acorn Productions’ Shakespeare Ensemble Continues Naked Shakespeare With WILL YOU BE MINE?

Acorn Productions' Shakespeare Ensemble, a group dedicated to encouraging audiences to re-experience Shakespeare's language and imagery, continues its Naked Shakespeare performances with "Will You Be Mine?" part of the monthly "Sonnet and Soliloquies" series. These performances will feature eight to ten company members performing short selections from Shakespeare's text at the Wine Bar at 38 Wharf St. in Portland's Old Port. Each selection is presented by the actors in a contemporary scenario that highlights the universal nature of Shakespeare's language. Actors will be mingled in and around the audience, delivering sonnets and soliloquies conversationally to one another and the audience in unexpected ways that will allow listeners to find new meaning in the text. The performance of "Will You Be Mine?" takes place on Monday, February 6th at 8 p.m. The show is free with an $8 suggested donation.

"Will You Be Mine?" features selections from some of Shakespeare's most beloved works, including the following plays: "All's Well That Ends Well," "As You Like It," "Julius Caesar," "A Midsummer's Night Dream," "Romeo and Juliet," and "The Merchant of Venice." The text will be brought to life by the 9 actors from the Acorn Shakespeare Ensemble: Karen Ball, Laura Graham, Michael Levine, Stephanie Ross, April Singley, Johnny Speckman, Nate Speckman. The evening is directed by Acorn's Producing Director Michael Levine.

Since 2004, Acorn has worked with an ensemble of actors to explore the work of William Shakespeare in a series of live performances entitled Naked Shakespeare, so named because the text of the world's greatest playwright is presented without the dressing of sets, lights and costumes. Over the past 7 years, Naked Shakespeare has presented full plays, scene nights, and collections of speeches at a variety of locations, including the St. Lawrence Arts Center, the Wine Bar on Wharf Street, Riverbank Park in Westbrook, the Portland Museum of Art, One Longfellow Square, SPACE Gallery, and most recently, Battery Steele on Peaks Island. For the 2011/12 season, Naked Shakespeare will focus on creating a series of themed-performances, to debut at the Wine Bar on the first Monday of the month and eventually tour to other locations in the area. The company's final presentation of the season will be a performance installation of "All's Well That Ends Well" at the Portland Company Complex in late June.

More information about Acorn Productions and Naked Shakespeare is available on-line at www.nakedshakespeare.org.

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