Notice: After the suspension of all participating productions in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we look forward to returning performances in 2021, beginning with Rob Conkie’s La Trobe University theatre company in Melbourne, Australia, from March 24-27, and Shakespeare in Yosemite’s production for Earth Day, April 22. Please follow our blog and social media for continuing activities, new production updates, and commentary.
Shakespeare's Cymbeline: EcoDramaturgy in Action
Cymbeline in the Anthropocene is an intercontinental network of nine site-specific productions of Shakespeare’s tragi-comic romance, Cymbeline. Each production will seek to uncover past and present ecological values in the play’s vibrant range of stories, emotions, and terrains, and to relate them creatively to local environmental conditions in the hope of opening audiences’ imaginations to new biocentric and biospheric horizons.
Project News
"The Plague's the Thing" Panel
In late January, three artist came together to discuss the state of theatre in a panel titled "The Plague's the Thing: Theatre Before, During, and After the Pandemic." Featuring playwright Colleen Murphy, poet Gary Geddes, and host Jerry Wasserman, the talk was hosted by the University of British Columbia's Green College, in the series "Medium to Extreme: Unlocking the Power of the Arts."
Imagining Cymbeline with Shakespeare Students at Loyola University New Orleans
In Fall 2020, Dr. Hillary Eklund taught a first-year seminar, “Shakespeare’s Worlds” for the Honors Program at Loyola University New Orleans @Loyola_NOLA. In this project-based course, students explored the various “worlds” in which Shakespeare lived and worked, as well as the scholarly and artistic contexts where we encounter his work today. For their final projects, students took creative approaches to making meaning with Shakespeare’s texts. Today, we are pleased to feature two of the final projects by Dr. Eklund's students: a visual rendering of Innogen as a woman king, and a playlist of songs corresponding to some of the central characters' defining moments.
Performance announcement: Cymbeline in Australia
Cymbeline in the Anthropocene is thrilled to announce the first series of performances from our collaborating theatres. The open-air, Australian Cymbeline is a co-production of La Trobe University Student Theatre & Film and director Rob Conkie, and will run in Melbourne between March 24-27th, 2021, as part of LaTrobe’s MOAT Festival.
Ricardo II: Episodes 7 & 8
Episodes 7 and 8 of Merced Shakespearefest's Ricardo II: A Bilingual Adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard II document the impetuous king's breakdown, leading to him reliquishing the throne to Henry Bolingbroke.
A Caged Bird's Song: An Avian Cymbeline
Amber Loper’s A Caged Bird’s Song: An Avian Adaptation of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline is a brilliant creation of the ecocritical and post-human imagination. Inspired by the play’s abundant bird imagery and Rebecca Ann Bach’s "Avian Shakespeare," Loper playfully reimagines Shakespeare’s original characters and conflicts from the viewpoint of birds in order to bring to life their hardships in the environmentally degraded conditions of 20th and 21st century California.
Theatre in Practice: Project Collaborators
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The Marjanishvili Theatre
The Marjanishvili Theatre (Tbilisi, Georgia) -
Stanislavsky Theater
Stanislavsky Theater (Karaganda, Kazakhstan) -
Lit Moon Theatre Company
Lit Moon Theatre Company (Santa Barbara, CA, USA) -
The Willow Globe
The Willow Globe (Powys, Wales) -
Montana Shakespeare in the Parks
Montana Shakespeare in the Parks (Bozeman, MT, USA) -
Shakespeare in Yosemite
Shakespeare in Yosemite (Yosemite National Park, CA, USA) -
Theatre Department, La Trobe University
Theatre Department, La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia) -
Setebos