After a holiday break in July, Cymbeline in the Anthropocene is back with a lively and insightful blog-interview with the designer of the visually striking and beautifully crafted props for the Montana Shakespeare in the Parks production of Cymbeline, currently on summer tour until early September.  

In today's blog, Denise Massman tells us about the spectacular costumes she deisgned for Montana Shakespeare in the Park's Cymbeline, currently on summer tour. Massman is a professional theatre designer who teaches at Siena College in upstate New York. Born and educated in Montana, she has been designing shows for MSIP for over 26 years.

While filming their Cymbeline film adaptation Imogen in the Wild, Shakespeare in Yosemite’s cast were interviewed by the company’s research assistant, Monica Perales. As we await the film’s debut in September, Cymbeline in the Anthropocene will be posting excerpts from Monica’s interviews, beginning with her conversation with Chase Brantley--and a video preview of his character in action. 

We are delighted to share some more photos, courtesy of Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez, from Montana Shakespeare in the Park's eye-popping Cymbeline! 

Cymbeline in the Anthropocene is thrilled to announce the second production this month by another of our project collaborators: Willow Globe Theatre Company. The Willow Globe (Y Glôb Byw) is a unique, living, scaled-down version of Shakespeare's Globe in London. Located in rural Wales near Llandridod, Powys, it is constructed entirely of willow trees and branches with a rough thrust stage at its heart.

We are excited to report that the Montana Shakespeare in the Parks production of Cymbeline is now in final rehearsals for their opening night show on Wednesday, 16 June, 2021.

This week’s blog features some brilliantly inventive engagement with our project website by Cornell University students. Under the course leadership of Professor Theo Black, Cornell’s PMA 3801 acting ensemble, joined by two additional guest artists, have created a daring beautiful, rollicking, and provocative postmodern adaptation entitled “Once Upon a Time in … The Anthropocene.”

In today’s blog, Sofia Andom chats to us about her journey into performing Imogen in Shakespeare in Yosemite’s feature-film Cymbeline adaptation, Imogen in the Wild.

This week we follow up our May 17 performance announcement for the opening of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks’s production of Cymbeline on 16 June with an interview with company dramaturge, Gretchen Minton. Read on for insights about the unique history of this amazing company, how they are coping with the challenges of performing in-person during the ongoing pandemic, and their bio-regional vision for the production.

After last week’s post examined “Performing Shakespeare in a Time of Ecological Crisis: A Global Roundtable Session,” the Cymbeline in the Anthropocene wanted to highlight one more session from the Shakespeare Association of America’s 49th annual conference, which took place at the beginning of April. Chaired by Kim Hall, “Shakespeare Futures: Ecology and Pre-Modern Critical Race Studies” eschewed a conventional panel structure to create an innovative, jointly-authored collaboration between four scholars. To echo the collaborative structure of this important presentation, Cymbeline in the Anthropocene’s discussion of it is presented as a conversation between project leader Randall Martin and graduate researcher Rebecca Salazar.