Shakespeare’s works to light up stage of Lantern Theatre
CONWAY — It took William Shakespeare more than 20 years to write his 37 plays. It will take 90 minutes for three local actors to romp through The Bard’s repertoire in The Lantern Theatre and Conway Community Arts Association’s upcoming production, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by Adam Long, David Singer and Jess Winfield.
Under the direction of Shei la Hal l Dean, three Conway men — Shua Miller, A.J. Spiridigliozzi and Jeff Ward — will attempt to play every role in every Shakespeare play written.
“This is not serious Shakespeare,” Dean said with a laugh. “It’s a lot more fun. You’ll hear all the famous lines from all the plays.”
Dean is a 1992 graduate of Pea Ridge High School and a 1997 graduate of the University of Central Arkansas with a degree in theater. She is making her directorial “encore” with this production, having directed CCAA’s last production, Vincent.
“I’ve lived here and there and just recently got back into theater,” she said. She teaches eighth-grade social studies at Mayflower Middle School.
“We had to make a change in the schedule for our last show of the 2012 season,” said Dean, who attended UCA with both Miller and Ward. “Due to numerous scheduling conflicts, Hats! the Musical has been postponed until the 2013 season. This hilarious comedy will be presented in its place.”
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and again Nov. 16 and 17 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday and again Nov. 18 at The Lantern Theatre, 1021 Van Ronkle St. in Conway. Tickets are $12. Reservations are highly encouraged and can be made by calling (501) 733-6220 or emailing Con wayLanternTheatre@gmail.com.
Miller, whose first name is Joshua but now goes by Shua, is a 1992 graduate of Mena High School. He attended UCA in the early 1990s but did not graduate until 2008; his degree is in theater.
“I took about a 10-year break,” he said with a smile, adding that he studied alternately at UCA and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He is now assistant to the dean of the UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication.
“If you like Shakespeare, you’ll love this play,” he said. “And if you hate Shakespeare, you’ll still love this play.
“It’s abridged. There is just enough of Shakespeare in it to merit its Shakespeare title. You’ll get the jest of it.”
Miller said they go through “a lot of Shakespearean costume changes. They are very fast-paced.”
Miller said he met Spiridigliozzi in 2008 when both were acting with the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre.
“We both were in Sound of Music and Romeo and Juliet,” he said. “I’m glad he’s with us in this play.”
Spiridigliozzi is a native of Syracuse, N.Y. He attended State University of New York (SUNY) at Brockport, where he majored in arts for children and minored in theater. He moved to Conway in the early 2000s, making his first appearance with CCAA in its 2004 production of Social Security. He teaches drama and oral communications at Conway Junior High School.
“I’ve always wanted to do this play,” Spiridigliozzi said. “It’s a challenge, but a fun challenge. There are a lot of lines. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to do such script work. I’ve done a lot of improv since I moved to Conway.”
War d , a native of Morrilton and a 1991 graduate of Morrilton High School, graduated from UCA with a degree in theater in 1997. Following graduation, he appeared in several productions in the central Arkansas area before moving to Chicago in 1999, where he acted with Second City Improv. He recently moved back to Conway and is now a sales representative and writes commercials for Cumulus Media in Little Rock. He does community theater when he can.
Ward calls the play “challenging.”
“There are a lot of words and a lot of movement,” he said. “It’s challenging, but I’m loving it. It’s great to work with some of my old friends.”
Dean said the play would be presented in two acts. “It is, at most, PG-13,” she said. “After all, it is Shakespeare, and his plays were sometimes bawdy. It is such a fun play.”