Shakespeare on the media

Actor’s Shakespeare Project has a new home at the old Armory in Somerville, where they’ll be putting on Coriolanus and John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, the two less known of this season’s productions. They presented charmingly unadorned live previews from the coming season during their open house last week, along with showing off their new offices and performance space.

So while pundits and reporters were filling time an hour before the vice presidential debate, we were listening to Ben Evett speak these highly relevant words Shakespeare wrote 400 years ago for Caius Marcius before he becomes Coriolanus:

They’ll sit by the fire, and presume to know
What’s done i’ the Capitol; who’s like to rise,
Who thrives and who declines; side factions
and give out
Conjectural marriages; making parties strong
And feebling such as stand not in their liking
Below their cobbled shoes.

In addition to the plays, we love attending ASP’s Conversations panel discussions each season. The panelists provide fascinating background and perspectives for understanding the plays in their historical contexts and exploring the production choices, but the relevance of the plays to the modern world really speaks for itself.