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Unknown: Hello, and welcome to the Poetry Show. Morton Marcus will be joining us at any moment now. And I noticed that I'm talking into the wrong end of the microphone, so maybe you're having a bit of a difficult time hearing us. And here we go with

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our Poetry Show. I hope you enjoy the show this evening. Thank you very much. Mike Ryan: All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and

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one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, mewling and puking in his nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shiny morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to

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school. And then the lover, sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, seeking the

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bubble reputation even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, in fair round belly with good capon lined, with eyes severe and beard of formal cut, full of wise saws and modern instances. And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts into

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the lean and slippered pantaloon, with spectacles on nose and pouch on side. His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide for his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, turning again towards childish treble, pipes and whistles in

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his sound. Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, is second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. Morton Marcus: That was Michael Ryan, from Shakespeare Santa

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Cruz reading from, "As You Like It," on this special Poetry Show on Shakespeare's birthday. Mike, welcome to the Poetry Show. Mike Ryan: Thank you.

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Morton Marcus: And we're going to celebrate the bard's birthday today, which is April 23rd, by having you talk with us about Shakespeare Santa Cruz, the plays you're going to do. And we also have Sara Wilbourne, who is one of the administrators, is

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that what I should call you? Of Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Sara Wilbourne: I am the administrative coordinator. Morton Marcus: The administrative coordinator and who I know, and I hope many of you out there know, as really a

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superb choreographer and dancer. But tonight, we're talking about her other hat. Sara Wilbourne: That's right, I have my Shakespeare hat on. Morton Marcus: Right. I thought what we'd do tonight is do

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something a little off. Shakespeare, we think started as an actor, and then went on to playwriting, probably did both at the same time. And I thought we'd ask Michael, for the young listeners out there who may still be listening after the

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high school program, about acting and what the life of an actor is. And first of all, I know that you're teaching workshops about Shakespeare in area schools. How, first of all, how do you introduce Shakespeare to young people?

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Mike Ryan: I think the biggest thing is getting them over their fear of Shakespeare, he seems so old to them and so distant. So the first thing that I try and do is introduce him as a playwright whose language is four hundred years younger than

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our language today, people tend to think of his language as being older, but in fact, it is a younger language, and talking about, you know, the themes that he was writing about, which are very relevant to teenage lives, I mean, as witnessed by, "Romeo

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and Juliet," or anything else. I use a lot of, "Romeo and Juliet," actually, when I do teach the workshops. I talk to them a bit about the poetry, how it works, iambic pentameter, I use a monologue of Romeo's to really get them to learn

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scansion and learn how to beat out the poetry. And we talk a little bit about how he's stalking Juliet in that moment, hiding out in her garden in the middle of the night, staring at her window, so they get a kick out of that. And I think that

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starts to break down the walls of it being quite so staid. Sara Wilbourne: And I've also seen Mike in action in the classroom, and he developed this great interactive way last year when he was teaching, "Winter's Tale," because that was our

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Shakespeare to Go production. And he was, instead of just telling them the plot, he was doing this interact- I mean, I'm not even sure how you did it. It was like magic. He was like pulling the plot out of them somehow, and so therefore, they

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were engaged in what the story was because they were kind of coming up with the plot. Morton Marcus: Great. Sara Wilbourne: It was great.

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Morton Marcus: You know, you said that it's not an old language, but a young language. Could you tell the people out there what you meant by that? Mike Ryan: I just mean, I think it's not as lazy as our language

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is today. It is more acrobatic, it is more exciting and dynamic. The thoughts are longer and have a great deal more energy to them, than the way we speak today. We tend to speak now in very short sentences, very quick phrases that always kind of go

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down at the end. Shakespeare's language isn't like that. There's a youthful quality to it, a real springy, long lasting, acrobatic quality to it. Morton Marcus: And it actually was a younger language because

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it was actually forming at the time, you know, and so in many ways, yes, it was a younger language. We're now being joined by at Elise Youssef. Good evening, Elise. She's just coming from rehearsal, and so we're now joined by Mike Ryan,

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who is one of the premier actors, Elise Youssef, who actually is a young actor who has stardom in her future. Elise Youssef: [Laughs] Morton Marcus: And a great laugh. So, let's go to you since

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I've already made an introduction. Why were you drawn to Shakespeare as a young actor? Were sort of talking to young people tonight. Elise Youssef: Well, you know, I really actually got into it when

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I came to college here when I realized that we had Shakespeare Santa Cruz right around, within our midst, within the Theater Arts department. I read it a lot in high school, you know, in our English lit classes. And I hadn't really ever thought about

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really performing it until I got here and met Mike Ryan and Paul Whitworth and kind of just, I think, especially when I took Mike Ryan's acting studio, what was that, my sophomore year? And did the internship my- the summer between my junior and-

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no, no, no, sophomore and junior year. So, it wasn't really until then that I really found that love for it. And I think it's just beautiful, and it's very challenging, and it always surprises me, so, I appreciate it.

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Great. You toured with Shakespeare to Go last year. Yes. What was that like? And first, tell us what Shakespeare to Go is.

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It's- we do this, it's a fifty minute adaptation of one of the shows that they do in the following- the next season during the summer. So, they did, "Winter's Tale," what was it? "Twelfth Night," and then, "Engaged." And so we decided,

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they decided to do the, "Winter's Tale." And we cut the play, which was originally three hours, which is usually performed in three hours, to fifty minutes, and perform it for schools, I would say in between San Jose and Monterey

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now? And we'd get up, you know, really early in the morning and get to, you know, a class period at eight in the morning sometimes in Monterey or San Jose and perform our show for fifty minutes. And then do, you know, a short talk-back with the

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kids who came and saw the show. Morton Marcus: You know, what both Michael and now you were talking about- I keep calling you Michael, you want to be called Mike, but I guess you impressed me as a Michael.

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[Crosstalk] But what I always like to talk about on the show is the work that goes into being an artist, whether it be a performing artist or a non-performing artist. And you started off

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virtually sweeping the floors because you were an intern. Elise Youssef: Yes, I did, bottom of the totem pole, as they say. Yep, paying your dues and, you know, you work crew, or you know, ideally costume and set movers within the play, but

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it's, you know, it's really great to be part of a professional company, and to be surrounded by people who work professionally and, you know, have been in the business for a long time and, you know, see their process and what they go

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through, and, you know, how they got to be where they are now. And I just I think it's really informative as a young actor to be surrounded by such talented, you know, intelligent, theatre-savvy people.

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Morton Marcus: And that leads right into another question for Michael, what do you do, let's say, that Elise would see you doing in preparation on a typical day, or a typical preparation for a Shakespeare play on a typical day?

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Mike Ryan: Well, a typical day at Shakespeare Santa Cruz for an actor is a very long day. It usually starts around noon, actually what sounds like it's getting off to a pretty leisurely start. But in fact, you're rehearsing two plays at a

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time. And so generally, you'll rehearse one play from about noon to about four o'clock and then you'll have a break for dinner. And then, generally around five thirty, you'll return for another four hours to rehearse the second play until

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about nine thirty. So you're memorizing lines for two plays at the same time, and you're bouncing back and forth often from a comedy to a tragedy, which can make you a little schizophrenic. And sometimes your tragic rehearsals are a

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little light, and sometimes your rehearsals for comedy can be a little down in the doldrums because you've just come from your, you know, tragedy rehearsal. You memorize lines, you beat out the poetry, you work physically learning how to,

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you know, embody a character. You have to do a lot of work on your voice because the Shakespeare plays are primarily performed out in the Glen, which is a huge outdoor space, and you have to have a lot of breath support and articulation in

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order to be heard in the back of the audience out there, to compete with nature and passing cars. Morton Marcus: Let me interrupt you for a second. Are the plays as much fun for the actors to do in the Glen as it is for the

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spectators who come and see the plays? Elise Youssef: I would say most definitely. Just you know, because as an intern, sometimes you're not in all three of the shows that are performed in one season, so you can go and see

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the shows. And it's- I mean, the laughter and the happiness, and people come with, you know, their wine and their cheese and their bread and they're there for two hours just seeing theater out in the beautiful redwoods with really talented

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people performing Shakespeare. I mean, it can't get much better than that. Morton Marcus: Well, you know, and I agree with you one hundred percent. And anyone who has not gone to the Glen really should

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plan to do it this summer. And in fact, that seems to be a perfect segue as to what's going on this summer at Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Sara? Sara Wilbourne: Well, we're doing, "King Lear," we're doing,

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"As You Like It," and we're doing, "Pygmalion." And, "Pygmalion," will be indoors in the Main Stage- Morton Marcus: That's by George Bernard Shakespeare? Sara Wilbourne: George Bernard Shaw, who's having his - George

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Bernard Shakespeare, yes - who's having his 150th birthday, Paul pointed out today on the day of the first preview of, "Pygmalion," is actually Mr. Shaw's 150th. So, the two Shakespeare plays are in the Glen and to go back to your

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earlier question, though, I would say for some actors, being in the Glen, it can be a little brittle out there. Mike Ryan: It can, I mean, it's always hugely fun. I mean, Elise is right. It's always a great time. The wonderful thing about

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acting is that everyone is there because they want to be there. Nobody goes into it out of a sense of obligation or certainly not for the riches. Sara Wilbourne: This is what your mother really wanted you to

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do. Mike Ryan: That's right. Everyone's there because they really, really want to be, so that tends to foster a great sense of fun but the Glen can be brutal. There are mosquitoes-

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Elise Youssef: Very cold at night. Mike Ryan: My first year here in 1997, we had a skunk infestation in the Glen and the actors had to walk on eggshells back and forth between the dressing rooms and the backstage not to get

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sprayed. And in fact, a woman did get sprayed, a young intern who was playing a shepherdess in, "As You Like It," made a quick exit off the stage and startled the skunk and got promptly sprayed. And-

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Elise Youssef: Wow. Mike Ryan: It was traumatized for the rest of the summer. Sara Wilbourne: And you know, also sometimes I don't know if you saw, for example, "She Stoops to Conquer," I mean, Beth

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Millis, who was the director, she had those actors running up and down the pathways. I mean, frequently, the directors will use the Glen, you know, not just the stage. And I remember Dan Parker running and Margaret Skank, like chasing him up and

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down these, you know, redwood-duff filled pathways, and, you know, and then you run, and then you have to say your lines. It's a challenge. It's not for everyone. Morton Marcus: But all of these things really should make people

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who have not seen this, or even have seen it, you know, just continue to attend what really is a marvelous innovation in Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Sara Wilbourne: And I think also another reason to come to the

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Glen is the sets. Mike Ryan: Yeah. Elise Youssef: Unbelievable. Sara Wilbourne: The sets are incredible. We have Dipu(?)

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Gupta coming back this year. He designed the incredible, "Midsummer Night's Dream," set we had about four, five years ago. Mike Ryan: Five years ago.

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Sara Wilbourne: With the big redwood tree that fell onto the stage. He also designed, "Arms and the Man," if anybody remembers that. Mike Ryan: The great thing about the sets outside is that the

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stage has to be completely taken down every year. So, while that's inconvenient in a way, the really great thing about it is that the stage gets to be built for just those productions every summer so you get a stage that is completely designed for

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those plays, the way those directors envisioned them, rather than the directors having to adapt their ideas to an existing platform. Morton Marcus: It's great, great. Let's read some more.

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Elise, I see that you brought a book. Is that, "As You Like It," too? Elise Youssef: It is, yes. Morton Marcus: Would you like to do, both of you, I don't want to

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put you on the spot, would you like to do a dialogue? Elise Youssef: Sure, sure. Mike Ryan: Absolutely. Is there anything in particular you're interested in hearing?

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Morton Marcus: Believe it or not, I will admit this to this huge audience of 400,000, [laughter] which includes my mother in law, and I will allow you to choose it. Mike Ryan: Alright.

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Elise Youssef: Go ahead, Mike. Mike Ryan: What do you think? Let's do a little Rosalind and Orlando. Elise Youssef: Sure.

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Sara Wilbourne: Do you want to just say who those character are? Mike Ryan: Sure. In the play, "As You Like It," Rosalind is the daughter of a duke who has been banished to the forest.

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She's been living with her uncle and her cousin in the court, and then she herself gets kicked out by her very paranoid uncle into the forest. And in order to travel safely, she disguises herself as a man. Before she's left for the forest disguised as

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a man, however, she's fallen in love with this fellow, Orlando, who in his own turn is banished to the forest, in a sense, because his brother is trying to kill him at home. So, they meet each other again in the forest, only Orlando thinks that

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Rosalind is in fact a boy named Ganymede and this is their first meeting. Morton Marcus: Action, microphone, roll them. Elise Youssef: Do you hear, forester?

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Mike Ryan: Very well, what would you? Elise Youssef: I pray you, what is 't o'clock? Mike Ryan: You should ask me what time o' day. There's no clock in the forest.

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Elise Youssef: Then there is no true lover in the forest, else sighing every minute and groaning every hour would detect the lazy foot of time as well as a clock. Mike Ryan: And why not the swift foot of time? Had not that been

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as proper? Elise Youssef: By no means, sir. Time travels in diverse paces with diverse persons. I'll tell you who time ambles withal, who time trots withal, who time gallops withal and who he stands

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still withal. Mike Ryan: I prithee, who doth he trot withal? Elise Youssef: Marry, he trots hard with a young maid between the contract of her marriage and the day it is solemnized. If the

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interim be but a se'nnight, time's paste is so hard that it seems the length of seven year. Mike Ryan: Who ambles time withal? Elise Youssef: With a priest that lacks Latin and a rich man

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that hath not the gout, for the one sleeps easily because he cannot study any other lives merrily because he feels no pain, the one lacking the burden of lean and the wasteful learning, the other knowing no burden of heavy tedious penury.

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These time ambles withal. Mike Ryan: Who doth he gallop withal? Elise Youssef: With a thief to the gallows, for though he go as softly as foot can fall, he thinks himself too soon there.

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Mike Ryan: Who stays it still withal? Elise Youssef: With lawyers in the vacation, for they sleep between term and term, and then they perceive not how time moves.

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Morton Marcus: That's great, terrific. A wonderful comedy and that will be on the books for this summer. And Mike, you'll be acting in it? Mike Ryan: Absolutely.

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Morton Marcus: And Elise, you'll be acting in it? Elise Youssef: No, no, I don't think so. Not this time. Morton Marcus: You just ran here from rehearsal, I know that. What were you rehearsing?

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Elise Youssef: I am in a show called, "Election Day," which is written by one of the professors at UC Santa Cruz. His name is Jim Bierman and directed by Danny Scheie. We are actually in our tech rehearsal, which means we've been in the theater all

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day, so I have to head back there after this. Morton Marcus: There's that work, which we've been talking about. When is the play going to be performed? So people out there know.

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Elise Youssef: The play I'm in right now? We actually open this Friday, April 28th and we run till the beginning of May, the first weekend in May is our closing. Morton Marcus: Okay-

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Elise Youssef: Just two weekends. Morton Marcus: Right, and where will it be performed? Elise Youssef: It's up at the Theater Arts. It's right near Main Stage in the Experimental Theater. It's right up the

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stairs off the ticket booth. So, if you just go to the ticket booth, they can direct you. Morton Marcus: Great, and the name of the play is? Elise Youssef: "Election Day."

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Morton Marcus: "Election Day," out there. If you would like to see Elise Youssef performing in a non-Shakespeare play, please give- the arts in Santa Cruz are just so important. They're so vital, but they need audiences. And-

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Sara Wilbourne: I will say that box office phone number is 549-2159. Morton Marcus: And they're open all day? Sara Wilbourne: They're open noon to four, Tuesday through

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Saturday, I believe. Morton Marcus: Great, great. Okay, I am going to read a Shakespeare sonnet. Yes, it's about time that I put my nose into this. One of my favorites because it works so beautifully

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as a Shakespeare sonnet is, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" And it just works, as I say, the speaker really is talking to the lover and just saying how can I tell you how beautiful you are? Actually, there is nothing that

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I can compare you to because you are beyond comparison. So, this is Shakespeare's 18th sonnet: SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO A SUMMER'S DAY? Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more

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lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his golden complexion dimmed. And every fair from fair sometimes

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declines, by chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st. Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, when in eternal lines to time thou grow'st. So long as

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men can breathe, or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee. And of course that is about poetry and poetry will make things live forever. And I think it is very fitting that I read

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this- Sara Wilbourne: Well, it is called the Poetry Show. Morton Marcus: Exactly. The way Sara picks these things up, we are a great duo. More questions: when you go to a play, both of

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you answer this, I know that when I go to a poetry reading, for example, or I'm a film critic, as you may know, and when I go to a film, people ask me, what do I look for, you know? Can I just go and sit there and enjoy the film? And

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the answer is unfortunately, no, nor can I enjoy the poetry reading because I've got different eyes that are looking at things. And as actors now, when you go to a play or even go to a film, what do you look for? What will make you say this is a

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stellar performance? Mike Ryan: I have to say, actually, the thing that makes me believe a performance is stellar is when I forget that I'm watching a performance. For me, as an actor, like you say,

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you tend to watch things with a critical eye and you see what the actors are doing and how they've been staged and the way the scenic elements are moving and doing things, and you just have a unique perspective on those things. But if you forget

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in the audience about those things, then you know the actors are doing their job and you've been pulled into the story. And it doesn't happen very often. Elise Youssef: Yeah, it's hard. I would definitely agree with

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that, you know, being a part of the world and losing sight of the fact that you are sitting in the Glen, and it's really, really cold and you've just had a bottle of wine. You know, when you're a part of, "Twelfth Night," or you're a part of the,

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"Winter's Tale," I think it's so magical to know, even when I was a child, I remember just being awestruck by, you know, how easy it was for me to just fall into everybody's life and what was going on there. It was a pleasant escape, I think.

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Sara Wilbourne: Which, you know, really, I think one of the forte's of Shakespeare Santa Cruz is Paul Whitworth's ability to assemble these incredible artistic teams. He goes out and scours the countryside for actors and we reap the benefits

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of that. Morton Marcus: When you say he goes out to the countryside, does he sort of attends different performances, or-? Sara Wilbourne: Well, he does that, but he also goes on an

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audition tour every year, and spends a good bit of time in San Francisco auditioning people. And we do have a local audition, but he also goes to LA, goes to New York and spends a lot of time scouring New York. This year, he went to Washington,

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D.C. Morton Marcus: Okay, let's say Paul arrives in Washington, D.C., is there a scheduled audition for him, or does he go along to auditions that are already-?

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Sara Wilbourne: Oh, no, no, we've set things up well ahead of time. Morton Marcus: And this is specifically for Shakespeare Well, why don't you tell us a little more about what's going

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Santa Cruz? Sara Wilbourne: That's right, yeah. That's right. And, yo know, I don't know, he sometim s says he sees like, as many s eight hundred people a year o choose a company of twenty-fiv

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. And I think for me, the gre t reward is, it is all about t e actors. And some of t e incredible people that have be n here. I mean, to be able to ha e people the caliber of Roberts n Dean, who was here a coup e years ago during the yea

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, actually, Elise was an intern To have him doing Petruchio in two plays, "The Taming of th Shrew," and then the compani n piece, "The Tamer Tamed," w ich Mike was also part of, so you guys have special memories. And the, you know, formidabl

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Blaire Chandler playing Kate an Maria. I mean, just being in th same space is wonderful wit these people, it is a rar and amazing t to happen this summer as we finish the first half hour of

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the show? Okay. Well, I know, here's some things I know: we have three new directors. I don't know, Mike, you can feel free to chime in. Aaron Posner, who's coming-

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Mike Ryan: Posner. Sara Wilbourne: Is coming to us from Philadelphia, and he's going to be directing, "As You Like It." And you know, most of these people have a home base, but they also direct all over

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the country and he's no exception. Skip Greer will be directing, "King Lear," and I was very happy to hear that Skip Greer was coming because he is a great friend of Tim Osell(?), who in my personal opinion is a total genius. And I'm always

00:28:29.800 - 00:28:45.400

happy when Tim is coming, and since Tim is not coming, we have Skip, so that sounds really good to me. His home base is- he's an Artist in Residence and Director of Education at the Geva Theatre in New York, and of course also works nationally. And then for,

00:28:45.430 - 00:29:01.480

"Pygmalion," we have Randy White, who is Canadian and founded a theatre in New Brunswick, Canada, and also, you know, has served as assistant director for, "The Lion King," and associate with Tony Taccone on, "Continental Divide," you

00:29:01.480 - 00:29:16.330

know, again, great national credits to all of these people. So, I think it's very exciting that we have three new directors and Paul has carefully chosen, so we're looking forward. Morton Marcus: Thanks great. Well, he took a rest for a few

00:29:16.330 - 00:29:22.130

years, didn't he? Paul? Sara Wilbourne: He had a sabbatical for a couple years but he's been back now. Morton Marcus: Roared back.

00:29:22.130 - 00:29:35.510

Sara Wilbourne: He's roared back. Morton Marcus: Good, good. Well, we are going to go to a musical break and then we will be back and for you people out there, we are talking to Elise Youssef, Mike Ryan, and Sara Wilbourne of

00:29:35.510 - 00:33:47.720

Shakespeare Santa Cruz on this day, April 23rd, which marks the Bard, the great William Shakespeare's birthday. We will return after this musical break. Unknown: Through our on air pledge drives are an essential

00:33:47.720 - 00:34:01.880

part of our yearly revenue. In fact, over fifty percent of our support comes from listener contributors like you. If you weren't able to contribute during the drive, you can still do so on our secure website, KUSP.org. Thank you, we

00:34:01.880 - 00:34:16.560

appreciate your support. Mike Ryan: And this is the Poetry Show and today we are celebrating Shakespeare's birthday, 23rd of April, and we have three members of Shakespeare Santa Cruz with us.

00:34:16.980 - 00:34:34.230

But before we get back to the show, I would like to make one announcement: this Tuesday at 7:30 at the Bookshop Santa Cruz, Willis Barnstone and his son Tony Barnstone will be reading poetry. And you may have heard Willis Barnstone before. He is a

00:34:35.340 - 00:34:49.350

special professor, he's got a special designation at the University of Indiana, but he is one of the great translators, as well as poets into English. And last year, he came out with his translation of the New Testament. And now everyone's

00:34:49.350 - 00:35:04.560

going around and asking him about this new Judas manuscript that has been found. So, come on Tuesday. I'm sure he's going to be talking about it. I think you will be very surprised at some of the things he says. I have been reading Willis Barnstone's

00:35:04.590 - 00:35:23.280

translations for thirty-five, forty years. They are really amazing, especially the ones from Spanish. A very, very learned, a wonderful translator and poet. He also knew Jorge Luis Borges, and has written a whole book, "An Evening in

00:35:23.280 - 00:35:39.390

Buenos Aires," with Jorge Luis Borges, which he may well talk about also. His son Tony is amazing. I knew him as a student, believe it or not when he was a student at UC, and he went to UC with his sister Aliki. I don't- did you know

00:35:39.390 - 00:35:57.240

them at all when they were here? Amazing kids, one of those amazing families. And Willis went over to China. Tony went over with him to learn Chinese, and translated scads of contemporary Chinese poets. So, it should be an amazing evening

00:35:58.470 - 00:36:12.420

and I look forward to seeing you, in fact, I may be introducing Tony that night. Sara, can you tell us a little bit about how people can find out more about what's going on at Shakespeare Santa Cruz?

00:36:12.450 - 00:36:27.360

Sara Wilbourne: Absolutely. What's happening right now is our website is now live for people to go online and subscribe to the season. And being a subscriber means that you are going to come to all three plays and have the full

00:36:27.360 - 00:36:43.230

festival experience, which I really, truly recommend. We are a repertory company and that means that the Shakespeare Company, for example, Mike will be playing two roles this summer in the two Shakespeare plays. You're playing:

00:36:43.810 - 00:36:56.470

Mike Ryan: Oliver in "As You Like It," and Kent in "Lear." Morton Marcus: You know, and let me interrupt you, one of the joys of going is to suddenly sit there in another play when you've seen the first play, that was the guy who did

00:36:56.470 - 00:37:11.890

[unintelligible] [cross talk] I don't believe it! Sara Wilbourne: Some of the repertory casting is really, again, Paul's genius with casting really can be illuminating, you know, in other ways for the audience. I also

00:37:11.890 - 00:37:23.500

think that our prices for season subscriptions are really incredibly reasonable. So I want to, you know, encourage people to take a look at that. Mike Ryan: You end up saving something like 18% I think on

00:37:23.500 - 00:37:36.280

your ticket prices, if you get a subscription. Sara Wilbourne: Go for the gusto. And so right now, like most theatre companies, we do our ticket sales kind of in a tiered way. So right now people who are donors, and you can

00:37:36.850 - 00:37:54.190

become a donor at any moment you choose, are subscribing, and you can call the box office, you can fax, you can mental telepathy- no, that doesn't work. You can go online and do those subscriptions. And then very, very soon, the subscriptions

00:37:54.190 - 00:38:08.920

will be open to anyone whether you're a donor or not, and then single ticket sales will start to happen at the end of May. And our website is Shakespeare Santa Cruz, all one word, dot O-R-G. Morton Marcus: That's easy to memorize. Let me see, I'm going

00:38:08.920 - 00:38:21.010

to do it right now. ShakepeareSantaCruz.org. Sara Wilbourne: That's it. Morton Marcus: The O-R-G, okay. Anyone out there can do it, right? Take a look at the website, see what's open to you,

00:38:21.010 - 00:38:27.340

or call what number? Sara Wilbourne: You can call me, actually, I'm happy to talk to anybody. Morton Marcus: And your number is?

00:38:27.340 - 00:38:38.200

Sara Wilbourne: I'm easy. 459-5810 Morton Marcus: 5810, 459-5810. Sara Wilbourne: Yeah, especially if you've never dipped your toe into the Shakespeare waters, and you might have some concerns or

00:38:38.200 - 00:38:46.680

questions, I'm really happy to talk you through the whole thing. Morton Marcus: Great. Morton Marcus: Great. We now have our two actors from

00:38:42.340 - 00:38:55.860

Sara Wilbourne: It's easy. Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Mike Ryan, and when I say he's an actor of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, how, what does this mark with the season coming up? How long have you been there?

00:38:56.460 - 00:39:10.770

Mike Ryan: I first came here in 1997 and I was here the summer of '97, '98, '99, 2001, 2004, and 2005. So, this will be my seventh season with Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Morton Marcus: That's great, it's terrific. Are you living in

00:39:10.770 - 00:39:14.970

Santa Cruz? Mike Ryan: I do. I moved here three years ago from New York City. Morton Marcus: Great. Well, you're one of the people who

00:39:14.970 - 00:39:29.250

could do that. Mike Ryan: Absolutely. I love it here, it's an incredible place. Morton Marcus: And we also have Elise Youssef who is a budding star. What will you be performing this summer?

00:39:30.740 - 00:39:44.660

Elise Youssef: I'm actually not going to be here this summer. But I was, last summer, I was Maggie in, "Engaged," by W.S. Gilbert and the summer before, I was an intern in, "The Tamer Tamed," and, "Taming of the Shrew," and I've done Shakes to

00:39:44.660 - 00:39:56.450

Go. So if, and I do all the pan- I've done three of the four pantomimes which happened in the fall, and I'm graduating in the spring. Sara Wilbourne: Yeah, and June was the fairy godmother in

00:39:56.450 - 00:39:59.780

Cinderella. Elise Youssef: Yes. Morton Marcus: Oh. Sara Wilbourne: A younger, younger audience.

00:40:01.820 - 00:40:14.900

Mike Ryan: You hear that out there? You're supposed to be in bed right now. Well, we're gonna have a real treat now because maybe you won't be here in the summer but right now we're going to get a chance to hear both you and Mike read from, "As You Like

00:40:14.900 - 00:40:27.990

It," and why don't either one of you introduce what you're going to be doing? Well, we're going to read a little bit of Silvius and Phoebe, who are the pastoral elements of this play. Silvius

00:40:27.990 - 00:40:43.440

and Phoebe are shepherds, they live in the forest of Arden. And Silvius has, one gets the impression, been after Phoebe for quite a long time and is very, very devoted and in love with her, and she wants very little to do with him. And this

00:40:43.440 - 00:40:58.590

is the scene where they are introduced into the play: Sweet Phoebe, do not scorn me. Do not, Phoebe, say that you love me not, but say not so in bitterness. The common executioner, whose heart th' accustomed sight of death makes

00:40:58.590 - 00:41:10.780

hard, falls not the axe upon the humbled neck but first begs pardon. Will you sterner be than he that dies and lives by bloody drops? Elise Youssef: I would not be thy executioner. I fly thee, for

00:41:10.780 - 00:41:24.640

I would not injure thee. Thou tell'st me there was murder in mine eye. 'Tis pretty, sure, and very probable that eyes, that are the frail'st and softest things, who shut their coward gates on atomies, should be called tyrants, butchers,

00:41:24.730 - 00:41:40.840

murderers. Now I do frown on thee with all my heart, and if mine eyes can wound, now let them kill thee, now counterfeit to swoon, why, now fall down; or if thou canst not, oh, for shame, for shame, lie not, to say mine eyes are murderers. Now

00:41:40.840 - 00:41:53.620

show the wound mine eye hath made in thee, scratch thee but with a pin, and there remains some scar of it. Lean upon a rush, the cicatrice and capable impressure thy palm some moment keeps. But now mine eyes, which I have darted at thee, hurt thee

00:41:53.620 - 00:42:07.540

not. Nor, I am sure, there is no force in eyes that can do hurt. Mike Ryan: Oh dear Phoebe, if ever, as that ever may be near, you meet in some fresh cheek the power of fancy, then shall you know the wounds invisible that love's keen arrows make.

00:42:07.540 - 00:42:20.720

Elise Youssef: But till that time come come not thou near me. And when that time comes, afflict me with thy mocks, pity me not, as till that time I shall not pity thee. Morton Marcus: It's great, it's just so great to hear that

00:42:20.720 - 00:42:39.230

language for a poet, especially an English language poet, though people from all other languages, you know, are so devoted to Shakespeare. But for an English speaking poet, to hear that language just bloom and blossom and float on the wind and

00:42:39.380 - 00:42:56.990

suddenly be picked up by hurricanes, it really once more sets the goal for all of us, which is far too high to attain but really lets us know what this language can do and has done in the past. And it's great to hear to actors with all the

00:42:57.020 - 00:43:12.740

joie de vivre, pardon for speaking French, it doesn't make sense at all, just really make it come alive as all the actors I've ever heard in Shakespeare Santa Cruz really do. And there is, you know, a youthfulness. You talk about how old Paul

00:43:12.740 - 00:43:26.810

gets, but he gets a youthfulness, you know, a youthful energy, the actors are not tired, you know, and they just seem to be so happy. They're in the bloom of, they're discovering their acting abilities and growing, and it

00:43:26.810 - 00:43:43.820

really comes through in Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Sara Wilbourne: You know, oddly enough, I think that one reason or excuse people might have for not coming to classical theater sometimes is the language, oddly enough. We're talking about how

00:43:43.820 - 00:44:00.010

wonderful it is, but I think sometimes that's a barrier for people. They're afraid they're not going to understand it. Mike Ryan: And well, with what you've just heard out there is an example of this. In the mouth of an actor who really

00:44:00.010 - 00:44:14.650

understands the words and is alive, suddenly you say, was that the stuff I read in high school? Because obviously, this I can understand, everything that's going on. And the laughter in the Glen that happens all the time, I mean

00:44:14.650 - 00:44:23.850

people are getting the jokes. They have to be understanding language. That's a terrible disservice actually, that Shakespeare's so often read in schools. It was never meant to be read off

00:44:23.760 - 00:44:34.310

Morton Marcus: Plays are meant t be performed. Mike Ryan: Yes, that's exactly right. Sara Wilbourne: And you know, I will say, this summer we have one actor who, in particular, a lot of people are very

00:44:34.310 - 00:44:50.360

interested in seeing, his name is Dan Donahue. And I understand he's done a lot of work at Ashland. And he, actually right now, even as we speak, he's playing Scar in the national touring company of The Lion King. And he's taking twelve

00:44:50.360 - 00:45:03.790

weeks off of playing Scar to come to Shakespeare Santa Cruz, so what can I say? Mike Ryan: He'll be playing Jaques in, "As You Like It," and Edgar, no, Edmond in "Lear."

00:45:04.040 - 00:45:20.890

Sara Wilbourne: And I understand the thing about him is that his ability to speak that language so that everyone truly knows exactly what's going on is just unsurpassed. Mike Ryan: That's great, and we look forward, I look forward to

00:45:20.890 - 00:45:35.110

that, and I hope everyone out there looks forward to it. Can I ask Elise and Mike to do more Shakespeare, to read something for us? This is going to be really off the cuff out there, folks. I'm really putting them on the spot, and Elise is

00:45:35.110 - 00:45:49.600

looking worried. Especially when you're battling these microphones you virtually have to swallow. And we've got one book and if you need glasses, forget it. Anyway, Mike, why don't you introduce what you're going to be doing?

00:45:50.560 - 00:46:06.730

Well, we thought we would, here on the spot, off the cuff, do a little bit of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. So this is Act Two, Scene Two of that play. Morton Marcus: Do we need to give the plot?

00:46:07.900 - 00:46:29.620

Mike Ryan: They've met at a party and sort of fallen in love with each other at first sight, and Romeo has broken into her family garden in the middle of the night and is hiding there among the plants and staring at her window and she appears

00:46:29.620 - 00:46:51.200

there. But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that

00:46:51.200 - 00:47:14.300

thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. Be not her maid since she is envious. Her vestal livery is but sick and green, and none but fools do wear it. Cast it off! It is my lady. Oh, it is my love. Oh, that she knew she were! She speaks, yet she

00:47:14.300 - 00:47:33.200

says nothing. What of that? Her eye discourses. I will answer it. I am too bold. 'Tis not to me she speaks. Two have the fairest stars in all the heaven, having some business, do entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return. What

00:47:33.200 - 00:47:49.640

if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars as daylight doth a lamp. Her eyes in heaven would through the airy region stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night. See how she

00:47:49.640 - 00:48:01.370

leans her cheek upon her hand. Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand that I might touch that cheek! Elise Youssef: Ay me! Mike Ryan: She speaks. Oh, speak again, bright angel! For thou

00:48:01.370 - 00:48:15.200

art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head, as is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white, upturned, wondering eyes of mortals that fall back to gaze on him when he bestrides the lazy- passing clouds and sails upon the bosom of the air.

00:48:15.230 - 00:48:32.120

Elise Youssef: Oh Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou will not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet. Mike Ryan: Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

00:48:32.030 - 00:48:51.020

Elise Youssef: 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. Oh, be some other name! What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. What's in a name? That which we

00:48:51.020 - 00:49:06.590

call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, and for that name, which is no part of thee. Take all myself

00:49:08.270 - 00:49:20.810

Mike Ryan: Terrific. It was great hearing that. You know, first of all, I'm putting you on the spot by having you read that. But it was very interesting how you read that first line. And of course, when we talk about acting, we talk

00:49:20.810 - 00:49:41.390

about interpreting as well. Now, I had always thought, even though I've taught the play that, what light through yonder- what light through yo- but I'm going to do it like Tony Curtis. "What light through yonder window breaks," he actually sees

00:49:41.390 - 00:49:54.740

her come to the window and open the curtain, so it's light there, but that's not the way you read it at all and suddenly everything fell into place. He is talking about heavenly light and he is automatically making a comparison to- Could you just

00:49:54.740 - 00:50:12.150

read those first lines again? And the way you did it was just great. But Soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the

00:50:12.150 - 00:50:24.110

envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. Morton Marcus: This way it's wonderful, wonderful. That is also what I look forward to, other people's interpretations

00:50:24.140 - 00:50:38.560

of great lines. One of the reasons that I like Richard, whatever the heck his name was, the guy who loved Elizabeth Taylor? Morton Marcus: Burton, that's it. That Richard Burton was,

00:50:34.010 - 00:50:49.930

Sara Wilbourne: Richard Burton? what he would do with some of these lines, you know, "Is that the face that launched a thousand ships?" The way he reads it is: "Is that [pause ] the face [pauses] that launche

00:50:51.370 - 00:51:02.950

a thousand ships?" And you say wait a minute, how can anyone r ad lines like that? It's ridicul us. But it's always great to h ar some people just mix up what you have become too familiar w th and make

00:51:02.990 - 00:51:13.520

Mike Ryan: I think it's one of the things that we strive to do at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, really ask why do these plays again? Why do them now? Why should someone come and see, "King Lear," again if they've already seen it? And then those

00:51:13.520 - 00:51:24.970

are questions we'd really try to address every summer. We try to make each approach very fresh, very new, very relevant to the community here in Santa Cruz, to the national climate- Morton Marcus: Does this mean that King Lear is going to be

00:51:24.970 - 00:51:40.120

George Bush? Mike Ryan: Not necessarily, no. But certainly I think that there are parallels this season with the national situation. You have a very strong patriarchal society in both plays that are

00:51:40.120 - 00:51:59.290

pitted against some very strong but powerless young women. And both plays address a need for renewal from a sort of stagnant, claustrophobic, civilized world and a return to a sort of more natural, rejuvenated perspective on life.

00:51:59.350 - 00:52:05.020

Morton Marcus: Very, very well put. Sara Wilbourne: And I think, "Pygmalion," kind of falls into that theme as well. Mike Ryan: Absolutely, absolutely.

00:52:05.360 - 00:52:22.040

Morton Marcus: Great, very, very well put. Well, as you can see out there, or hear out there, we've got a very, very pithy group of people from Shakespeare Santa Cruz visiting us. And Elise is taking off now, going back to rehearsal where she's

00:52:22.040 - 00:52:31.190

been all day. Elise, thank you so much. Elise Youssef: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Come see you this summer. Morton Marcus: Okay, and we will see you in, "Election Day," this

00:52:31.190 - 00:52:38.600

weekend or next weekend? Elise Youssef: This coming weekend, yes, April 28th. Morton Marcus: And the telephone number for receipt? Sara Wilbourne: 459-2159.

00:52:38.810 - 00:52:49.100

Morton Marcus: There you go. And we are here with Sara Wilburn. That was Sara Wilburn, administrative coordinator for Shakespeare Santa Cruz and dance choreographer extraordinaire. I'm never gonna leave that out.

00:52:49.000 - 00:52:54.580

Sara Wilbourne: That's good, remind me. That's who I really am. Morton Marcus: Yes. Sara Wilbourne: Aactually, I'd like to tell people about one

00:52:54.580 - 00:53:15.490

other thing about this summer, maybe best kept secrets, which are some free, to the community, outreach events that are ways that you can enhance and enrich your experience of the plays. We have on four Fridays, starting in the middle of July, something

00:53:15.490 - 00:53:34.450

called Noon at the Nick, and at noon for an hour at the Nickelodeon Theater downtown, each week preceding the opening of a play, the director and other key people, few actors, me, sometimes designers, come down and basically do a little

00:53:34.480 - 00:53:47.560

presentation and lots of Q&A with the community and whoever shows up. You can bring your- I think they even let you bring your lunch, don't we? Yeah, so you can bring your lunch into the theater, and get up close and personal with the directors

00:53:47.560 - 00:54:04.690

and designers and find out what's going on. We also are doing a pre-show, as well as some post-show talks. And those are on the calendars, so that you know when they are so you can decide if you want to come to that particular date to take

00:54:04.690 - 00:54:24.610

part in pre-show or post-show talk with again, directors, designers, and actors. And every Saturday at 11 o'clock, in August, we have free backstage tours. And you would call me, Sara, at 459-5810 to arrange for that. Just call up, give me your

00:54:24.610 - 00:54:42.580

name, how many in your party, and which Saturday in August you'd like to do that and I will take you around and show you all the cool stuff backstage that not everybody gets to see. And we also have something called Weekend With Shakespeare which

00:54:42.850 - 00:55:00.610

this year is August 13th, 14th and 15th, that's not free but pretty darn close for twenty-five bucks. You get to come and have a little reception and hear lectures by scholars as well as, again, getting up close and personal, I believe there's

00:55:00.610 - 00:55:15.070

an actor's roundtable on Sunday, right? And a little continental breakfast, hanging out with the actors, and then you can, if you want to do it that way, you can see all three plays in one weekend, and that's a really cool way to have a very fulsome

00:55:15.100 - 00:55:27.310

festival experience. Mike Ryan: Since we're talking about the 25th Anniversary Festival, the 25th anniversary of the festival, I think we should also mention, "Sleeping Beauty," which Kate Holly has

00:55:27.310 - 00:55:42.520

written pantos for Shakespeare Santa Cruz for the past many years, including, "Cinderella," and, "Gretel and Hansel," and, "The Princess and the Pea." And she's teamed up with the same composer that she wrote, "Princess and the Pea," with

00:55:42.580 - 00:55:54.500

Adam [unidentified], and they are currently in the process of- Sara Wilbourne: In the throes. Mike Ryan: In the throes of creating a brand new panto for the 25th season based on, "Sleeping Beauty," that rumor

00:55:54.500 - 00:56:07.900

has it will take place in Freud's Vienna, it should be a very, very fun and interesting experience. Sara Wilbourne: Yeah, and I should point out that subscribers get first shot at buying those tickets, so another

00:56:07.900 - 00:56:15.610

reason to subscribe to get the best seats for, "Sleeping Beauty." Morton Marcus: Well, Sara Wilbourne: Did you find something you want to read?

00:56:15.610 - 00:56:29.930

Morton Marcus: Yes, thank you very much for covering. Sara Wilbourne: I see you over there with those pages. Morton Marcus: Well, I would like to read another sonnet but one that people out there might be very surprised about because

00:56:29.930 - 00:56:49.940

usually we take these sonnets as though they are very, very romantic and they are very serious. But even when you read the, "Five Ages of Man," there is one where the lover sighing like a furnace is making protestations, and you read it

00:56:49.940 - 00:57:09.560

beautifully, to a woman's eyebrow, you know? I mean, that is the speaker making fun. And a lot of what Shakespeare does is really turning the Elizabethan cliches inside out. And a lot of these Petrarchan comparisons, which were done by an Italian

00:57:09.560 - 00:57:29.150

poet two hundred years before, he and John Donne really sort of were making fun of. And there is a poem in here about comparing, which is one of my favorites, in which he talks to a woman or he talks about his love, and he's making fun of her, and he's

00:57:29.150 - 00:57:45.680

making fun of these comparisons. And I'd like to read it and for anyone out there who wants to find this, it is sonnet 130 and it's called, "My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun," instead of as he just said in Romeo and Juliet, that Juliet is

00:57:45.680 - 00:58:02.630

like the sun because Romeo is a fickle youth who is in love with love. And that's just another interpretation, we identify with him so much now, but really, in many ways, Shakespeare is making fun of him. And right from the beginning of the play when two

00:58:02.630 - 00:58:16.040

servants say and describe him, you know, that he's just in love with love, and I think he's in love, at that point, with Rosalind is it? Who he's never even seen. I think he saw her once or something like that and he's going around like this. So,

00:58:16.040 - 00:58:36.010

here is Shakespeare being much more realistic but having a lot of fun. And this is: SONNET 130: MY MISTRESS' EYES ARE NOTHING LIKE THE SUN Coral is far more red than her lips' red. If snow be white, why

00:58:36.010 - 00:59:00.190

then her breasts are dun. If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, but no such roses see I on her cheeks. And in some perfumes there is more delight than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I

00:59:00.190 - 00:59:23.890

love to hear her speak, yet well I know that music has a far more pleasing sound. I grant I never saw a goddess go. My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare.

00:59:24.220 - 00:59:39.700

So how's that turning everything around in the end, you know? Just you can imagine him saying this to the woman and she is just furious! You know? And then he just turns it around and she just melts again, you know? We have been talking with Mike

00:59:39.700 - 00:59:52.870

Ryan. Michael, thank you so much for coming in. Mike Ryan: Thanks for having me. Morton Marcus: And with Sara Wilbourne, Elise, and this is Shakespeare's birthday, the 23rd. I want to urge everyone to

00:59:52.930 - 00:59:59.590

call the following number: Sara Wilbourne: Well, actually right now online is your best bet, Shakespeare Santa Cruz dot O-R-G. Morton Marcus: Okay.

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Sara Wilbourne: And then later, you can call the box office at 459-2159. Mike Ryan: And that's usually during the weekdays after twelve. Don't miss the reading, Tuesday 7:30, Willis Barnstone

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and Tony Barnstone. And following me right now is tonight From the Bookshelf, author Kathleen Miller will discuss our work with host Gary Shapiro. We'll see you in a couple of weeks.