African-American Shakespeare

San Francisco, California

African-American Shakespeare Company was introduced in 1994 to create an opportunity and a venue for actors of color to hone their skills and talent in mastering some of the world's greatest classical roles, and to unlock the realm of classic theater to a diverse audience that has been alienated from discovering these time-favored works in a style that reaches, speaks to, and embraces their cultural aesthetic and identity. Drawing on its own imagination, creativity, experience, and the resources at its disposal, the company strives to provide the world with the best theatrical experience that combines a rich cultural aesthetic with a world-classic production in a manner that is lively, entertaining, and rings relevant to diverse contemporary audiences. Known as the longest-running minority theatrical group performing classical works in the world, African-American Shakespeare Company has produced more than 40 productions, toured to 85 schools, and reached more than 120,000 patrons through mainstage productions and arts education programs, all with the goal of bringing the classics to diverse communities in a method that would appeal to their aesthetic. The company has produced unique and distinctive works which appeal to communities of color, such as a hip-hop MacBeth; Othello with Iago as a Black woman; The Importance of Being Earnest set in the Harlem Renaissance; a gospel Antigone; and a bilingual Romeo and Juliet set in Cuba with a Capoeira street fight. All of the productions are geared to re-“present” these works in a different minority culture, while maintaining the integrity of the language.

The classic tale of the Danish hero gone awry gets a revamping in the African-American Shakespeare Company's MacBeth (a.k.a. MacB: The MacBeth Project ). The traditional story of MacBeth, driven mad by an ambiguous prophecy of power, is reworked into a more modern setting. With “MacB” taking on the role of a record industry mogul, the witches become a singing group similar to Destiny's Child and the language of Shakespeare is performed in a music-filled spoken-word style. This new presentation is fully choreographed, adding new moves as well as new motives. Rather than struggling for kingship, MacB struggles for a top position in the ever-competitive music business; the violence of the Dane becomes the violence surrounding the record business, and the lords and nobles are transformed into the artists and executives of the burgeoning music industry. Directed by Victoria Evans Erville, MacBeth will be presented at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in August 2008, prior to a three-week student matinee performance run in Northern California. A smaller 45-minute touring version will travel to approximately 40 schools in Northern California and Central Valley, reaching an estimated 13,000 students. A total of 10 schools in the San Francisco, Oakland , and Richmond Unified School districts will have an extended partnership, with three-hour workshops for each school led by teaching artists.

Visit them at: www.african-americanshakes.org