To our distinguished patrons,
Thank you for coming to our production of Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors." One of our goals here at ATORT theatre is to produce a Shakespeare play once every 4 years or so, ensuring that all students get the opportunity to engage in at least one of these classics. This show has been an absolute blast to work on! This play, one of Shakespeare's earliest works, was chosen due to its easy accessiblity for studens and audiences.
We offer a special thanks and deep gratitude to Christine Schmidle for her work with our students at the beginning of production. Christine is the founder of the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival and works on text analysis for the Globe Theatre in England. Her depth of knowledge on Elizabethian Theatre and how to interpret the text brought a new life for the students and myself.
Each year we take thirty students to the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City Utah over labor-day weekend where we see all 7 shows in three and a half days. A few years ago we saw this show set in the 1970's and had an absolutely fantastic time that evening. Since then, our students have been begging me to do this Shakespeare play and do it in the 1970's as well. Kids begging to do Shakespeare?! Sign me up!
One of the occurrences that I am most proud with this show is that for this year, our costumes, hair and make-up have been completely designed and implimented by student designers. We made this shift this year and I have been immensly impressed at the talent and work ethic our students desplay in bringing these characters and time-periods to life. To reach beyond the ability of a single costume or look to knowing how it all blends together is a unique skill and I am blown away by the talent we have here at Mingus Union High School.
Caleb Wright, our new technical theatre aide, has been an abolutely wonderful asset to our department. His patience with students and creative construction knowledge have made our sets this semester fun to put together as he creates solutions and creative thinkers with his choices. One needs only look at the set to see the magic he brings to this program.
Finally, I would like to thank all of our wonderful tax credit doners. We rely so heavily on tax-credit donations to help fund our department each year. Without your generosity and support, we wouldn't be able to bring you the professional looking shows we know and love. It's never too early to donate for this year!
Please take a moment to let others know of the amazing work these students are accomplishing here. While we advertise on the radio, newspapers, on-line, and with flyers - YOU are our best form of advertisement. Please use word of mouth to help fill this auditorium for our student actors and technicians.
Enjoy the show!
James Ball
ATORT Theatre Director
