{"id":46308,"date":"2017-02-01T08:15:18","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T15:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=46308"},"modified":"2017-02-06T09:27:51","modified_gmt":"2017-02-06T16:27:51","slug":"acting-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/acting-company\/","title":{"rendered":"A tale of two murders: NAU collaborates with NYC company on \u2018Caesar,\u2019 \u2018X\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Shakespeare didn\u2019t foreshadow the 1965 assassination of human rights activist Malcolm X in his 1599 play \u201cJulius Caesar.\u201d The two may have more in common than ending with death, though, and the Northern Arizona University Department of Theatre<\/a> and New York City-based The Acting Company<\/a> are inviting the Flagstaff community to find that out Feb. 10-11.<\/p>\n

The two theatre organizations will collaborate to perform Shakespeare’s \u201cJulius Caesar,\u201d followed by Marcus Gardley’s new play \u201cX\u201d about the assassination of Malcolm X.\u00a0Shakespeare\u2019s well-known play about political intrigue and relationships provides a framework for Gardley to deepen the audience\u2019s understanding of one of America\u2019s most complex, compelling historical figures and explore the tumultuous landscape of ideology and activism in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

It’s especially relevant as the all-black Acting Company cast is performing during Black History Month, with the Black Student Union<\/a>, Ethnic Studies<\/a> and Flagstaff Mayor Coral Evans participating as well.<\/p>\n

The two-night collaboration also will provide NAU Theatre students the opportunity to work with professional actors, attend design and performance workshops and build relationships with equity and union artists from New York City. The performances are part of The Acting Company\u2019s 2016-2017 tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe connection with The Acting Company professionals is an extraordinary opportunity for our students,\u201d\u00a0says Kathleen McGeever,<\/strong> chairwoman of the NAU Department of Theatre. \u201cAlso, \u2018X\u2019 is a new play and it exposes our students to the development of new work on a professional level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJulius\u00a0Caesar\u201d will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 and \u201cX\u201d will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Clifford E. White Theatre on the NAU Flagstaff campus. Tickets, which range from $8 to $14, can be purchased at nau.edu\/cto<\/a> or by calling (928) 523-5661. For parking options, visit Parking and Shuttle Service\u2019s webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Julius Caesar\u2019 by William Shakespeare<\/strong>
\nTackling essential questions about the balance of ambition, personal loyalty and love of country, Shakespeare\u2019s timeless political masterpiece remains relevant today. Through the story of \u201cJulius Caesar,\u201d a rising political star torn down by trusted allies, audiences witness the art of persuasion, the ugliness of backroom politics and the historical patterns we can\u2019t stop repeating.<\/p>\n

The Acting Company\u2019s Devin Brain will direct this production of \u201cJulius Caesar.\u201d He previously directed\u00a0Macbeth and went on tour as staff repertory director for\u00a0\u201cHamlet,\u201d \u201cRosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,\u201d\u00a0\u201cOf Mice and Men\u201d and \u201cAs You Like It.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018X\u2019 by Marcus Gardley<\/strong>
\nThe assassination of Malcolm X\u2014both the story learned in history class and illuminating details that have seldom been shared\u2014is brought to vivid, lyrical life in award-winning writer Marcus Gardley\u2019s new play.<\/p>\n

Gardley is a multiple award-winning poet and playwright from West Oakland, California, whose short play \u201cDesire Quenched by Touch\u201d premiered in The Acting Company\u2019s off-Broadway production of \u201cDesire.\u201d The New Yorker describes Gardley as \u201cthe heir to Garcia Lorca, Pirandello and Tennessee Williams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ian Belknap, The Acting Company\u2019s artistic director, brings\u00a0this new work to life, having previously directed The Acting Company\u2019s \u201cA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur\u2019s Court,\u201d \u201cHamlet,\u201d \u201cThe Comedy of Err<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William Shakespeare didn\u2019t foreshadow the 1965 assassination of human rights activist Malcolm X in his 1599 play \u201cJulius Caesar.\u201d The two may have more in common than ending with death, though, and the Northern Arizona University Department of Theatre and New York City-based The Acting Company are inviting the Flagstaff community to find that out…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":46311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-happenings"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}