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Shakespeare Unfolded brings the Bard to city’s birthday

Shakespeare never got the chance to visit Lheidli territory, but the spirit of his language and drama will be here this summer. "One hundred beauteous springs have from the forests shook one hundred summers' pride," he once wrote.
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David Leach, Anna Russell, Emily MacLise, Lauren Brotman and Paige Marriott will be putting on the original production Shakespeare Unfolded.

Shakespeare never got the chance to visit Lheidli territory, but the spirit of his language and drama will be here this summer.

"One hundred beauteous springs have from the forests shook one hundred summers' pride," he once wrote.

Well, he almost wrote that. Most of it comes from his One Hundred and Fourth sonnet, written sometime in the years shortly before 1615. That was 300 years before Prince George was founded and 400 years before our centennial celebrations in which Shakespearean actor Lauren Brotman so easily adapted his iconic words for the city's birthday purposes.

To help the city's year-long spectrum of centennial celebrations, Brotman was commissioned to create an original production she calls Shakespeare Unfolded. Her live drama production company Bound To Create Theatre has, in partnership with Theatre North West and SummerFest, concocted a script and assembled a cast themed on the great bard and tailored for the city's big birthday.

"Set outdoors on the grounds of our historic Veteran's Plaza Spirit Square at City Hall, this midsummer-madness delight, told completely through Shakespeare's words, brings together a community of players and audience alike, to celebrate and reflect upon our history, our people, our sacred natural landscape, the human experience and our connection to nature," said Brotman.

"Shakespeare Unfolded celebrates the magical surroundings of our city and the heart of our natural resources: our trees, our paper and our community. In this hilarious and often moving story, a company of actors join forces to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Prince George through some of Shakespeare's most beloved sonnets, love scenes and live music."

Joining Brotman for this Shakespearean mash-up of greatest hits are local actors David Leach, Emily MacLise, Paige Marriott, Anna Russell with musician Curtis Abriel also involved in the performance.

As a participatory ode to the people, trees and paper that are intrinsic to both Prince George and Shakespeare, Brotman has also created a physical art component to the show. The Memory Tree is a place, an artistic object, on which the community will be invited to write a significant memory they've experienced in P.G. on a piece of paper which will be tied to one of the tree branches in Veteran's Plaza Spirit Square at City Hall.

"As the branches fill up, the history of the community unfolds, until finally we and the paper, fully unfolded, return back to the earth to begin a new cycle of life, newness and growth, a new centennial, as we enter our next 100 years," Brotman explained.

She said it was to inspire creative connections to Prince George and to "remind us of the physical landscape we are a part of."

Local audiences haven't known Brotman long, since she moved here less than a year ago from Toronto.

She and husband Jack Grinhaus were mainstays of the busy Toronto live theatre industry but opted for a quieter life-pace and deeper professional connection to their home base. Grinhaus is the artistic director of Theatre North West which is presently celebrating its own anniversary (20 years old).

It was there, in the recent TNW production of The Secret Mask, that her on-stage talent was first demonstrated to large applause.

Now, her adopted city gets to see her directoral skills as well, and in the realm she is most known for. Brotman was the recipient of the Christopher Plummer Fellowship Award, presented by Plummer himself, that included an intensive training at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in England.

"When we moved to P.G. last summer, I was immediately struck by the beauty of the surroundings, and the openness of the community," said Brotman.

"With the 100th anniversary fast approaching, I was inspired to make an offering to our new city that celebrates our new home and I knew that an outdoor Shakespeare production was the way to go since so many of Shakespeare's plays celebrate and reflect upon the two very things that have given me inspiration during my hours of walking along the Nechako and Fraser Rivers with my infant son: nature and love."

Helping the production come together were other veteran theatre professionals from the area. Melissa Glover joined her as associate director/producer, Lorranna Ramsey signed on as stage manager, Abriel took on the sound design duties as well as the original music composition, and production design was done by Jordanna McCoy.

The proposal also earned the funding of the City of Prince George, so City Hall is not just the location but also the executive producer, of sorts.

Audiences are encouraged to bring their own seating for this on-the-lawn style of theatre so common with outdoor Shakespearean productions.

There will be two performances of Shakespeare Unfolded: July 17 at 7 p.m. and July 18 at 8 p.m. Admission is by donation.

The Memory Tree portion of the production will stand on-site as an art feature of SummerFest on July 19, also pumped up this year for the centennial.

Visit www.boundtocreate.com for more details or look the project up on Facebook.