The Playhouse Insider

The Playhouse Insider is a new publication by the ASC, which will come out twice yearly, in the winter to preview the Actors' Renaissance and Spring Seasons, and in the summer to preview the Summer and Fall Seasons and the ASC on Tour. Our goal for this magazine is to provide the readers with a look into different experiences of early modern theatre at the Blackfriars Playhouse. We've solicited articles from ASC actors and artists, from renowned scholars, and from members of the ASC community in order to bring you a comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at the experience of playgoing at the Blackfriars Playhouse.

The Playhouse Insider is available in print in our Gift Shop (at the Blackfriars Playhouse or Online), for $10.50

Current Issue -- #4

Inside This Issue:

• Winter is Coming: One Actor's Response to Playing Henry II in James Goldman's The Lion in Winter -- James Keegan discusses his experience inhabiting the role
• Directing Mary Baldwin College's King John -- Jemma Levy reflects on the aspects of her production, and on the Bastard's relationship to the audience
• An Audience with Shylock -- Chris Seiler, member of the ASC's 2007-2008 Piercing Eloquence tour, looks back on the challenges inherent in The Merchant of Venice
• Achieving Alienation through Collaboration: Playing the Duchess of Malfi in the Actors' Renaissance Season -- Vanessa Morosco talks about the construction of isolation in the 2007 Duchess of Malfi
• The Dramaturg's Top Ten Favorite Things about Julius Caesar -- Cass Morris offers some of the most interesting historical tidbits surrounding this Roman tragedy
• Shakespeare & Fletcher: Showing and Telling in The Two Noble Kinsmen -- Jeremy Fiebig looks at lush language and visible spectacle, influenced by his 2006 MFA production of the play
• "After the Slander of Most Stepmothers": The Familiar Fairy Tale in Shakespeare's Cymbeline -- Christina Sayer Grey examines patterns of storytelling and mythology
• Roving Shakespeare: A New Experiment in an MFA Company -- Angelina LaBarre and Rachel Ratkowski explicate the structure of Mary Baldwin College's transformed third year in the graduate program
• Dramaturgical Differences -- Amy Kenny discusses the role of the dramaturg at the ASC and at the Globe
• Searching for the True Henry: A question of historical veracity in Shakespeare and Fletcher's King Henry VIII -- Michael Wagoner positions Henry VIII in relationship to other Tudor history plays
• Playgoing in the 17th Century -- snippets from Samuel Pepys's diary, illuminating the experience of the theatre during the Restoration
• It's All About You: Comments from ASC Audiences

Prior Issues:

• Issue #3: Winter/Spring 2012: articles on Richard III, Philaster or Love Lies A-Bleeding, Much Ado about Nothing, Dido Queen of Carthage, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, pre-production at the ASC, and the experience of bringing the ASC on Tour to under-served regions
• Issue #2: Summer/Fall 2011: articles on The Importance of Being Earnest, Henry V, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, Tamburlaine the Great, Shakespeare in the classroom, and life on the road with the ASC Touring Troupe.
• Issue #1 (Winter 2010-2011) (free PDF download!): Inside the Actors' Renaissance Season; articles on The Comedy of Errors, Look About You, 3 Henry VI, and A Trick to Catch the Old One.

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