BY LUCIA MAURO
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William Shakespeare–the ultimate man for all seasons–seems to be most closely tied to the summer months when outdoor productions of his plays stretch across the country’s parks and university campus lawns. Nearly every community in Chicago boasts some form of bucolic Bardian feast–reflective perhaps of the plays’ ideas that bound across the landscape of human nature. But these open-air extravagances were not always so commonplace in America.
In 1978, when the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF) began as a community outreach effort between Illinois State University’s Theatre Department and College of Fine Arts in Bloomington-Normal, scant opportunities existed for such high-caliber outdoor presentations of these classic works–especially in Central Illinois. Quality was the driving force behind the founding of ISF, whose reach extends to the surrounding Midwest region. Its tremendous growth over the years has attracted Chicago theatre artists and audiences happy to make the two-hour drive to the heavily forested grounds of the Tudor-style Ewing Manor, located four miles from the ISU campus.
Calvin MacLean, ISF’s artistic director since 1995, shares his insights into the company’s evolution from a training ground mainly for the university’s theatre majors to a nationally recognized Equity troupe (via an U/RTA contract similar to a CAT contract) that attracts some of the most respected directors, actors and designers in the Midwest. As an ensemble member of Famous Door Theatre Company, MacLean has been able to draw many Chicago theatre artists to ISF’s three-play summer season.
"We’re becoming more of a presence in Chicago," says MacLean, who heads ISU’s directing program. "Because of my work in Chicago, I knew a lot of Equity actors. But I still look for talented students from various theatre programs. Our mission is still about training students. Now they have mentors with whom to train."
He explains that, when ISF’s managing director Fergus G. Currie became ISU’s Theatre Department chair five years ago, the summer festival increased its Equity presence. Currie, who had served as the assistant national executive secretary and central regional director of Actors’ Equity Association from 1986 to 1996, was instrumental in negotiating special Equity contracts for ISF.
MacLean believes that effort "opened the door for us. It allowed us to do the festival as a rotating rep." And he reiterates the importance of teaming theatre students with experienced actors.
"To use a sports analogy," continues MacLean, "if you play with somebody better than you, you play better. I’ve found that our rehearsals have deepened and become quicker. We used to rehearse for 15 or 16 hours a day. We’ve changed the rehearsal schedule to become more efficient. We’re down to an eight-hour day.
"Our evolution has been in how the theatre perceives itself professionally yet remains a training ground."
Prior to ISF’s establishment, ISU sponsored a summer theatre festival focusing on comedies and musicals. In 1978, the Festival’s first year, ISF presented 21 performances to a season audience of just over 6,500. Since then, the season has grown to 38 performances last summer and an annual attendance of nearly 16,000. The 2001 season of performances over an eight-week period includes 35 outdoor shows and two indoor Saturday matinees at ISU’s Westhoff Theatre.
The Festival operates independently from ISU Theatre Department’s academic programs. Theatre faculty or administrators who are involved in ISF are hired on separate contracts for duties unrelated to department assignments. The College of Fine Arts provides budget support for administrative salaries as well as facility support. ISF has developed a community partnership through the Illinois Shakespeare Society–a membership-based organization that raises funds and awareness for the Festival–as well as local and regional support, and sponsorship from businesses and organizations.
Until 1999, the Festival’s home was in its original wooden semi-open structure on the grounds of Ewing Manor–a private residence donated to ISU in 1969. In late summer of 1999, a successful capital campaign resulted in groundbreaking for a new permanent open-air theatre in the same location. The 2000 season marked the inauguration of this 435-seat theatre featuring comfortable seating, dressing rooms and state-of-the-art equipment.
"We continue to improve the working conditions," says MacLean. "The housing arrangements are better. We have beautiful apartments to rent at a reasonable cost, and we have a bus system."
In terms of programming, he points out that the same troupe of actors performs three plays. ISF opens two of the three productions in successive evenings in June; the third opens in July. Then all three run in rotating rep six nights a week until August. Each production features three distinctly separate sets by three different design teams. Some of the more creative programming efforts have included pairing Hamlet with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead or presenting related classics like Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers.
This summer, ISF will highlight three eclectic interpretations of three Shakespearean plays: Love’s Labours Lost (directed by Sandi Zielinski); Othello (directed by Nicholas Rudall); and Coriolanus (directed by John Sipes).
MacLean summarizes ISF’s aesthetic: "We do Shakespeare for contemporary tastes while maintaining the integrity of the language."
When he came on board, MacLean transformed the Greenshow from strolling madrigals to a 15-minute children’s version of the play that’s being put on that night. This is an educational, interactive experience for the family.
The 2001 performance schedule is as follows: Love’s Labour’s Lost opens June 22; Othello opens June 23; Coriolanus opens July 13. They all run in rotating rep until Aug. 5.
Although MacLean conducted ISF auditions in Chicago in December, he encourages actors to send him their photos and resumes. He is still holding auditions at ISU. He plans to complete casting by March. Rehearsals begin in mid-May.
Theatre artists can send information to Peter Geddies, assistant managing director, The Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Illinois State University, Campus Box 5700, Normal, IL 61790-5700.